Highlander Spring '24 Changes!
The following are changes that will debut in Highlander Spring '24.
Map Pool
Below you'll find the Spring '24 Map Pool.
Highlander Spring '24 Map Pool:
Upward
Swiftwater
Vigil
Summercoast
Steel
Product
Ashville
Proot
While we're still trying to stick to our initiative of a smaller, more refined map pool, we listened to player feedback requesting more maps and have come to a middle ground. This season we'll be adding one more stopwatch map for a total of 8 Maps.
Proot & Summercoast
This season we'll be adding Proot and Summercoast to our Map Pool. Proot has been in high demand since it was removed after Autumn '24. It is a well-designed map that had high vote totals throughout all of our recent polls so it makes a lot of sense for us to add it back into the pool. As for Summercoast, it was the most requested map for addition into regular season after Experimental Cup 3. The map also had a very high pick rate in playoffs throughout the cup cementing the idea of adding into the Map Pool.
Warmtic & Daenam
With the addition of Proot we have decided to say goodbye to Warmtic for now with it being the most disliked map in the Winter '24 Season's Map Pool. These two maps always seem to be neck and neck in terms of liked-ness by the community so it would come as no shock if we saw these maps being swapped in and out again in the future. While Daenam was our second highest requested map from Experimental Cup 3, the feedback we've received from players has led us to believe that the map is not ready to be played in a regular season of ozfortress Highlander at this stage in time.
Whitelist Changes
Natascha Unchained
The Natascha will be unbanned for Highlander Spring '24. Our poll feedback from the Experimental Cup outlined a trend of players either not noticing it being used or realizing how minimal its impact was overall during their matches. However, we will be monitoring its usage and players thoughts on it throughout the entirety of Spring '24.
Loch-n-Load Locked up
The Loch-n-Load will be banned for Highlander Spring '24. In the Experimental Cup poll data, players stated that the weapon's absence from competition was quite noticeable. Yet, the votes for removing it from the Spring '24 season was only slightly greater than votes wanting it to remain unbanned. Thus, we discussed the choice to ban it internally with advisors, after which we came to the conclusion that we will be banning the weapon due to its oppressive presence in competition. Like the Natascha, we will monitoring players thoughts about the choice to remove it and see if it will be worth bringing it back in subsequent ozfortress Highlander competitions.
Playoffs
Playoff Size
We intend to expand playoffs to include more teams with division's sizes of 8 teams or greater having a playoffs bracket that houses a total of 6 teams. The playoff's bracket would behavior in the same fashion as the Division 1 bracket used during Experimental Cup 3. Divisions of 7 or fewer teams will still use the tried and true Page Playoff system however. This is to encourage teams to put effort in all season long to make playoffs and gives more teams to opportunity to finish higher with in the season's rankings.
Bronze Final
After its popularity in the Experimental Cup we've decided to offer teams a Bronze Final that will occur in the same week as our Grand Finals. This match between 3rd and 4th place will be forfeitable in its introductory season with team being allowed to forfeit the match. However, which ever team ends up forfeiting the match will ultimately finish the season in 4th place. Depending on its potential and popularity we may incorporate it in future seasons beyond Spring '24.
ABBA in all Divisions
For all playoff matches moving forward, ABBA will be on by default for all divisions. This decision has come after seeing its popularity and positive reception in Round 4's ABBA match of Winter '24 and the Grand/Bronze Finals of Experimental Cup 3. However, if both teams decide they don't want to play ABBA in their playoff's match, they may disable it for all stopwatch maps. Meaning, ABBA is either on for all stopwatch maps, or off, for all stopwatch maps. This won't be a pick-n-mix, you can't mix and match your sweets. KOTH (King of the Hill) with still be played as a first to 3 rounds won (BO5) per map.
Tiebreaker Metric
We'll be keeping the site scoring metrics we used at the end of the last season of Highlander. However, come playoffs we will be using a metric contrived by League admin redja that takes individual team's win rates and compare it to their potential win rate if the site scoring fails to display distinct rankings come playoffs. Below is the order of tiebreakers used to determine playoff standings;
- Map Points
- Direct encounter
- Round Win rate Calculation
Rosters & Transfers
Roster Size for Signups
Last season we capped the roster size for signups at 12 allowing teams to transfer in the remainder of their players at a later date for a total roster size of 15. Moving forward we will be allowing teams to sign up with the full 15-player roster at the start of the season.
Transfer Windows
After trialing fortnightly transfer windows last season we will be returning to weekly windows. With this in mind, teams will only be allowed to transfer in 2 players per window as opposed to the 3 players they were allowed to transfer in last season.
Signups Close Soon!
Don't forget that Signups close this Saturday! If you require any assistance such as finding a team, finding players or any other sort of assistance. Please reach out to our Highlander Admins or alternatively open a support ticket in our discord and we'll get back to you ASAP.
Global Ruleset Changes
Global Ruleset changes are on the way and should be live with a news post in the next couple of days. Due to the limited time this off-season, we are quite busy but working to get everything out.
Back into the fray!
It's all about peace, love and frags. Rounding out the year we have our final Highlander competition set for the Spring time of 2024.
Signups
You can sign up for Highlander Spring '24 from today (Wednesday the 25th of September) up until Saturday the 5th of October at 11:59pm AEST. With this in mind we'll aim to have seedings out by Sunday the 6th or Monday the 7th at the latest with the Season starting on Wednesday the 9th of October.
SIGNUP NOW · SEASON PAGE
Season Changes
Over the course of the next week our staff will be in meetings and discussions in which we will be reviewing the data collected from both surveys from Winter '24 and Experimental Cup 3. After consulting with our internal advisor team, a separate news post will be published documenting all the changes that will be implemented for Highlander Spring '24, and the Global Ruleset at large.
Admin Departures
Both Rainy and hive will be stepping down as Highlander Admins for the foreseeable future. Rainy has been a valued member of our team since the very beginning of ozfortress Highlander back in Season 1. He's been a backbone of our internal operations and we can't thank him enough for the time he's given up over the course of the last 2 years. Thanks for keeping us (Sperkle) level headed over the seasons and we wish you nothing but the best in all your future endeavors.
As for Mr. hive (Robert), everyone on our staff team is in agreement that hive has been one of the kindest, and most compassionate administrators that we've had the pleasure of working with. Hive always does his best to provide support to any and all player's who need it and has gone above and beyond in his time with us.
Whilst we're not bringing on any new staff this season, you'll still have both Sperkle and Kai as well as the previous Trial Administrators redja and woozy graduating into fully fledged League Admins. We are still looking for individual's who would be interested in becoming League Administrators in the future however. If this appeals to you, please fill in one of our Staff Applications and we'll get back to you.
(Graphic by dezi)
Congratulations to our respective Premier and Main division winners Atomic Deluxe and Tracy Waldron! And of course, a big thanks to all the teams who competed in the Winter '24 season of ozfortress Highlander. We'll be back very soon with our Spring competition!
Below you will find the final placements for the Winter '24 season of Highlander as well as player and team awards.
Congratulations Premier winners Atomic Deluxe!
Placements
- Atomic Deluxe
- BRIANLANDER
- crylander
Grand Final Map Scores
Swiftwater: 2 - 0
Steel: 2 - 0
Match
Awards
Best Scout: HUNGRY.4.EGGS
Best Soldier: Lizrd-Wizrd
Best Pyro: brodie escobar
Best Demoman: Doge.exe has stopped working
Best Heavy: JP
Best Engineer: Sexy Turtle
Best Medic: remorse
Best Sniper: Flow
Best Spy: Andyroo
Most Improved Player: chimes
Most Valuable Player: Doge.exe has stopped working
Most Improved Team: BRIANLANDER
Friendliest Team: good pug
Best Dressed Team: Significant Otter
Best Caster: Rainy
Congratulations Main winners Tracy Waldron!
Placements
- Tracy Waldron
- Scurvy Ridden
- CONNECTICUT KIA BOYZ
Grand Final Map Scores
Swiftwater: 1 - 0
Vigil: 0 - 1
Ashville: 3 - 1
Match
Awards
Best Scout: April
Best Soldier: indy and her jones
Best Pyro: Relz
Best Demoman: akari
Best Heavy: chill weed vibes only
Best Engineer: arbabf
Best Medic: bobo
Best Sniper: seiran
Best Spy: hef & Classy Doctor
Most Improved Player: Mr. Venom
Most Valuable Player: seiran
Most Improved Team: Dispensers
Friendliest Team: Should Be Studying
Best Dressed Team: CONNECTICUT KIA BOYZ
Best Caster: freaky
Just as a small aside, clip submissions for Experimental Cup 3 will close at 11:59pm AEST this Friday the 27th. Please have all your clips with demos, summited via this google form by then.
Furthermore, if you haven't already please take a look at the Post-Experimental Cup 3 Survey. The feedback from which will go into shaping the upcoming Spring '24 Season.
"let us cook", Hey! That's my line!
Below you can find the transfer history for all divisions. Please note this history is directly copied from our internal transfer management panel, so the formatting is rather rough.
Premier History
Transfer Window #1
- Cobra Transferred into Youth for Christ
- shy Transferred into S.M.
- bambi Transferred out of crylander
- child redditor Transferred into crylander
- zias Transferred into rascals
- MEMORIES Transferred into Where no ability meets no effort
Transfer Window #2
- Cobra Transferred out of Youth for Christ
- Spud Transferred out of Significant Otter
- rosss3s Transferred into Significant Otter
Transfer Window #3
- Lev Transferred into Where no ability meets no effort
- Zinsh Transferred out of Significant Otter
- Bacone Transferred into Significant Otter
Transfer Window #4
- synthelin. Transferred out of Significant Otter
- kaldoz Transferred into Significant Otter
Transfer Window #5
- Corn Transferred into Guzman y Gibus
Emergency Transfers
- child redditor Transferred out of crylander. Banned for Failing Demo Checks (22/11).
- mashiro Transferred out of S.M. & into crylander (28/11).
Main History
Transfer Window #1
- Maplemage Transferred into MouseWarriors
- manglemonster Transferred into Bisexual Lighting
- Cantrip Transferred into Bisexual Lighting
- LuigisBigMac Transferred into rat gaming
- time Transferred into sejinming fever
Transfer Window #2
- Cobra Transferred into Bisexual Lighting
Transfer Window #3
- Snowi8767 #SaveTF2 Transferred out of rat gaming
- PlagueRa8 Transferred into funny people
- The Girl From Planet 024 Transferred into funny people
- Postmeridie Transferred into Rich and Granious
Transfer Window #4
- dezi Transferred into Rich and Granious
- AmethystDragon10 Transferred into funny people
- eLLLLLLLLLᵢₑ Transferred into funny people
Transfer Window #5
- night Transferred into Rich and Granious
- June (she/her) Transferred into funny people
- zek Transferred into funny people
- Diavolo Diablo Transferred into rat gaming
- Robert Transferred into rat gaming
Emergency Transfers
- jyydn Transferred out of sejinming fever. Banned for Cheating (23/11).
- WORLD's BLaNKIEsT BLaNK Transferred into sejinming fever (24/11).
Mercenaries Used
Below you can find all the Mercenaries Used for all division throughout Spring '24 Highlander.
Premier History
chimes merc'd for crylander Round 1
lau merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 1
Angus merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 2
john the asian merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 2
Andyroo merc'd for Youth for Christ Round 2
nightjar merc'd for Youth for Christ Round 2
freaky merc'd for rascals Round 2
Aswero merc'd for Significant Otter Round 2
norbit the plug merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 3
Lev merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 3
Aswero merc'd for Significant Otter Round 3
Kitt merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 4
rosss3s merc'd for Guzman y Gibus Round 4
nightjar merc'd for Guzman y Gibus Round 4
freaky merc'd for rascals Round 4
Doctrine merc'd for rascals Round 4
Flow merc'd for rascals Round 4
Trash merc'd for Youth for Christ Round 4
Bluemmy merc'd for Youth for Christ Round 4
flow merc'd for rascals Round 5
kaldoz merc'd for S.M. Round 5
gogen merc'd for Youth for Christ Round 5
Doctrine merc'd for crylander Round 5
oLae!™ merc'd for Guzman Y Gibus Round 5
norbit the plug merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 6
HUNGRY.4.EGGS merc'd for crylander Round 7
❤henwe❤ merc'd for rascals Round 7
skyhigh merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Round 7
lizzo merc'd for Youth for Christ Round 7
peep merc'd for Guzman Y Gibus Round 7
gogen merc'd for Youth for Christ Quarter Final
skyhigh merc'd for Where no ability meets no effort Quarter Final
Square Bread merc'd for Significant Otter Semi-Final
omni merc'd for rascals Semi-Final
Main
funGus merc'd for sejinming fever Round 1
nightjar merc'd for sejinming fever Round 1
Tenous merc'd for sejinming fever Round 1
bobb0 merc'd for funny people Round 1
astral merc'd for funny people Round 1
Cantrip merc'd for Bisexual Lighting Round 1
manglemonster merc'd for Bisexual Lighting Round 1
Maplemage merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 1
noemie merc'd for Rich and Grainous Round 1
LuigisBigMac merc'd for rat gaming Round 1
peep merc'd for Rich and Grainous Round 2
jyydn merc'd for Bisexual Lighting Round 2
ziah merc'd for rat gaming Round 2
Sulu merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Round 2
Zemi merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 2
Dan merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 2
Wodah merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Round 3
Dan merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 3
Zemi merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 3
Amph merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 3
SpicyHipJesus merc'd for Rich and Grainous Round 3
silent* merc'd for Rich and Grainous Round 3
Mirage merc'd for funny people Round 3
Kai merc'd for funny people Round 4
bobb0 merc'd for funny people Round 4
dezi merc'd for mousewarriors Round 4
Ramsp merc'd for Bürgr Round 4
tom. merc'd for sejinming fever Round 4
broccoli merc'd for sejinming fever Round 4
freaky merc'd for sejinming fever Round 4
Relz merc'd for Bisexual Lighting Round 5
nightjar merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Round 5
Sulu merc'd for funny people Round 5
Pierce merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 5
Mirage merc'd for sejinming fever Round 5
silent* merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Round 6
Pierce merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 6
eustress merc'd for MouseWarriors Round 6
tom. merc'd for sejinming fever Round 7
Cute Fuzzy Penguin merc'd for funny people Round 7
kafka1920 merc'd for funny people Round 7
randomcat merc'd for rat gaming Round 7
Pulse merc'd for rat gaming Quarter Final
nightjar merc'd for rat gaming Quarter Final
mean bug merc'd for sejinming fever Quarter Final
freaky merc'd for sejinming fever Semi-Final
Sulu merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Semi-Final
Amatorii merc'd for Bisexual Lighting Semi-Final
Sulu merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Bronze-Final
silent* merc'd for With Blackjack and Furries! Bronze-Final
Highlander Winter '24 & Experimental Cup 3
Post-Competition Survey Results
Survey Results will be available at a later date.
Why don't we show the text responses?
We hide text responses to properly filter and address the feedback internally without the concern of someones response being criticized or judged by the community.
Key Dates & Transfer Windows
Key Dates
Signups & Seedings Dates
Wednesday 25th of September 2024: Signups Open
Saturday 5th of October 2024: Signups Close, Rosters Locked for Seedings
Sunday 6th of October 2024: Seedings Released
Wednesday 9th of October 2024: Season starts
Regular Season Dates
Wednesday 9th October - Sunday 13th October 2024: Round 1
Wednesday 16th October - Sunday 20th October 2024: Round 2
Wednesday 23rd October - Sunday 27th October 2024: Round 3
Wednesday 30th October - Sunday 3rd November 2024: Round 4
Wednesday 6th November - Sunday 10th November 2024: Round 5
Roster Lock applied on Wednesday 13th November 2024
Wednesday 13th August - Sunday 17th August 2024: Round 6
Wednesday 20th August - Sunday 24th August 2024: Round 7
Playoffs Dates for Premier & Main
Wednesday 27th November - Sunday 1st December : Page Playoffs
Wednesday 4th December - Sunday 8th December 2024: Semi-Finals
Wednesday 11th December - Sunday 15th December 2024: Grand Finals
Playoffs
All divisions of 6 teams will use the Page Playoff system and all divisions of 8 team or more will use a custom system similar to that used for Division 1 in Experimental Cup 3 for their finals.
Bronze Finals
We will be introducing a Bronze Final match that will take place in the same week as Grand Final between the 3rd and 4th place teams. This match may be forfeited by either team with no repercussions this season. The team who was ranked 3rd will finish 3rd regardless of which team forfeits the Bronze Final.
Transfer Windows
Transfers this season will be processed and approved on a weekly basis. There will be five transfer windows for this season of Highlander. Teams should note the Transfer Windows to prevent player issues with their rosters during the season. Transfers can be requested at any point during the season, however, the players in question will only be reviewed during the current or next Transfer Window, depending on when that player was requested. Furthermore, players won't be processed until their team's match has concluded for the current round. The listed transfer windows can be found below.
For applicants to be eligible to play in a particular round, the transfer application must be submitted by 11:59 PM AEST/AEDT time the Tuesday of the round before the transfer window.
Teams are permitted to a total of 6 player transfers into their roster this season. Only 2 Player Transfers are processed in each window.
Transfer Window #1
Wednesday 9th October - Tuesday 16th October 2024: Round 1
Transfer Window #1 starts after Final Placements have been released, and closes 11.59PM Tuesday the 8th of October 2024Transfer Window #2
Wednesday 16th October - Tuesday 22nd October 2024: Round 2
Transfer Window #3
Wednesday 23rd October - Tuesday 29th October 2024: Round 3
Transfer Window #4
Wednesday 30th October - Tuesday 5th November 2024: Round 4
Transfer Window #5
Wednesday 6th November - Tuesday 12th November 2024: Round 5
Roster Lock applied Wednesday 13th November 2024
Player Restrictions
The number of restricted players allowed on one roster this season is 5.
Player Restrictions
sejinming fever
angus Restricted off Scout, Soldier, Demoman, Heavy & Sniper
saint Restricted off Scout & Demoman
eunsoo Restricted off Scout, Soldier, Demoman, Sniper & Spy
WORLD's BLaNKIEsT BLaNK Restricted TO Sniper
time restricted TO Medic.
Bisexual Lighting
Bree Restricted off Pyro
hive Restricted off Pyro & Demoman
Annabelle Restricted off Sniper
noemie Restricted off Sniper
Cobra restricted TO Medic.
Rich and Grainous
dezi restricted off Demoman
night restricted off Demoman
rat gaming
silent* Restricted off Scout & Demoman
crylander
mashiro Restricted TO Soldier
Significant Otter
surge Restricted TO Engineer
Previously Restricted Players
jyydn Restricted off Scout
- serveme
- KritzKast
- CappingTV
- callouts.tf
-
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