With Season 1 being a huge success, getting over 300 sign-ups, it’s about time we came out with the next season of 9-on-9 action. Having won the Highlander Community Challenge last year, the superstars of SNSD secured their position as grand champions of highlander by beating all opposition in Season 1 and the experimental cup that followed. We think it’s about time someone else claimed the throne. Or at at least won a single match against them… But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! After all, we have 6 divisions of varying skill level and commitment, and you are free to apply to any of them. Here is what you need to know:

Prizes

Yet again, we will be handing out medals to all participants that finish their season! And if Valve are pleased with our sacrificial goats, we might even hand out gold medals to all group winners!

Dates and Setup

Sign-ups are currently open and will close on March 11th, with week 1 starting on Sunday March 18th. The season will remain short and sweet, with a five-week regular season with a promotion/relegation system and play-offs to resolve ties for the first 3 places.

As always, non-European teams are welcome to participate. In order to ease scheduling and avoid server issues, teams will be grouped together as much as possible according to region, but there is no guarantee that all teams will end up in a convenient group. If that happens, please be reasonable and try to find a time and server that fits both teams. If such an agreement cannot be reached, non-European teams are expected to conform to European times and European servers.

How To Sign Up

To sign up to the league, you first need to be part of a highlander (9v9) team with a minimum of 9 players and a maximum of 20 players on the roster. You can find or form a team in the highlander recruitment forum. Once you are in a team, your leader or deputy can sign your team up to the competition here.

Your team can request a division and skill bracket when signing up. Division 5 and 6 are the best choices for most teams who are starting out with competitive TF2. Division 4 is good for those who already have experience with highlander, while division 3 is best for trained highlander teams and those with plenty 6v6 experience. Divisions 1-2 are meant for the top teams, so don’t sign up to those unless you are very confident in your team. Requesting a division is no guarantee to be placed in it; teams will be moved around at admins’ discretion. Teams can send result screenshots from highlander matches to [email protected], to prove that they belong in the requested division. Please do so before sign-ups close on the 11th of March.

For detailed information on how to create an ETF2L account, create a team and add players to the roster, please visit the FAQ page.

Map Schedule

This time around, we have decided to include some newer maps that were tested in the recent highlander cup. Another novelty is that payload maps are now to be played in a best-of-3 ABBA format. Read this for more specific info on how to play the various maps. Also note that 6 points will be awarded for each payload map won, while 3 points will be awarded for Foundry and Lakeside.

Week 1: Badwater

Week 2: Foundry & Lakeside

Week 3: Upward

Week 4: Lakeside & Foundry

Week 5: Barnblitz

Unlocks

The following items will be banned this season:

Additional Info

The merc rule has been slightly updated: You can still use 3 mercs (one by default, two more if opponents agree), but now all mercs must be presented on the match page (including the merc allowed by default!) in order to be valid.

Please read the rule page (especially the merc rule) to remind yourself of the exact highlander rules for next season. You also have to be aware of the general rules that apply. Make sure you read it through! As for the server configs, we will update the existing package and announce it at a later date.

If you want to learn more about competitive TF2, you can find good information in the Training & Tactics forum. Make sure you check out the player guide and the new team leader guide.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact an admin.

Feedback

As always, we love to hear any feedback you have for us. Please take a moment to to visit the unlock thread and the map thread and share your thoughts. If you wish to give feedback on anything other than what has been suggested by us, feel free to create a new thread. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and necessary to improve the league.

Good luck to all teams that sign up! May Connor MacLeod be with you.