(art by dezi)

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Highlander Flood

It's raining down in ozfortress, must mean it's Highlander time again. Welcome to the start of our 2025 Highlander run beginning with our 9th season, Autumn '25.

Signups

You can sign up for Highlander Autumn '25 from today (Thursday the 16th of January) up until Wednesday the 5th of February at 11:59pm AEDT. With this in mind we'll aim to have seedings out by Sunday the 9th or Monday the 10th of February at the latest with the Season starting on Wednesday the 12th of February.

SIGNUP NOW · SEASON PAGE

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Season Changes On The Way

While we aren't ready to share any of the changes we'll be implementing in the coming season as of right now, another post will be released in the coming days once we've established and finalized all changes that are set to occur this season. If you haven't already, make sure you check out our Post-season Surveys that we've released in the previous Highlander Spring '24 - Winners & Award Recipients post. Feedback from these surveys will help shape future seasons so get it quick before they're gone forever... On that note...

Autumn '25 Feedback Form

For the time being we intend to move away from doing end of season surveys. They simply don't yield enough meaningful responses to justify doing them season after season. In their place we will be implementing a General Feedback Form which can be filled in at any point throughout the season. This form will then be looked at with all the submitted feedback, criticism and ideas at the end of each season and wiped going into the start of the next. Any other important data points from our previous Post-season Surveys such as map votes and whitelist changes will be moved to discord polls to incentivize responses in a simpler setting.

New Admins Wanted!

For this coming season we're looking to pick up 2 more Highlander Administrators to join the team. You can apply to join via the aforementioned Post-season Surveys or via our Staff Applications section on our forum. The position of Highlander Admin revolves around the smooth running of all highlander leagues, matches and competitions within ozfortress. This includes, but isn't limited too; settling match disputes, generating match pages on the website and match communication channels in the ozfortress captain's discord, discussing the internal progression and changes of seasons and events and spectating matches as a referee. If any of this interests you, Kai, redja, woozy and myself (Sperkle) would love to have you on our team.

Spring '24 Round Bans

• rohan Banned Rounds 1 & 2 of Spring '24.
• lau Banned Round 1 of Spring '24.
• bubsdoge Banned Rounds 1 & 2 of Spring '24.
• arqu Banned Round 1 of Spring '24.
• APVC Banned Rounds 1, 2 & 3 of Spring '24.
• 21st Century Schizoid Yeen Banned Rounds 1, 2 & 3 of Spring '24.

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Premier Transfer History

Transfer Window #1

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Transfer Window #2

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Transfer Window #3

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Transfer Window #4

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Transfer Window #5

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Emergency Transfers

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Main Transfer History

Transfer Window #1

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Transfer Window #2

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Transfer Window #3

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Transfer Window #4

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Transfer Window #5

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Emergency Transfers

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Mercenaries Used

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Below you can find all the Mercenaries Used for all division throughout Spring '24 Highlander.

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Premier Merc History

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

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Playoffs Round 1

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Playoffs Round 2

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Playoffs Round 3

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Main Merc History

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

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Playoffs Round 1

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Playoffs Round 2

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Playoffs Round 3

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Key Dates & Transfer Windows

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Key Dates

Signups & Seedings Dates

Thursday 16th of January 2025: Signups Open
Wednesday 5th of February 2025: Signups Close, Rosters Locked for Seedings
Sunday 9th of February 2025: Seedings Released
Wednesday 12th of February 2025: Season starts

Regular Season Dates

Wednesday 12th February - Sunday 16th February 2025: Round 1
Wednesday 19th February - Sunday 23rd February 2025: Round 2
Wednesday 26th February - Sunday 2nd March 2025: Round 3
Wednesday 5th March - Sunday 9rd March 2025: Round 4
Wednesday 12th March - Sunday 16th March 2025: Round 5
Roster Lock applied on Wednesday 19th March 2025
Wednesday 19th March - Sunday 23rd March 2025: Round 6
Wednesday 26th March - Sunday 30th March 2025: Round 7

Playoffs Dates for Premier & Main

Wednesday 2nd April - Sunday 6th April 2025: Playoffs Round 1
Wednesday 9th April - Sunday 13th April 2025: Playoffs Round 2 / Semi-Finals
Wednesday 16th April - Sunday 20th April 2025: Playoffs Round 3 / Grand & Bronze Finals

Transfer Windows

Transfers windows will be determined prior to the start of the season.

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.

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(Graphic by dezi)

That's a wrap on 2024 Highlander. Congratulations to the winner of the Premier division S.M. and the winners of the Main division sejinming fever. 2025 Highlander is almost here, so don't bask in these team's glory for too long, a new champion(s) may be around the corner.

Below are the Final Rankings and Awards for the Spring '24 season of Highlander.

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Congratulations Premier winners S.M.!

Placements

- S.M.
- crylander
- Significant Otter
- rascals

Grand Final Map Scores

Match · VOD

• Ashville: 3 - 2
• Swiftwater: 2 - 0

Bronze Final Map Scores

Match · VOD

• Swiftwater: 1 - 2
• Vigil: 2 - 1
• Upward: 2 - 1

Awards

Best Scout: krollic (15), HUNGRY.4.EGGS (11), Miffy (6)
Best Soldier: Lizrd-Wizrd (15), norbit the plug (10), mashiro (9)
Best Pyro: bird (16), Styx + peep (8), CH (4)
Best Demoman: maz (13), <user> (12), turris (8)
Best Heavy: typo. (15), HASHFAN (9), Flow (8)
Best Engineer: Sexy Turtle (15), Mikcow (9), redja (5)
Best Medic: remorse (15), jd (12), tal (6)
Best Sniper: calski (14), strawbunny (7), bill + myyyst (5)
Best Spy: Andyroo (15), henwe (12), chimes (4)

Most Improved Player: Mikcow (14), norbit the plug (10), jv (8)
Most Valuable Player: Lizrd-Wizrd (7), Andyroo (5), maz + calski + HUNGRY.4.EGGS (4)
Most Improved Team: crylander (10), rascals (7), Where no ability meets no effort + S.M. + Youth for Christ (6)
Friendliest Team: S.M. + Significant Otter (9), rascals (7), Youth for Christ (6)
Best Dressed Team: S.M. (13), Youth for Christ + Significant Otter + crylander (7), rascals (6)

Best Caster: Rainy (14), jennierubyjane (11), Freaky (10)

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Congratulations Main winners sejinming fever!

Placements

- sejinming fever
- Bisexual Lighting
- Rich and Grainous
- With Blackjack and Furries!

Grand Final Map Scores

Match

• Ashville: 3 - 0
• Upward: 2 - 1

Bronze Final Map Scores

Match

• Ashville: 3 - 0
• Vigil: 2 - 0

Awards

Best Scout: noemie (16), eden (10), Zando (7)
Best Soldier: indy and her jones (13), Gears + APVC (9), zdav (6)
Best Pyro: ziah + FriendlyPyromancer (11), Cryo (10), Cantrip (8)
Best Demoman: Glitchy (12), Pigel + klebs (10), Mirage (8)
Best Heavy: SpicyHipJesus (17), manglemonster (12), GUNWR0NG (7)
Best Engineer: angus (11), Sev + Verydarklord (10), arbabf (9)
Best Medic: olivergeeoz (16), Miss Squidge (10), Sly Rocko (9)
Best Sniper: FIN + Evelynn (13), J (7), WORLD's BLaNKIEsT BLaNK (6)
Best Spy: Bree (13), MonsterGunner0v0 (10), Karly (9)

Most Improved Player: SwaySway (12), Cantrip (10), Zando (9)
Most Valuable Player: SpicyHipJesus (6), klebs + Pigel + olivergeeoz + Mirage + angus + eunsoo + WORLD's BLaNKIEsT BLaNK + Bree (3)
Most Improved Team: With Blackjack and Furries! (13), rat gaming (8), funny people (7)
Friendliest Team: With Blackjack and Furries! (14), Bisexual Lighting (10), funny people (8)
Best Dressed Team: Bisexual Lighting (19), With Blackjack and Furries! (7), funny people (6)

Best Caster: Freaky (20), nightjar (15), Rainy (13)

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Post Spring '24 Surveys

To ensure our Autumn '25 Highlander competition runs as smoothly and fluidly as possible we're wanting to hear from all players who competed in the Spring '24 Season. Below you will find two Post-season Surveys for players who competed in the respective Premier and Main divisions. The surveys are identical and separated for our convenience. Any and all feedback about the running of our regular seasons is always greatly appreciated.

Surveys

• Premier Survey
• Main Survey

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Player Restrictions

The number of restricted players allowed on one roster this season will be decided upon after seedings.

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Player Restrictions

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Division Admins

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All communication with Division Admins must occur within the Team Captain Discord. Team Captains will be invited after the conclusion of Signups. If you are not in this Discord, please reach out immediately.

HIGHLANDER HEAD ADMINISTRATOR

• Sperkle

DIVISION ADMINISTRATORS

• Kai
• woozy
• redja

To see our complete list including Discord handles, see our Staff page here.

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Map Schedule

TBD

Map Pool

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Highlander Autumn '25 Map Pool

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Changes to the Highlander Autumn '25 Map Pool

• TBD

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Woofer

It brings us great sadness to share that on Monday the 23rd of December 2024, ozfortress player and community member Woofer sadly passed away. Woofer has been an active participant in ozfortress competitions for over four years and will be missed by many members of the community. In the future, we will be sharing links to charitable causes if anybody would like to make a donation in his name. Our thoughts are with woofer's friends and family in this difficult time.

The ozfortress admin team
(Posted on the 7th of January 2025)

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Cat Haven

As we mentioned in the initial post above, Woofer's family has elected a charity for donations to be made to in Woofer's name. Cat Haven is based in Western Australia and is responsible for taking care of homeless cats until they can be rehomed in safe and loving environments. Woofer had a great affinity for cats and his family and friends felt this was a very fitting charity to give to in his memory. If you would like to donate to Cat Haven and find out more about their work you can find the donation link below.

🐈 Cat Haven

(Posted on the 11th of January 2025)

(Poster & Artwork by requim)

Witness Gaming AU for Denver LAN 2025!

On the horizon of 2025 a new LAN has been announced in the City of Denver, Colorado. While you may think this American Lan is to be inconsequential for the likes of us Australian's (and New Zealanders) you couldn't be more wrong!

For the first time since 2017 (going on 8 years ago) our very own Australian squad Witness Gaming is looking to compete overseas against the likes of America's and Europe's best teams. The roster that will be representing our region in Denver from the 24th to the 26th of May 2025 will be as follows;

Witness Gaming AU:

Combo Scout: cooki
Flank Scout: silvo
Pocket Soldier: conor
Roamer Soldier: down
Demoman: enrith
Medic: lau

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How you can help get the squad to Denver

To make this possible the team is asking the community to contribute an approximate amount of $6330 AUD. This will help cover numerous expenses and will make the overall trip easier for the players who will be representing our region. In return, the members of the Witness Gaming roster have set multiple fundraiser goals as well as numerous donation perks for contributors who chip in certain amounts. At the time of writing, the team has already raised 10% of their set goal in under 24 hours!

If you're looking to contribute to our Aussie boy's push to attend the Fireside LAN in 2025 you can find links to donate both money and in-game items below. You can also view more information about Witness Gaming's attendance and the Lan overall via the TeamFortressTV posts also linked below.

Best of luck to cooki, silvo, conor, down, enrith and lau! All of us from the ozfortress community will be cheering you on from home o7.

Donation Links (edit as of 04/01/25 - donation target REACHED):

• Witness Gaming Indiegogo Fundraiser

• Trade link to donate in-game items to enrith (Demoman of Witness Gaming)

TeamFortressTV Threads:

• Get Australia to Denver LAN 2025 by enrith

• Physgun Fireside Denver 2025 (24-26 May) by lacyavenue

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