VanillaTF2

1^⁵ᵀ Epsilon eSports (140 points)
2ᴺᴰ Team Infused (127 points)
3ᴿᴰ Crack Clan (114 points)
4ᵀᴴ 1 Team Yoyotech (100 points)
5ᵀᴴ 2 Karnage eSports (68 points)
6ᵀᴴ 2 Tryharders (54 points)
7ᵀᴴ Last Man Standing (46 points)
8ᵀᴴ Equilibrium (45 points)
9ᵀᴴ Punchline (39 points)
10ᵀᴴ Quarantine (37 points)

Greg — Fifteen votes will go into each month’s rankings, ten of which are from the previous month’s top ten teams, and five of which are from our panel members, who will vote every month. The points system remains simple: a first place vote earns that team 10 points, 9 points are awarded for second place, and so on. The numbers in parentheses refer to the specific team’s ranking in the previous Month.

Continue reading to find out who the panel members are, and see their thoughts and opinions on this month’s rankings.

1^⁵ᵀ    Epsilon eSports  (137 points)
2ᴺᴰ    Team Infused (130 points)
3ᴿᴰ  Crack Clan (114 points)
4ᵀᴴ  2  Broder (94 points)
5ᵀᴴ  2  Team Yoyotech (79 points)
6ᵀᴴ  3  Exotic Island (78 points)
7ᵀᴴ Karnage eSports (74 points)
8ᵀᴴ  Tryharders (43 points)
9ᵀᴴ  Team Decerto (34 points)
10ᵀᴴ    Quarantine (29 points)

Greg — Fifteen votes will go into each month’s rankings, ten of which are from the previous month’s top ten teams, and five of which are from our panel members, who will vote every month. The points system remains simple: a first place vote earns that team 10 points, 9 points are awarded for second place, and so on. The numbers in parentheses refer to the specific team’s ranking in the previous Month.

Continue reading to find out who the panel members are, and see their thoughts and opinions on this month’s rankings.

1^⁵ᵀ (1)   Epsilon eSports (140 points)
2ᴺᴰ (2) Team Infused (125 points)
3ᴿᴰ (5) Crack Clan (102 points)
4ᵀᴴ (3) Team Dignitas (97 points)
5ᵀᴴ (4) Relic (89 points)
6ᵀᴴ (8) Broder (80 points)
7ᵀᴴ (6) CKRAS Gaming (61 points)
8ᵀᴴ (7) Team Yoyotech (58 points)
9ᵀᴴ (9) Exotic Island (36 points)
10ᵀᴴ (NEW!) Quarantine (13 points)

Greg — Fifteen votes will go into each month’s rankings, ten of which are from the previous month’s top ten teams, and five of which are from our panel members, who will vote every month.  The points system remains simple: a first place vote earns that team 10 points, 9 points are awarded for second place, and so on.  The numbers in parentheses refer to the specific team’s ranking in the previous Month.

Continue reading to find out who the panel members are, and see their thoughts and opinions on this month’s rankings.

atmo — For some time now, gamers with a curious predilection for real headphones have been rather limited for choice when it comes to microphones. There are certainly plenty of standalone microphones out there, but ones worth buying are few and far between. These few models range in price from €10 to €100, depending on your budget and purpose.

AntLion Audio’s ModMic sits just a shade below the halfway point, priced around €35 or £30 shipped from   eXtine’s hometown of Portland, Oregon. At this price, the main alternative would be the Giant Squid Audio Labs Mono mic which ostensibly uses Panasonic’s WM-61A capsule electret. However, this was found to perform beneath its capabilities without additional power, something that neither the 5V of a standard 3.5mm nor a USB soundcard were able to supply. How will the ModMic stack up?

Fog — As North American TF2 content hasn’t been covered as much as it should be, I will be taking charge of NA TF2 content, and will try my best to provide more covereage of TF2 across the pond. For now, I will be focusing on ESEA Invite (comparable to Premier for ETF2L).

Another week of matches have finished for ESEA Invite, with matches this week being played on koth_pro_viaduct_rc3. Where’s the second map, you may say? The North American TF2 scene only runs matches on one map per week, with teams playing two matches per week on the same map. It’s probably a good idea to go over the basic rules of ESEA while we’re early into the article for those who have never watched an ESEA (or NA TF2 match in general).

The rules:

• - First to 5 (4 in KOTH matches, 2 in Attack/Defend) wins the match
• - Two (2) 30 minute halves (20 minute halves for Attack/Defend)
• - Once a team has won 3 rounds (or after the time limit is reached), half-time commences and the teams switch sides
• - If both sides are tied after the two halves, an overtime round is played with the team winning that round winning the match (similar to golden-cap)
• - Unlocks are generally allowed (Gunboats and Equalizers ARE allowed), but there ARE weapons that are banned.

More info can be found here: ESEA Rules

Hildreth — From the Dawn of Time we came, moving silently down through the centuries, living many secret lives…or so we were until ETF2L announced its inaugural Highlander season! Now we are all out there proudly, with our chests pumped outwards with vanity and our thoughts entwined on the purest form of Team Fortress 2 – Yes my fellow TF2 players, I am talking about Highlander; with cart-pushing festivals played under the sombre tune of Spy knives and Pyro flames, wearing unusual hats and packing unlockable weapons so absurd you would think us deranged to have not disallowed them. Welcome to ETF2L Season 1 of Highlander, I am formally inviting every single TF2 player on the planet to join in and play your favourite class with your best e-buddies because in all honesty, nothing is more important than just playing the game no matter how good you are. Read on for a preview of the first season.

Torden — I started off doing div1a, moved on to include both div1′s, now with Admirable claiming to be “cured” of whatever illness he had, we’re left with yet another division stranded, so I guess I’ll focus on premiership until somebody bothers. -Perhaps the lack of coverage is deserved, considering the sporadic league play – the ETF2L list of weekly fixtures is now officially a complete mess.

Meanwhile there’s actually some high end TF2 going on, with a top scene arguably more capable and competitive than ever before. Epsilon took a surprising plunge against CKRAS and Crack Clan last week, which leaves the latter in a competitive position, alongside Relic and Infused.

Instead of bothering with trying to untangle the scheduling/reporting scores mess of weekly match ups, I’ll rather comment on the games that are so far scheduled for this week. With all 4 of the top placing teams in the wind, this week could decide who will win season 10. Helping me with predictions this week are Byte, Antyy, cOOKYE and Zebbosai.