And sadly, we’re back to announce more bans.

If there’s just one thing we’d like to make clear about our Anti-Cheat team, it’s that they always have full proof – beyond circumstantial evidence – behind every ban we make. This has been highlighted recently in the much publicised ‘boomeh case’. After some considerable effort we have finally found the valuable information we need which has allowed us to connect the ‘tmn’ account to that of the banned player ‘boomeh’. Cases like these do however take time, a particular reason for our continued search for AC-Admins,  but also requires the cooperation of the community, for which we are continually grateful. Therefore, if you have any evidence or suspicion about players, please contact an Admin in our #etf2l IRC channel.

Whilst we also entirely respect the right for players to post their thoughts and feelings up on threads discussing these matters, we would love it if this much energy and attention was given to helping grow the TF2 community! Whether this be through mentoring players and teams, making cool new services or pushing TF2 on eSports news sites, it all is invaluable to help see our game become even bigger and better and something we strongly encourage.

So even though creating a solid case can take time, we will catch cheaters. Like the following:

• Mah jongg : Multihack – 1 Year Ban
• Sm1le: Aimbot – 1 Year Ban
• Boomeh/Tmn: Returning under an alias while banned – 1 Year added to existing ban
• Twistedplay: supporting and playing with a banned cheater – 1 season ban
• Twistedplay members affected:  SoniXzR, Crzy,  Plumbed, Inuy, Aveng
• Sandik: Returning under an alias while banned – 1 Year added to existing ban

We say it every time, but please don’t cheat! We will catch you and you will be banned, so make life easy for everyone and don’t do it!

While the preparations for Season 8 are in full motion it is time for another ETF2L One Night Cup. You might be familiar with the series of MNM-cups that highlighted various custom maps, that format will be returning later. This time things will be slightly different. You will surely be familiar with the various community unlocks that have been popping up. Those unlocks never really got a footing because of their random drop nature, but now that most people finally obtained them and Valve confirmed trading to be released soon, the time has come to give these unlocks a fair shot. And that is where the Experimental Ordnance Cup comes in. This cup format will highlight, allow and sometimes even enforce the certain unlocks to give the community a clear and unbiased view on their effects. Think they are overpowered? Then this is the best way to prove it!

There will be various Multiplay servers and SourceTV’s available for your matches.

>>Sign Up Now!<<

Unlock Minimum Requirements

During this competition all unlocks available (as of 13th September 2010) are allowed. In order to gain the best feedback possible, we encourage all teams to use exactly what they want.

However, to make thing interesting each team must use at least two of the following during each game:

• Crit-a-Cola
• Bonk! Atomic Punch
• Buff Banner
• Gunboats
• Pain Train
• Chargin’ Targe

Map List and Seedings

Providing we get enough signups, we will have a high and low cup running together. If not, then all teams who sign up will be in the same bracket.

• First Round – cp_obscure_final
• Second Round – cp_gullywash_imp3
• Semis – cp_granary
• Final – cp_badlands

Special Merc Rule

Up to a maximum of three mercs may be used without permission from your opponent, providing they are from the same division or lower as the main team. This is because we recognise that not all teams will have a full roster willing to parcipate in this competition, but we still want to get as much feedback as possible, particularly from the higher divisions.

Signups and Cup Schedule

Signups will open on Tuesday evening at 20:00 CEST and close on Wednesday at 17:30 CEST. The draw will be held at 18:00CEST and the cup will begin at 20:00CEST on Wednesday evening.

After a long process involving sorting all of the teams into Groups, we are now almost ready to start the challenge. Each team has been put into a Division based on their location, so you will find all of the European clans will be playing together, with all the North-American playing in separate Groups and so on. Hopefully, this will make arranging matches for a suitable time a lot easier. We have also had to remove some clans that failed to read the rules correctly, and were fielding ineligible players or did not have the required 10 players on their roster. Please make sure you read and understand all rules for any tournament that you sign up for.

If you are a member of a team with an incorrect roster and you still wish to play, please sort it out as soon as possible and you will be assigned when the final divisions are published. If you missed the deadline, you are also still welcome to re-apply, although please note we cannot guarantee you a place at this stage.

Finally, please remember to assign your Buddies in the correct Buddy role on your roster. Buddies are the players from Higher divisions who are helping you out and are limited to playing Pyro, Engineer, Heavy or Spy. Please do not assign someone the Buddy role if they are not a buddy, and please do not assign more than one buddy, as it complicates things for everyone. This can be done on your Team Admin Dashboard, in the Teams section under Edit Roster.

>>Provisional Groups<<

Once we have announced the final divisions, teams will be able to schedule matches against the other teams in their group.

Highlander Rules Clarification

The Highlander Rules page has been clarified with Rule 1.6, please make sure you have read it and all the rules regarding the use of mercs. Remember that all mercs must be registered on ETF2L before they can be used. If you are unsure, a merc is a player who is registered on ETF2L but is not added to your team.

After countless votes it is once again time to announce who are the best players and teams of the past season. A huge thanks to everyone who voted and our congratulations to the winners.

Player Awards:

• Medic of the Season: Torden (Team Broder)
• Demoman of the Season: Extremer (Epsilon eSports)
• Soldier of the Season: Darn (Team Dignitas)
• Scout of the Season: Skinnie (TCM-gaming)
• Sniper of the Season: Zerox (TCM-Gaming)
• Upcoming Talent of the Season: Biester (VIER-clan)

Team Awards

• Division 1 Team of the Season: TCM-Gaming
• Division 2 Team of the Season: Team Refuse
• Division 3 Team of the Season: Red Eyed Jedis
• Division 4 Team of the Season: MTF Gaming.Paroxysm II
• Division 5 Team of the Season: Dont shoot the Medic
• Division 6 Team of the Season: Please Shoot the Medic

Frag Clip of the Season

ViQun (The Last Resort)

Fragless Clip of the Season

wpminnows (Please Shoot the Medic)

You can have a look at the full Award History and medal count of all seasons here.

Season 8 Signup Preliminary Information

Although Season 8 is not quite ready yet, we have included a page that describes the process that clans need to be undergoing now in order to end up in the Division they want to be in. It also includes information for new clans, so if you’re interested in signing up for Season 8, or want to change Divisions from the one you finished Season 7, you should read the information on the page. Remember, the process of gathering evidence for being placed in the Division that you want starts now, so don’t miss out because you forgot to take screenshots.

Let’s not beat around the bush – we’re casting the Ubercharged Semi Finals! TCM-Gaming vs Epsilon Esports, both of whom attended i40 and one of whom will be looking for revenge, join me with my two co-casters  Torden and Exfane for what will be a great match.

Follow the action live on ETF2L Radio

• Starting Sunday, September 5th at 21:05 CEST
• Hosted by Dave,  Torden and Exfane
• SourceTV: 80.84.250.20:27020
• Mumble cast: fakkelbrigade.eu / port 64740
• Join #etf2l.radio for shoutouts

See you there!