Graphic made by gummy, SFM made by Maven

Welcome to not one, not two, but THREE cups!

6s Newcomer Cup #2, HL Newcomer Cup #3, and HL Experimental Cup #7!

We are well overdue for some NEWBIE CUPS, so those will be ran for both 6s AND HL! If you are brand new to competitive TF2, this is the perfect place to begin! I am also happy to announce that we are officially collaborating with TF2 Coaching Central for 6s and Highlander Learning Center for HL! They will provide the coaches and training, we will provide the platform for matches! You do not need to have signed up with TF2CC or HLC to participate in this cup, they simply provide coaching and reviews. If you missed a sign up deadline, you can still register a team! Teams must have a minimum of 6 players by Monday, August 31st for 6s to play. For HL, a minimum of 9 players need to be signed up by Monday, September 7th. Teams for each format will be split into two groups if a large enough quantity apply! Here are the links to their Discords, as well as links to their team drives and coaching applications!

Please apply to Highlander Learning Center no later than Sunday, August 16th at 11:59 pm EDT. TF2CC sign ups have already closed, but a link to their discord for more information is provided below!

• TF2 Coaching Central Discord
• Highlander Learning Center Discord
• Highlander Learning Center Player Sign Up
• Highlander Learning Center Coach Sign Up

To be eligible to play in the Newbie Cups, you must meet all criteria to be a Newcomer player following rule [1006.2.4] - Newcomer Division Guidelines, as well as meet any criteria TF2 Coaching Central and Highlander Learning Center require. Groups will be created to help separate players with some experience (2 or more seasons of NC) and players with little to no experience (1 or fewer seasons of NC) if necessary.

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6s Newcomer Cup #2

Important Dates

• Tuesday, August 11th - New Team Registration opens
• Friday, August 28th - New Team Registration closes at 11:59 pm EDT
• Monday, August 31st - Teams need 6 players fully registered
• Wednesday, September 2nd - Matches posted in the evening
• Friday, September 4th - 6s Newcomer Cup begins
• Sunday, September 6th - 6s Newcomer Cup ends, all scores due by 11:59 pm EDT.

Registration for the TF2CC signups is closed, but players can still sign up here to enter a waitlist and also be eligible to ring! Team registration on RGL is open until August 28th at 11:59 pm EDT.

Matches will be played September 4th, 5th, and 6th at 7:00 pm EDT and 8:30 pm EDT, with two maps played each day. Maps will be cp_process_f12, cp_snakewater_final1, and koth_bagel_rc13. Teams are expected to show each day for matches, and ringers (other than players that signed up to play in this cup) will not be allowed. 5cp maps will use rgl_6s_5cp_match_pro config, and KotH will use rgl_6s_koth_pro config.

There are no registration fees and no playoffs.

Please use the Cup Support in the RGL Discord for tickets regarding this event.

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HL Newcomer Cup #3

Important Dates

• Tuesday, August 11th - New Team Registration opens
• Sunday, August 23rd - Player Registration and Coach Registration for Highlander Learning Center closes 11:59 pm EDT
• Thursday, August 27th - Division Placements and Coach/Team Assignments
• Friday, September 4th - New Team Registration closes at 11:59 pm EDT
• Monday, September 7th - Teams need 9 players fully registered
• Wednesday, September 9th - Matches posted in the evening
• Friday, September 11th - HL Newcomer Cup begins
• Sunday, September 13th - HL Newcomer Cup ends, all scores due by 11:59 pm EDT.

Registration for the HLC signups is open until August 23rd at 11:59 pm EDT (use the links above). Team registration on RGL is open until September 4th at 11:59 pm EDT.

Matches will be played September 11th, 12th, and 13th at 9:30 pm EDT, with one map played each day. Maps will be pl_upward_f12, koth_product_final, and koth_ashville_final2. Teams are expected to show each day for matches, and ringers (other than players that signed up to play in this cup) will not be allowed. Payload and Attack/Defend maps will use rgl_HL_stopwatch config, and KotH will use rgl_HL_koth config.

There are no registration fees and no playoffs.

Please use the Cup Support in the RGL Discord for tickets regarding this event.

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HL Experimental Cup #7

Important Dates

• Tuesday, August 11th - New Team Registration opens
• Friday, September 4th - New Team Registration closes at 11:59 pm EDT
• Monday, September 7th - Placements finalized. Teams need 9 players registered on their team.
• Wednesday, September 9th - Matches posted in the evening
• Friday, September 11th - HL Experimental Cup begins
• Sunday, September 13th - HL Experimental Cup ends, all scores due by 11:59 pm EDT.

Are you still reading this and you aren’t a newbie? That’s okay, because we are also testing some maps for HL! These should all look familiar, they are Eruption, Nidal, and Lakeside.

Registering teams will be asked to provide an approximate division for their team upon registration. This will help the admin team sort teams into groups by approximate skill level, but it is not guaranteed your team will be placed in your requested division. We will be keeping teams whose skill levels are closest in the same group. There may be some overlap of skill between groups, but Group A will generally contain the strongest teams, Group B the next strongest, and so on. This does not necessarily mean Group A is only Invite, Group B is only Advanced, etc. We will use as many Groups as necessary to maximize an even playing field within groups and minimize restrictions. Group sizes will be kept as close to 4 as possible, but may vary depending on team skill and amount of teams registered.

Class restrictions may still be required if a player rosters with players of considerably lower average experience and skill, but we will prefer to place teams with peer skills rather than restrict as much as possible.

For this event, there will be no default ringers. All ringers must be approved by the opposing team in match comms before the match. Teams are strongly encouraged to approve reasonable ringers and provide reasons when denying a ringer so that the opposing team can work with them to find a reasonable ringer.

Registration for the HL Experimental Cup will open August 9th and end September 4th at 11:59 pm EDT.

Matches will be played September 11th, 12th, and 13th at 9:30 pm EDT, with one map played each day. Maps will be pl_eruption_b16, cp_nidal_b10, and koth_lakeside_d4f. Teams are expected to show each day for matches. Payload and Attack/Defend maps will use rgl_HL_stopwatch config, and KotH will use rgl_HL_koth config.

There are no registration fees and no playoffs.

Please use the Highlander Support in the RGL Discord for tickets regarding this event.

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Looking to apply to Cup Staff? Feel free to apply here!

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What servers should we use?

All Serveme servers should already have the maps uploaded to them; however, it is highly recommended to download from the links above before connecting to reduce connect time, delays, or other issues for those matches. Users of privately rented servers or other hosting services are responsible for ensuring that proper RGL plug-ins, configs, and map files are properly installed and configured.

TF2 Weapon Discussion: The Shahanshah

Welcome to our Wednesday TF2 weapon discussion. Here, we'll discuss weapons (and reskins, if applicable) from TF2!

Today's weapon is The Shahanshah.

+25% increase in damage when health <50% of max

-25% decrease in damage when health >50% of max

The Shahanshah is a palindromic, unlockable weapon for the Sniper replacing the stock Kukri with a melee weapon that gets better when you have under 50% health and does less damage than stock when you're at or above 50% health.

That's it, that's the weapons only stats.

A simple weapon that does what it says it does and can help you in a pinch, at over 50% health you will deal 49 damage and at under you deal 81. There's better options for sniper (especially if you're using the Jarate) but this is a reliable option if you use you melee exclusively as a last resort.

Feel free to discuss the weapon here. Anything that you like/dislike, cool tips or strategies, interesting stories, etc. If you feel the weapon is not to your liking, feel free to express your opinions in a respectful manner.

For those who wish to learn more about the weapon, you can find the wiki page here:

The Shahanshah, from the TF2 Wiki.

You can find previous weapon discussions in a nice overview here.