Highlander & Scout 2on2 Cup started

Gladly we managed to fill both doubled cup slot limits: An amazing number of 128 teams have signed for the Scout 2on2 Cup; 64 teams signed for our 2^nd Highlander Cup! All Round 1 Fixtures have been published, links are mentioned below. For the Highlander Cup we also made a little seeding for the first 8 teams to prevent very good teams meeting early.

Highlander Cup Top 8 Seeding

1. Jari Litmanen
2. Second to Last
3. Fakkelbrigade
4. Hey that’s!
5. Why must I cry?
6. Tf2world
7. Team France Highlander
8. Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomuco

Cup Details

• Highlander Cup: [Cup Tree] – [Signed Teams] – [Specific Rules]
• Scout 2on2 Cup: [Cup Tree] – [Signed Teams] – [Specific Rules]
• Round 1 – Schedule Deadline: Monday, 23^rd February, 23:59 CET
• Round 1 – Match Deadline: Sunday, 1^st March, 23:59 CET
• Highlander Cup Note: cp_gydan recently has been replaced by pl_waste.

Instagib cup & bball cup round 2

All round 1 matches have been entered, so it’s time for round 2. Here are the details:

cup details

• Instagib: [Cup tree] – [Specific rules]
• Bball: [Cup tree] – [Specific rules]
• Instagib maps:  1. ctf_ig_redshed 2. ctf_impact2 (3.ctf_greystone_b2)
• Round 2 – Schedule deadline: Sunday, 22nd February, 23:59 CET
• Round 2 – Match deadline: Sunday 1st Match, 23:59 CET
• Basketball Cup Note: Intended self kills are forbidden from now on.

TF2 Update

Due to the last TF2 update we have edited the first number of all SteamIDs (0 has been changed to 1). Besides, we had to make a change in our config as one cvar was renamed (“mp_stalemate_at_timelimit” to “mp_match_end_at_timelimit”). Please update your servers with the new league config again [Download].

4^th Cup Final: Team Dignitas vs. Team CoolerMaster

On a little sidenote we would also like to announce the date of our upcoming 4^th Cup Final between Team Dignitas, winner of the 1^st and 2^nd Cup, and Team CoolerMaster, current Cup title holders. Both teams will meet next Monday, on the 23^rd February, at 21:30 CET. Match will be played as a “Best of 3” on badlands, well and granary with possible overtimes on all maps. Coverage details will be announced at the weekend!

Season 4, Week 5: Default Dates

All set Default Dates from Week 5 are listed below.

• Division 2a: northwave.gaming vs FakkelBrigade – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3a: Nervous 2 vs Galacticos – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3b: Virtual Troopers vs HerbsArmy – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3b: Oh My God It Is vs iClan – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3c: Totalitarian Brigade vs Fake – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3c: Nameless TF2 Squad vs insAne Team – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3c: Clan Troopers vs Game Control – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3c: Panacea vs chaotic community – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 3d: special7 vs enixe – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 4a: Distort Reality vs knock0ut – 22.02., 20:00 CET
• Division 4a: I Gladiatori vs clickNplay – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 4d: The Smash Project vs Smart Move – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 4d: Immortals vs [BloodMeat] – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 4f: RabbidS vs Team Slayers – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 4f: Ethanol Monkeys vs Team[X]treme – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 5a: Erdnuckels vs Team Effort – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 5a: Maximum^2 vs imPerial – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 5a: #RofL vs Suitcase Nuke – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 5b: MTF.Gaming 2 vs GoV – 23.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 5d: 9 Men vs Les Douze Salopards – 19.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 5e: TFB vs S4Y-Multigaming – 22.02., 21:00 CET
• Division 6a: Presence vs Pixel Warriors – 19.02., 21:30 CET
• Division 6c: Clan Crazy vs The Conquers 2 – 22.02., 22:00 CET

Two days remaining for interested Scout 2on2 and Highlander teams to sign up for our upcoming Fun Cups! After both announced slot numbers were already taken after less than 24 hours, we doubled them up to give all teams the chance to participate. Feel free to make some more advertisement to get some more teams into the cups in the last two days!

Sign-Up Status

• Highlander Cup: 64/64 slots taken – FULL – [Cup Tree] – [Signed Teams] – [Specific Rules]
• Scout 2on2 Cup: 128/128 slots taken – FULL –  [Cup Tree] – [Signed Teams] – [Specific Rules]
• [Sign-Up Link] – Sign Up’s closed.

We also fixed the Gamemodes for both Cups. See below for details.

Highlander Cup

• Mode: 9on9, General Classlimit 1, Best of 3 Maps, 1 StopWatch Round per map
• Map-Pool: cp_dustbowl, cp_gravelpit, cp_gydan [Map Info – Download Link], pl_badwater, pl_dbheights [Map Info – Download Link], pl_frontier_b2 [Map Info – Download Link], pl_goldrush, pl_hoodoo [Map Info – Download Link]
• Fixed Round 1 Maps: 1. cp_gravelpit 2. pl_frontier_b2 3. pl_badwater

Scout 2on2 Cup

• Mode: Scouts only, Best of 3 Maps, Best of 19 Rounds per map (first team reaching 10 points wins)
• Map-Pool: arena_badlands, arena_granary, arena_lumberyard, arena_ravine, arena_watchtower_b3, arena_well
• Fixed Round 1 Maps: 1. arena_well 2. arena_granary 3. arena_badlands

New official config

Our poll on using the new variable to eliminate random damage has won the vote with a decisive 77% for implementing it. So we have updated our config accordingly. Everyone please download this and put it on your server.

The following things were added:

• tf_damage_disablespread 1
• tf_tournament_hide_domination_icons 1
• mp_tournament_allow_non_admin_restart 0

ETF2L Config: Download here

Default dates

This week, we had to hand out quite a few default dates again. Please take note of this and play these matches on time. Also, try to schedule your games on time, it makes it easier for both you and us. The default dates are as follows:

Season 4: week 4 default dates

• Division 2a: northwave.gaming vs Clones-Inc – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 2a: FakkelBrigade vs eL Diablo’s Brigade – Thursday 12 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 2b: LOL Team vs FOG – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 2b: Nervous.tf2 vs [dT] – Thursday 12 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 3a: n2o – gaming TF2 vs mine is BIGGER than yours – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 3b: iClan vs Cavaliers RED – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 3b: warriors of Legend vs HerbsArmy – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 3d: ReVival vs enixe – Thursday 12 February – 21:30 CET
• Division 3d: klan:fader vs Crit Rocket – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 4a: Distort Reality vs clickNplay – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 4b: SpecialAttack vs They Kick Ass – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 4c: Special Air Services vs Unterwasserpyromanen – Wednesday 11 February – 20:30 CET
• Division 4d: [BloodMeat] vs Team Renovation – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 4d: Immortals vs Smart Move – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 5a: Maximum^2 vs Erdnuckels – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 5b: it vs GoV – Sunday 15 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 5c: 69ER Gaming Community vs Chancy Team – Tuesday 10 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 5f: boX?1 vs Die Philosoffen – Thursday 12 February – 21:00 CET
• Division 6a: Presence vs Xenomorphs – Thursday 12 February – 21:00 CET

Bball cup #2 week 1 default dates

• Zorkk & Toad vs 2Kings – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• veAre.silver vs pink panther – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• insAne vs Sex on a stick – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• Team Englian vs Dashing along them streets – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• cvx bball vs BlackHawkDown1.bball – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• 19% + 27% vs GumiFreak – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• FLB_Bball vs Starship Troopers – Wednesday 11 February – 19:00 CET
• Renovation ball vs Tarasbukta – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• DansTonKnux vs chill.bball- Wednesday 11 February – 18:00 CET
• Paz y amor, y el Plus pal salon vs Nau – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• M ‘n M vs MholKan – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• Kab00m vs the.TEAM – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• The slashing Slash0rs vs Holy Mace-Wielding Minotaur Kings – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET
• -.-‘ vs Zeves – Sunday 15 February – 19:30 CET

Instagib cup round 1 default dates

• cool clan vs Split – Thursday 12 February – 20:00 CET
• Pul Kai Arena Team vs InstaX – Thursday 12 February – 20:00 CET
• Polgar JenaH vs PPB instagibbers! – Thursday 12 February – 20:00 CET
• TEAM SdX’08 Instant Gib vs Team FLB – Thursday 12 February – 20:00 CET
• Conquerors vs execute – Thursday 12 February – 20:00 CET
• dhrystones vs Crazy Suicide 4×4 – Thursday 12 February – 20:00 CET

Scout 2on2 + Highlander #2 Cup: Sign-Up Phase starting

Our next two Fun Cup Sign-Ups finally open tonight, at 20:00 CET! We invite all interested players and teams to get together, sign up and have fun in these special competitions. Up to 64 teams will be able to play in the upcoming Scout 2on2 Cup; our 2^nd Highlander Cup will have 32 spots available. If you want a safe spot, sign in as early as possible!

Dates for both cups

• Sign-Ups open: Sunday, 8^th February, 20:00 CET
• Sign-Ups close: Sunday, 15^th February, 23:59 CET (or earlier when all spots are filled)
• Round 1: Monday, 16^th February till Sunday, 1^st March

Scout 2on2 Cup – Details

• Slots: 64
• Gamemode: 2on2, Scouts only, Best of 3 Maps, Arena Maps (exact Gamemode and Map-Pool will be published in the next days)
• Sign-Up Requirements: At least two players registered + at least two different contact methods entered

• Note: You will have to register a separate 2on2 team first. [Register Team Link]

• [Sign Up Link]

Highlander Cup #2 – Details

• Slots: 32
• Gamemode: 9on9, General Classlimit 1, Best of 3 Maps (exact Map-Pool will be published in the next days)
• Sign-Up Requirements: At least ten players registered + at least two different contact methods entered

• Note: You will have to register a separate Highlander team first. [Register Team Link]

• [Sign Up Link]

ETF2L Mapping Contest

To help promote awareness in our community for competitive maps, and to increase interest in mapping, ETF2L are announcing their first Mapping Competition!

Rules

1. It must be a 5 control point map
2. It must contain rotational symmetry
3. Submissions must contain brief documentation discussing likely tactics that the attackers/defenders can use for each area
4. Submissions must contain a suggestion of how an attacking or defending team might use an alternative class effectively on this map (spy, heavy, pyro, engineer)
5. All submissions must be based off of your own work (no re-hashes of existing maps may be entered)
6. Map must follow valve like conventions to support good navigation (red: wood, hay blu: steel, concrete)
7. Submissions must be entered in by 8th March

All maps must be made with competitive play as a priority. Intelligent design of the areas, item placement, spawn locations/times and capture point times are all crucial.

System

After the 8th all submissions will be judged by a player panel including various high level players. The maps will be judged on: potential gameplay, unique area design, navigation. Note that at this time aesthetics are not priority and will be weighted very low on judging, that said, appropriate placeholders for future updates and appropriate textures to make the map playable are required.

After this judging period the top 4 maps will go to a selected 8 team round robin league. Where each team plays one map versus each team. This ensures a lot of official play testing is performed. After the league has finished all teams are able to score each map: 4 points, 3 points, 2 points or 1 point. A community vote will also go out via a poll on ETF2L to garner the community the possibility to allocate points to each map, with the majority vote getting 4 points, then working its way down.

The map with the highest score will then have a 1 day cup hosted for it in the following week which will have media coverage. However all four maps will be considered as a possibility to be in the map pool for ETF2L season 5. Any candidate maps for this will have their authors requested to continue development of the map for rigorous play testing and finalizing aesthetics.

Demoman + Scout 1on1 Cups finished and archived

In the last days the finals of our both 1on1 cups were played. Amazingly Tumpel from Division 1 team Delirium managed to reach the final in both 1on1 cups with 128 participants each. But in the end, he weren’t able to get both titles: after losing against Shintaz from I Don’t Know? in a final over 3 maps last week (well 10:9, badlands 4:10, lumberyard 5:10 – [Match Page]) he probably were afraid of not even getting one title. He had to handle a pretty close match against his demoman cup final opponent, AnAkIn from Division 1 team redLine, but again after three maps and a theoretic overall score of 27:27 (well 10:9, badlands 7:10, lumberyard 10:8 – [Match Page]) Tumpel won the title! Both cups are archived now and can be found in our Hall of Fame [Link].

Big Congratulations to Shintaz and Tumpel for being the best in their class out of 128 players from all over Europe!

Instagib CTF 4on4 Cup: Instagib 1.1.3 released + Config Updates

A new update of Instagib has been released [Announcement]. The new version got some new added cvars which have been added to the official cup config. Please note all Instagib servers have to be updated with the new version + config.

Config changes

• instagib_enable 1
• instagib_dj 0
• instagib_flagh 1
• instagib_physprops 1
• instagib_elim 0
• [Updated Cup Config]

New Admins: Amonsilas, Goarstl, Kop and jonni!

After our announcement of searching for new motivated people to join our staff we are happy to announce the current search is over. Thanks for all people who wrote an applications and sorry we couldn’t take everyone in.

Anyway we would like to welcome four new admins to our ETF2L staff: Amonsilas, Goarstl, Kop and jonni! Welcome to the team and we hope you will have a great time working for the biggest Team Fortress 2 league worldwide!

Season 4 Week 4, Instagib & Basketball Round 1: Schedule Deadline

Tonight is the official Schedule Deadline for all matches of the 4^th Week in Season 4 and for both 1^st Rounds of the Basketball 2on2 and Instagib 4on4 Fun Cup. All matches which aren’t scheduled by tonight, 23:59 CET, will get a Default Date. Currently affected unscheduled matches are listed below.

Season 4: Week 4

• Division 2a: northwave.gaming vs Clones-Inc
• Division 2a: DCSB Red Team vs veAre.black
• Division 2a: dmg. vs Envision
• Division 2a: FakkelBrigade vs eL Diablo’s Brigade
• Division 2b: LOL Team vs FOG
• Division 2b: Nervous.tf2 vs [dT]
• Division 3a: Gathering of Tweakers Team 1 vs Galacticos
• Division 3a: n2o – gaming TF2 vs mine is BIGGER than yours
• Division 3a: Mafia vs Blood Pressure
• Division 3b: iClan vs Cavaliers RED
• Division 3b: Oh My God It Is vs Execute
• Division 3b: warriors of Legend vs HerbsArmy
• Division 3c: Totalitarian Brigade vs Nameless TF2 Squad
• Division 3d: ReVival vs enixe
• Division 3d: klan:fader vs Crit Rocket
• Division 4a: Distort Reality vs clickNplay
• Division 4a: *B@D* vs failure as Gamers <3
• Division 4b: SpecialAttack vs They Kick Ass
• Division 4b: Double D vs Cryoemia
• Division 4c: Special Air Services vs Unterwasserpyromanen
• Division 4d: [BloodMeat] vs Team Renovation
• Division 4d: Immortals vs Smart Move
• Division 5a: Maximum^2 vs Erdnuckels
• Division 5a: #RofL vs Team Effort
• Division 5b: it vs GoV
• Division 5c: 69ER Gaming Community vs Chancy Team
• Division 5d: Red Eyed Jedis vs Red Brigade
• Division 5e: Who Dares Wins vs S4Y-Multigaming
• Division 5f: boX?1 vs Die Philosoffen
• Division 5f: eXplosion C4 vs Gaming Masters Falcons Squad
• Division 6a: Presence vs Xenomorphs
• Division 6a: Black hawk down 1 vs dA-Gaming
• Division 6e: GoV Blu vs Team-Xplosion

Basketball 2on2 Cup: Round 1

• Zorkk & Toad vs 2Kings
• arnold eats shit vs peter pan & tinkerbell
• veAre.silver vs pink panther
• insAne vs Sex on a stick
• Failed Clan Name 2on2 vs cool clan
• Team Englian vs Dashing along them streets
• cvx bball vs BlackHawkDown1.bball
• Mishanya Team vs gBall
• 19% + 27% vs GumiFreak
• FLB_Bball vs Starship Troopers
• Renovation ball vs Tarasbukta
• DansTonKnux vs chill.bball
• Paz y amor, y el Plus pal salon vs Nau
• M ‘n M vs Mholk
• Strait vs Team Dropfruits
• Kab00m vs the.TEAM
• Hacemos el TF2 bello. vs Haumis
• The slashing Slash0rs vs Holy Mace-Wielding Minotaur Kings
• GLC vs Lethargy
• SALT & PEPPER vs ScArYsUcKeR.bball
• -.-‘ vs Zeves

Instagib 4on4 Cup: Round 1

• cool clan vs Split
• Pul Kai Arena Team vs InstaX
• Gathering of Gibbers vs Squad Killer 10
• Polgar JenaH vs PPB instagibbers!
• Piggy Bankers vs osos amorosos
• The Church of Tetris vs TKA.IG
• TEAM SdX’08 Instant Gib vs Team FLB
• Instapoints vs Imperox Instagib
• Instant LOL vs impressive
• Forever-Gaming.TF2 vs guinneX.fox
• Conquerors vs execute
• #false.flag vs Blood Pressure Fun
• bandytka w chuj vs #hobbygaming
• Keine halben Sachen – Arena vs Mr. Taytos

The leading manufacturer of innovative professional gaming gear, SteelSeries, today announced new gaming surfaces in cooperation with some of the best professional gaming teams in the world. The teams, Meet Your Makers, Fnatic and Made in Brazil, are comprised of championship gamers who collectively won more than USD 650,000 in 2008.

SteelSeries QcK+ Limited Editions are limited edition super-sized mouse pads made of a high quality cloth material, featuring an eye-catching design created in cooperation with each individual team. The combination of the high quality cloth and an optimized textured surface, guarantees both smoothness and glide while the specially designed non-slip rubber base prevents the mouse pad from sliding. With a height of 4 mm (twice as thick as standard QcK+ pads) the SteelSeries QcK+ Limited Edition products are unique, created to help SteelSeries partners generate some extra revenue for their gaming teams.

SteelSeries QcK+ Limited Edition highlights:

– Smooth cloth surface

– Heavy thickness reduces problems from uneven surfaces

– Steady rubber base

– XXL sized

– Team artwork

“Since our inception in 2001 SteelSeries has been working closely with professional gamers and teams, to develop, optimize and create products that help them win. Their feedback has been instrumental to our growth and has helped us create products that live up to the professional gaming standard,” says Kim Rom, Vice President of Marketing for SteelSeries. “Our new line of mouse pads are the first wave of products that will hit the market in 2009, which will generate cash directly for our trusted partners, allowing them to continue what they do best: attend tournaments, compete and win.”

“The co-operation with SteelSeries has exceeded all expectations and it is great to work with such an enthusiastic company which shares the same visions as we do,” said Mark Peter Fries, COO for Meet Your Makers. “The mouse pads not only look amazing, but are also top notch when it comes to the little details that gamers want when they choose their mouse pads, such as the glide of the pad, feel, size and grip.”

“Made in Brazil is very proud of having their brand stamped on a product that has all the preferred conditions for professional and casual players,” says Paulo Velloso, CEO for Made in Brazil. “It combines quality, excellent functionality and importantly, a very pleasing appearance.”

“At Fnatic we pride ourselves on two important things, 1. we want to be the best at everything we do, 2. we want it to be fun and look cool in the process. With the Fnatic pad we think we have nailed both, a pad that helps our performance but also is true Fnatic style at the same time,” says Sam Mathews, CEO for team Fnatic. “We are extremely excited to be working with SteelSeries on this new product, which I know is just the first of a series of new gaming products in cooperation between SteelSeries and Fnatic.”

The SteelSeries QcK+ Limited Editions are compatible with all types of mice and are now available in North America, Europe and Asia.