Sperkle
Highlander Head Admin & Media CoordinatorTeams
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Atomic Deluxe Playing in Premier for ozfortress Highlander Winter '24 (S7)
Transfers
- Joined Atomic Deluxe on Tue Jul 9 16:34:51 2024
- Joined TBD - Placeholder on Fri May 17 22:26:44 2024
- Left PENAL COLONY on Tue Feb 13 12:13:58 2024
- Joined PENAL COLONY on Tue Feb 13 12:11:00 2024
- Left Where no ability meets no effort on Tue Feb 13 12:10:01 2024
- Joined Where no ability meets no effort on Tue Feb 13 12:08:06 2024
- Left dap me up on Tue Feb 13 12:06:06 2024
- Joined dap me up on Tue Feb 13 12:04:20 2024
- Left Significant Otter on Tue Feb 13 12:02:19 2024
- Joined Significant Otter on Tue Feb 13 11:58:36 2024
- Left Significant Otter on Tue Feb 13 11:48:18 2024
- Joined Significant Otter on Tue Feb 13 11:46:44 2024
- Left Musos Deluxe on Sat Sep 23 16:27:54 2023
- Joined Musos Deluxe on Sun Mar 5 15:28:35 2023
- Left rascals on Mon Oct 24 22:13:43 2022
- Joined rascals on Sun May 29 18:50:57 2022
- Left du u kno de wae on Sun Mar 13 23:40:34 2022
- Left The badmen on Sun Mar 13 23:40:33 2022
- Left Grandpa In My Pocket on Sun Mar 13 23:40:32 2022
- Left eat ur bread on Fri May 11 17:41:59 2018
- Joined eat ur bread on Sat Apr 7 09:47:10 2018
- Joined The badmen on Wed Jan 24 13:18:12 2018
- Joined du u kno de wae on Thu Jan 11 15:23:38 2018
- Left TF2Frags.net on Thu Oct 19 21:50:08 2017
- Left missclick on Sat Jul 1 15:06:30 2017
- Joined TF2Frags.net on Sat May 13 21:50:29 2017
- Left Phoen on Tue Feb 21 18:52:57 2017
- Joined missclick on Tue Feb 21 18:52:49 2017
- Left I<3Badgers on Thu Feb 2 18:10:23 2017
- Joined Phoen on Thu Feb 2 16:55:19 2017
- Joined Grandpa In My Pocket on Fri Dec 16 21:29:35 2016
- Joined I<3Badgers on Mon Dec 5 18:35:53 2016
Sperkle has played in 11 leagues:
ozfortress Highlander Winter '24 (S7)
- Joined Atomic Deluxe in Premier on Mon Jul 22 18:35:02 2024
- Joined TBD - Placeholder in LDU 2024 Qualifiers on Fri May 17 22:27:00 2024
- Joined Musos Deluxe in Premier on Mon Jun 5 15:50:04 2023
- Joined rasgals in Premier on Thu Jun 2 17:11:38 2022
- Left eat ur veges in Open on Fri May 11 17:23:33 2018
- Joined eat ur veges in Open on Thu May 3 21:08:59 2018
- Joined The BadMen in Open on Thu Jan 25 16:46:26 2018
- Joined du u kno de wae in Open on Thu Jan 11 18:14:23 2018
- Left How I learned to stop worrying and love the ping in Intermediate on Fri Oct 6 10:05:11 2017
- Joined How I learned to stop worrying and love the ping in Intermediate on Fri Aug 25 18:13:41 2017
- Joined Help I'm Lagging in Open on Sat May 13 21:52:03 2017
- Joined missclick in Open on Fri Feb 24 00:10:08 2017
- Joined Grandpa In My Pocket in Open on Fri Dec 16 22:12:17 2016
FINAL SEEDINGS & PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
After player feedback and staff revisions we're made one change to our seedings list. We have made the decision to move item shop down into Division 3 and have moved Natascha Enjoyers up into Division 2 to replace them. With this in mind we have also modified both team's restriction making each team more inline with the competition in their divisions. Finally we've also added some additional restrictions to kimchi sensation who are participating in Division 2.
The Full list of Player Restrictions can be found here with all the changes made from the previous list being noted below Seedings.
DIVISION 1
brodie's esco bar
crylander
evil rascals: reckoning
Significant Otter
PENAL COLONY
hey im still legally employed
DIVISION 2
CHINESE DRAGON POWER
Where no ability meets no effort
kimchi sensation
Natascha Enjoyers
DIVISION 3
DIVISION 4
chess in the park
Burgr
Morb Fortress 2 - Morbheads
Furries Requiring Priority Seating
AMMENDED PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
DIVISION 2
Natascha Enjoyers
- oLae!™ Lifted Heavy & Sniper Restrictions
- NEBU!A Lifted Heavy Restriction
- Laz. Lifted Scout & Sniper Restrictions
- Jdn Lifted Solider Restriction
- chonk Lifted Soldier Restriction
kimchi sensation
DIVISION 3
item shop
- hive Added Pyro & Demoman Restrictions
- bree Added Pyro Restriction
- Cobra Added Scout & Sniper Restrictions
Matches kick off at 7:00pm AEST tomorrow so don't be late! By this time Rounds will have been generated and captain's will have been invited and set up with in the ozfortress Captain's Discord.
PRELIMINARY CUP SEEDINGS
We're so back. With 18 teams signed up for Experimental Cup 3 we've done our best to take into account all players and skill divisions. Below you can find our Preliminary Seedings and Player Restrictions for the cup. If you have any concerns, please reach out to the Highlander Administrators via our support channel in Discord.
Player Restrictions can be found here.
DIVISION 1
brodie's esco bar
crylander
evil rascals: reckoning
Significant Otter
PENAL COLONY
hey im still legally employed
DIVISION 2
CHINESE DRAGON POWER
Where no ability meets no effort
kimchi sensation
item shop
DIVISION 3
Natascha Enjoyers
Grainy Ridden
Unhinged
at least we all had fun :/
DIVISION 4
chess in the park
Burgr
Morb Fortress 2 - Morbheads
Furries Requiring Priority Seating
4 Teams per Division = Round Repeats
With Divisions 2, 3 & 4 having 4 teams in them, all teams will play one another twice before the playoffs. Teams will verse all other teams competing in their division once on Saturday and once again on Sunday for a total of 6 matches across all maps featured in the cup. With this in mind, all teams will make playoffs (Weekend 2) and will have at minimum 1 playoff match on Saturday and 1 Sunday.
Playoffs
For playoffs, the following Pick/Ban method will be used:
- Home Team Bans | Away Team Bans | Home Team Picks | Away Team Picks | Home Team Picks
After talking it over with staff and advisors, we've also decided that for playoffs, only the Grand Finals and the Bronze Match will have ABBA on for the Stopwatch/Payload Maps. Meaning, any Playoff rounds prior to these matches will not be played as ABBA. Teams can not elect to turn ABBA on or off during the Experimental Cup. This is a non-negotiable as the cup is running on a tight schedule.
The Division 1 Difference
For teams competing in the 6-team Division 1, there will only be 5 matches played before playoffs with all teams playing each other once. With this in mind, the final round of Sunday the 15th (Day 2 of Weekend 1) will not be played. However, the map that was to be played in this spot (Proplant) will still be included in the playoffs the following weekend (Weekend 2).
Speaking of playoffs - for Division 1 all 6 teams competing in the division will progress to playoffs (Weekend 2). This means all teams will have at minimum 1 playoff match to play. We will outline the playoffs structure for Division 1 playoffs at a later date as to not overcomplicate/confuse your Experimental Cup experience.
No Forfeits
Just to make it clear to all teams and captains, you are not permitted to forfeit any match for any reason throughout the Experimental Cup. If teams forfeit a match at any time, their roster will be disbanded and removed from the competition immediately, meaning, no players from the roster will receive in-game medals or any monetary rewards.
Season Award Voting
And that's a wrap on the Winter '24 Highlander Season. Thank you all for participating and competing in the seventh season of ozfortress Highlander, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. But now, on to voting. Voting for Highlander Winter '24 is open from now up to Sunday the 22nd of September 2024 at 11:59AEST. Ultimately Team Captain's of the teams who competed in Winter '24 Highlander are responsible for submitting their team's vote.
For anyone unfamiliar with the voting process you can find the full process in the aforementioned threads linked below but here is a brief summary;
Team captains vote for players who competed in their teams division for certain categories in which players are nominated in. From left to right players voted will receive 3, 2 and 1 points with the player with the most points receiving the award. All categories require 3 votes with teams and team captains being prohibited from voting for players who were rostered on their team. Votes only need to be done for the division you and your team competed in.
Votes are to be submitted to the admins listed on the voting spaces below.
Award Voting Threads & Guide
Post Season Surveys
We will also be releasing our usual Post Season Survey today to accompany the conclusion of the Winter '24 competition. This survey will be slightly shorter than usual as we will also be releasing one after the conclusion of Experimental Cup 3 and combine the data to help us structure future seasons.
Highlander Surveys
How to Vote
We've reformatted our voting threads to better enable captains in correctly formatting and submitting their votes to us. Take a look, and let us know if you run into any issues.
1. Putting your votes together
Captains shall select three options from the Nominated Players heading and put them in order of highest vote to lowest vote using the following template. The first name will receive three votes, the second will receive two votes and the third will receive one vote. Voting for your own teammates is not allowed, regardless of the award (this includes Best Caster).
Important formatting - you must copy-paste your vote EXACTLY, and separate votes using commas. Again we are using an automated script to process these votes, and incorrectly imputed votes may not be counted!
Your team name:
Your team division: PremierBest Scout: first-place vote, second-place vote, third-place vote
Best Soldier:
Best Pyro:
Best Demoman:
Best Heavy:
Best Engineer:
Best Medic:
Best Sniper:
Best Spy:
Friendliest Team:
Most Improved Player:
Most Improved Team:
Most Valuable Player:
Best Dressed Team:
Best Caster:
Your completed template should look like this (with the correct players on their classes, the same players have been used for each award in this example for simplicity) without the point allocations after each player name:
Your team name: Your Team Here
Your team division: Your Division HereBest Scout: /dev/zero (3 points), wiggin (2 points), obla (1 point)
Best Soldier: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Pyro: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Demoman: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Heavy: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Engineer: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Medic: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Sniper: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Spy: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Most Improved Player: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Most Improved Team: Atomic Affinity, Red Pandas, Musos Deluxe
Friendliest Team: Atomic Affinity, Red Pandas, Musos Deluxe
Best Caster: catfish, core, obla
Remember: Voting for your own teammates is not allowed.
Nominated Players
The following players and teams are nominated for awards:
Best Scout: krollic, HUNGRY.4.EGGS, Miffy, Time, EVIL GOON, lizzo, a festive fish
Best Soldier: jd, takeyon, Lizrd-Wizrd, omni, shy, jennierubyjane, yuna
Best Pyro: Thyme, matttt, peep, Aswero, Styxs, megumi, Bree
Best Demoman: mazz, silvo, <user>, Doge.exe has stopped working, turris, Gooseman, Doctrine
Best Heavy: JP, wilsonoid, HASHFAN, Zinsh, kbn, typo., Kurt
Best Engineer: Sexy Turtle, robor, Mikcow, Square Bread, redja, jupyter, strongman
Best Medic: remorse, lau, freaky, woozy, tal, Kai, silent*
Best Sniper: Flow, Ghost, bill, kaldoz, strawbunny, mashiro, Kitt
Best Spy: Andyroo, Cowche, henwe, Speedy, chimes, eunsoo, Daggerman105
Most Improved Player: jd, wilsonoid, <user>, Zinsh, chimes, lizzo, Bree
Most Improved Team: Atomic Deluxe, BRIANLANDER, crylander, Significant Otter, EVIL RASCALS, good pug, 50,000,000 Doctrine Fans Can't Be Wrong
Friendliest Team: Atomic Deluxe, BRIANLANDER, crylander, Significant Otter, EVIL RASCALS, good pug, 50,000,000 Doctrine Fans Can't Be Wrong
Most Valuable Player: krollic, jd, Thyme, mazz, JP, Sexy Turtle, remorse, Flow, Andyroo,
HUNGRY.4.EGGS, takeyon, matttt, silvo, wilsonoid, robor, lau, Ghost, Cowche, Miffy, Lizrd-Wizrd,
peep, <user>, HASHFAN, Mikcow, freaky, bill, henwe, Time, omni, Aswero,
Doge.exe has stopped working, Zinsh, Square Bread, woozy, kaldoz, Speedy, EVIL GOON, shy, Styxs, turris, kbn,
redja, tal, strawbunny, chimes, lizzo, jennierubyjane, megumi, Gooseman, typo., jupyter, Kai, mashiro,
eunsoo, lizzo, a festive fish, yuna, Bree, Doctrine, Kurt, strongman, silent*, Kitt, Daggerman105Best Dressed Team: Atomic Deluxe, BRIANLANDER, crylander, Significant Otter, EVIL RASCALS, good pug, 50,000,000 Doctrine Fans Can't Be Wrong
Best Caster: Sperkle, Rainy, turris, capy, freaky, tal, Dave, Shakey
2. Submitting your votes
The votes must be sent through to your division administrator via Discord DMs:
- Sperkle (@sperkle)
Votes need to be submitted to one of the admins listed above by the 22nd of September at 11:59pm AEST. Failing to do this will prevent your votes from being counted and will make your team in-eligible for in-game medals.
FAQ
How is Voting calculated?
We will use instant runoff voting to calculate the results.
Will we not receive in-game medals if we fail to submit our votes?
No, as we believe that every player should have the chance to be voted for.
How long will it take for Awards to be released?
The release of Awards often varies, but you can expect it usually within a week or two of Voting closing.
Thank you based Valen for their work to improve our scripts used for nominations and voting!
How to Vote
We've reformatted our voting threads to better enable captains in correctly formatting and submitting their votes to us. Take a look, and let us know if you run into any issues.
1. Putting your votes together
Captains shall select three options from the Nominated Players heading and put them in order of highest vote to lowest vote using the following template. The first name will receive three votes, the second will receive two votes and the third will receive one vote. Voting for your own teammates is not allowed, regardless of the award (this includes Best Caster).
Important formatting - you must copy-paste your vote EXACTLY, and separate votes using commas. Again we are using an automated script to process these votes, and incorrectly imputed votes may not be counted!
Your team name:
Your team division: PremierBest Scout: first-place vote, second-place vote, third-place vote
Best Soldier:
Best Pyro:
Best Demoman:
Best Heavy:
Best Engineer:
Best Medic:
Best Sniper:
Best Spy:
Friendliest Team:
Most Improved Player:
Most Improved Team:
Most Valuable Player:
Best Dressed Team:
Best Caster:
Your completed template should look like this (with the correct players on their classes, the same players have been used for each award in this example for simplicity) without the point allocations after each player name:
Your team name: Your Team Here
Your team division: Your Division HereBest Scout: /dev/zero (3 points), wiggin (2 points), obla (1 point)
Best Soldier: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Pyro: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Demoman: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Heavy: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Engineer: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Medic: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Sniper: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Best Spy: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Most Improved Player: /dev/zero, wiggin, obla
Most Improved Team: Atomic Affinity, Red Pandas, Musos Deluxe
Friendliest Team: Atomic Affinity, Red Pandas, Musos Deluxe
Best Caster: catfish, core, obla
Remember: Voting for your own teammates is not allowed.
Nominated Players
The following players and teams are nominated for awards:
Best Scout: rosss3s, April, shadi, tom., inStinct, olivergeeoz, K13R7N, Vincent Viniyur, Ryse
Best Soldier: chonk, indy and her jones, twoism, Maxyvee, Kopz, Rainy, dezi, Wodah, Snowi8767 #SaveTF2
Best Pyro: Relz, MonsterGunner0v0, Corn, goblxn, Bluemmy, ¿Valeyard?, KRB, LadyHaley, Peepo
Best Demoman: Amatorii, reeee.vol 2, croppy, Funk, akari, Chilentoz, Cab, Sly Rocko, roastchicken12
Best Heavy: NEBU!A, mean bug, fraggerung, chill weed vibes only, angus, GUNWR0NG, Age, SpicyHipJesus,
Mr. VenomBest Engineer: Sulu, arbabf, Tenous, eden, ♥ Emily the Goldfish ♥, Train Smash, Chungus McBungus, Verydarklord,
Char AnzableBest Medic: Pulse, Pigel, yons, bobo, wang, CheeseFlag126, surgeon, BluSaltt, Nazareth <3
Best Sniper: Laz., seiran, Jdn, San, Mint, x32, uber_gamer92, Powersurge Proot #FixTF2, mira
Best Spy: WinterPizza850, Classy Doctor, hef, bambi, HaydenPrime, TheOofShow (Youtube) (Comp Spy), crypto,
21st Century Schizoid Yeen, quayMost Improved Player: Amatorii, Classy Doctor, hef, goblxn, HaydenPrime, TheOofShow (Youtube) (Comp Spy),
crypto, Verydarklord, Mr. VenomMost Improved Team: Tracy Waldron, Scurvy Ridden, CONNECTICUT KIA BOYZ, goblin deez, Tuah, Dispensers,
Should Be Studying, monosodium glutamate, rat gamingFriendliest Team: Tracy Waldron, Scurvy Ridden, CONNECTICUT KIA BOYZ, goblin deez, Tuah, Dispensers,
Should Be Studying, monosodium glutamate, rat gamingMost Valuable Player: rosss3s, chonk, Relz, Amatorii, NEBU!A, Sulu, Pulse, Laz., WinterPizza850, April,
indy and her jones, MonsterGunner0v0, reeee.vol 2, mean bug, arbabf, Pigel, seiran, Classy Doctor, shadi, twoism, Corn,
croppy, fraggerung, Tenous, yons, Jdn, hef, tom., Maxyvee, goblxn, Funk, chill weed vibes only, eden, bobo, San, bambi,
inStinct, Kopz, Bluemmy, akari, angus, ♥ Emily the Goldfish ♥, wang, Mint, HaydenPrim ,olivergeeoz, Rainy, ¿Valeyard?,
Chilentoz, GUNWR0NG, Train Smash, CheeseFlag126, x32, TheOofShow (Youtube) (Comp Spy), K13R7N, dezi, KRB, Cab,
Age, Chungus McBungus, surgeon, uber_gamer92, crypto, Vincent Viniyur, Wodah, LadyHaley, Sly Rocko,
SpicyHipJesus, Verydraklord, Blusaltt, Powersurge Proot #FixTF2, 21st Century Schizoid Yeen, Ryse,
Snowi8767 #SaveTF2, Peepo, roastchicken12, Mr. Venom, Char Anzable, Nazareth <3, mira, quay.Best Dressed Team: Tracy Waldron, Scurvy Ridden, CONNECTICUT KIA BOYZ, goblin deez, Tuah, Dispensers,
Should Be Studying, monosodium glutamate, rat gamingBest Caster: Sperkle, Rainy, turris, capy, freaky, tal, Dave, Shakey
2. Submitting your votes
The votes must be sent through to your division administrator via Discord DMs:
- woozy (@w.oozy)
- redja (@redja)
- Kai (@head_empty_no_thoughts)
Votes need to be submitted to one of the admins listed above by the 22nd of September at 11:59pm AEST. Failing to do this will prevent your votes from being counted and will make your team in-eligible for in-game medals.
FAQ
How is Voting calculated?
We will use instant runoff voting to calculate the results.
Will we not receive in-game medals if we fail to submit our votes?
No, as we believe that every player should have the chance to be voted for.
How long will it take for Awards to be released?
The release of Awards often varies, but you can expect it usually within a week or two of Voting closing.
Thank you based Valen for their work to improve our scripts used for nominations and voting!
Award Nominations are Live
Hi everyone, Award Nominations are now open for both Sixes and Highlander for the Winter '24 Season. At the bottom of this thread you will find links explaining how to submit your team's award nominations. If you need any assistance in this process please reach out to your Division Administrators for help. Award Nominations will close on Sunday the 8th of September at 11:59pm AEST 2024.
If this is your first time submitting Award Nominations there are some guidelines and information below to keep in mind:
- Only one of the captains on your roster needs to submit your team's nominations. We expect most teams usually discuss who they want to nominate for what award. Please note, you can only nominate your teammates for an award, voting will come after all nominations are submitted.
- Failure to submit both nominations and votes for your team this season will result in players not being eligible for in-game medals.
Award Nomination threads
This thread is for nominating your team's players for the best-in-class awards for Sixes Winter '24 (S40). This thread will be used by us to collect the rosters of each team for voting, which go live once all nominations have been submitted.
Captains are asked to respond to this thread with the completed template below by Sunday the 8th of September at 11:59pm AEST 2024 Please save replies for nominations only, and not discussion. Only one reply per team.
Failure to submit nominations and subsequent votes will result in you and your team being unable to receive any awards or in-game medals. While this may seem harsh, we do this so every player has a chance to be voted for. If you wish to be excluded for a specific reason, please reach out to your division administrator.
Strictly follow the format below, as we will be using an automated script to process this data.
Team Name:
Division (Premier/High/Intermediate/Main/Open):
Best Combo Scout:
Best Flank Scout:
Best Pocket Soldier:
Best Roaming Soldier:
Best Medic:
Best Demoman:
Best Utility:
Most Improved Player:
This thread is for nominating your team's players for the best-in-class awards for Highlander Winter '24 (S7). This thread will be used by us to collect the rosters of each team for voting, which go live once all nominations have been submitted.
Captains are asked to respond to this thread with the completed template below by Sunday the 8th of September at 11:59pm AEST 2024 Please save replies for nominations only, and not discussion. Only one reply per team.
Failure to submit nominations and subsequent votes will result in you and your team being unable to receive any awards or in-game medals. While this may seem harsh, we do this so every player has a chance to be voted for. If you wish to be excluded for a specific reason, please reach out to your division administrator.
Strictly follow the format below, as we will be using an automated script to process this data.
Team Name:
Division (Premier/Main):
Best Scout:
Best Soldier:
Best Pyro:
Best Demoman:
Best Heavy:
Best Engineer:
Best Medic:
Best Sniper:
Best Spy:
Most Improved Player:
(art by dezi)
Welcome to Experimental Cup 3
For the third iteration of our Experimental Cup series, we're shaking things up by bringing Highlander into the spotlight. With maps, weapons and prizes galore, these two weekends will be full of action and intrigue as teams and players are put through their paces in fast and flashy competition.
TLDR
For those not wanting to read the essay and a half, here are the key takeaways:
Cup Structure:
- Dates: Takes place over two weekends in September (14th-15th & 21st-22nd).
- Timetable: Weekend 1 will feature 6 rounds and Weekend 2 will feature Playoffs and Finals.
- Team Sizes: Rosters of 14 players, no Transfer Windows.
Maps:
- Stopwatch: Snowycoast Pro & Problitz.
- King of the Hill: Proplant & Daenam.
- 5 Control Point: Croissant & Sultry.
Whitelist Alterations:
- Loch 'n Load: Banned
- Natascha: Allowed
New 5CP Config:
- Progressive 5CP Config: New round timer settings for faster, more engaging matches.
Prize Pool & Awards
- Top Division Prize Pool: The 4 teams competing in Division 1 will compete for a Prize Pool of $600
- Awards and Prizes: There will be smaller Awards and Prizes for players competing in all Divisions.
Medals
- Yes, yes there will be medals.
Maps
The following maps will be included in Experimental Cup 3:
Snowycoast Pro: Stopwatch
Problitz: Stopwatch
Proplant: King of the Hill
Daenam: King of the Hill
Croissant: 5 Control Point
Sultry: 5 Control Point
Why these maps?
Snowycoast Pro & Problitz:
When polling the Stopwatch maps, the three highest voted maps were Eruption (58.8%), with the most amount of votes followed by Snowycoast Pro and Problitz (both 54.9%). Discussing this, we decided that realistically there is enough demand and playtime on Eruption from players in our league that including it in the cup wouldn't be necessary. This means that despite it not being a part of Experimental Cup 3, it will be eligible to be included in future Highlander Seasons (Season 8 and onwards).
Snowycoast Pro and Problitz haven't been included in any league-related competitions before in our region, which in our eyes made them both perfect candidates for this cup.
Proplant & Daenam:
Four maps were particularly popular in the King of the Hill Map vote; Clearcut, Proplant, Daenam and Proside were the highest-voted maps respectively. Clearcut (54.9%) being the highest voted map was looked over by our team as we felt it wouldn't be suitable for play in Highlander. We have also consulted the RGL admin team who trialled it in their recent RGL Highlander Experimental Cup #6 with it having a mixed reception and ultimately didn't make it into their regular season. While it may be included in competition later down the line, for now, we felt other candidates would be better for competition.
Proside (47.1%) received the fewest votes of the maps listed above but was still looked for a possible inclusion in the cup. Upon reflection of when the map was last played in our region, being Season 1 of ozfortress Highlander, both advisors and administrators recalled players having overall negative experiences on the map. Hence why it hasn't been seen since Season 1 and why it has limited play in other regions, bringing us to the logical conclusion to forgo including it in this event.
Finally, we were down to two. Proplant (52.9%) and Daenam (51%), both feel like perfect candidates. Proplant has been played in ETF2L and has been highly requested by Australian players for quite some time now, and Daenam feels like a good fit size-wise for a Highlander map that has also been positively received in the past, with it last being seen at the start of the year in our Fours Summer Cup.
Croissant & Sultry
The idea of playing 5 Control Point maps in Highlander hasn't been a popular thought throughout the global community in recent years. When polling 5CP maps, Croissant (45.1%) stood above all and was the clear front-runner for inclusion in the Experimental Cup. With the map itself being "well-aged", core has offered up his time to look over the map and make adjustments to the map to ensure it's as sound for competition as possible. This will include making potential adjustments to the map in preparation for the regular season if need be.
Whilst not being a 5CP map (and in fact a "Tug of War" map),Waste (49%) received the most votes in our alternative/control point category. However, after play-testing the map, it is clear that the map is, to be blunt, beyond outdated. With balance issues and bugs galore, we have decided to look over it for the Experimental Cup. Following the aforementioned maps in votes were Entropy (19.6%), Vanguard (19.6%) and Sultry (27.5%). We polled these three maps via a vote in the ozfortress discord with the winner of the three being Sultry, thus securing it a slot within the cup.
Whitelist Alterations
Loch 'n Load Banned
For some, their prayers have been answered, for others, we have committed sins against them. The Loch 'n Load will be banned for the entirety of Experimental Cup 3. A follow-up poll as to whether a Loch 'n Load weapon restriction is desirable for Season 8 will be run. Please let us know if you feel its absence during the cup was detrimental to the format, as this type of feedback is very valuable.
Natascha Unleashed
'Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine, keep the moving part clean'. The Natascha has been unbanned, making its return for the first time since Season 1 of ozfortress Highlander. Don't worry, if you fear Ms. Romanoff then you can let us know how you felt playing against it, and if it overall negatively affected your Highlander experience after the cups' conclusion.
5CP Custom Config
In a world first, we are attempting to make 5CP more enjoyable in a Highlander setting; We will be implementing a Round Timer config that will be used on all Control Point maps played with in this Experimental Cup. The following settings will be used in the Progressive Highlander Control Point config;
Map Timer: 25 Minutes
Round Timer: 5 Minutes
Win Limit: 5
Auto Golden Cap: Begins immediately after the map timer ends when the scores are tied. If scores are not tied, the match will end.
Before this config, 5CP Highlander matches featured a 10-minute round timer with a 30-minute map timer as well as Golden Capture needing to be played after the map timer ends, requiring a manual config exec. Contrasting this to our new Progressive Config, we believe that matches will be faster-paced, and more engaging for players and spectators while also providing fresh map experiences for all.
Experimental Cup Structure
Dates
As stated above the cup will take place over two weekends in September. The first weekend of competition will take place on Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th of September with each day containing three rounds of competition, each dedicated to one map for a total of six rounds. The following weekend will be for Page Playoffs with Upper/Lower Page Playoffs and Semi-finals taking place on the 21st of September and Grand-finals and Third Place Finals transpiring on the 22nd of September.
Team Sizes, Player restrictions, Transfers and Mercs
Teams will have a roster size of 14, with there being no transfer windows throughout the cup. The roster teams sign up with is the roster that they are expected to use throughout the cup. If teams require Emergency Transfers, they must be discussed with a cup administrator prior to the start of matches.
There will be no limit as to how many class-restricted players teams can have on their roster for Divisions 2 and below. This will allow teams to be evenly balanced for cup competition, making all teams as competitive as possible with one another. Mercenaries will also be allowed throughout the cup and will be looked at and processed case by case via Cup Administrators and Team Captains.
Playoffs
The following Pick/Ban system will be used for all playoff matches.
- Home Team Bans | Away Team Bans | Home Team Picks | Away Team Picks | Home Team Picks
All matches in playoffs will have their stopwatch maps played as ABBA.
Prize Pool & Rewards
Prize Pool
Experimental Cup 3 will feature a prize pool of $600 that will be up for grabs for teams and players competing in the top division.
Division 1 Prize Pool:
1st: $300
2nd: $200
3rd: $100
Bonus Awards
As well as the prize pool, we will have smaller awards that can be won by players competing in all divisions. You can find more information on the prize pool for Division 1 and the other prizes here.
We look forward to seeing you all in what is sure to be a fantastic event!
Transfer History
Below you can find the transfer history for all divisions. These transfers were granted under particular circumstances via administrator's approval.
Division 1 History
sphilliz Transferred into PENAL COLONY
Striker Transferred into hey im still legally employed
Stamm Transferred into hey im still legally employed
Division 2 History
song Transferred into Natascha Enjoyers
Division 3 History
Division 4 History
Asekama_ღ Transferred out of Morb Fortress 2 - Morbheads
broccoli Transferred into Morb Fortress 2 - Morbheads
Mercenaries Used
Below you can find all the Mercenaries Used for all division throughout the Experimental Cup.
Division 1 History
Cobra Merc'd for hey im still legally employed Round 1
postmeridie Merc'd for hey im still legally employed Round 1
var Merc'd for PENAL COLONY Round 1
[ ] Merc'd for Significant Otter Round 1
var Merc'd for PENAL COLONY Round 2
Cobra Merc'd for hey im still legally employed Round 2
var Merc'd for PENAL COLONY Round 3
Cobra Merc'd for hey im still legally employed Round 3
Division 2 History
Adrian Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 1
sinsa Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 1
Adrian Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 2
sinsa Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 2
Adrian Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 3
sinsa Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 3
Gotaki Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 4
Gotaki Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 5
freaky Merc'd for CHINESE DRAGON POWER Round 6
Division 3 History
ScEshay Merc'd for Unhinged Round 1
time Merc'd for Unhinged Round 1
ScEshay Merc'd for Unhinged Round 2
time Merc'd for Unhinged Round 2
ScEshay Merc'd for Unhinged Round 3
time Merc'd for Unhinged Round 3
nightjar Merc'd for item shop Round 4
Division 4 History
robouki Merc'd for Burgr Round 1
camphorwood Merc'd for Burgr Round 1
robouki Merc'd for Burgr Round 2
robouki Merc'd for Burgr Round 3
broccoli Merc'd for Morb Fortress 2 - Morbheads Round 3
Wodah Merc'd for Furries Requiring Priority Seating Round 4
camphorwood Merc'd Morb Fortress 2 - Morbheads for Round 4