VanillaTF2

Martn — While all the VanillaTV guys, except for  Comedian – he will arrive only 5 minutes before the tournament starts, if he has no delays, are on their way to Telford it’s time for the grand final of our epic three part series, we’re going back to i40, august 2010. It’s  Team Dignitas against  Epsilon eSports. But before we dig in, if you missed the first two parts of this trilogy, then here’s the i42 part and this is the i41 part.

Fun fact – this is the first game yours truly ever spectated and also the first encounter with 6v6.

The i40 TF2 final was once again great entertainment and Byte & Dave really gave their best on commentaries. Final was between Team Dignitas and Epsilon Esport. Because we still don’t have the official video of the stream we just published my pod-recordings on tf2.fi so all of you can listen the commentary and watch the highlights from the stv-demos. Unfortunately we don’t have the proper ticks or times, so you just have to try fix the casting and demos to match by ear. The podcast from the last map ends 5 mins too early. Sorry about that.

VOD: (Thank you dunc for the link)
http://www.fileplay.net/f/9979/mirrors

Download the stv-demos from Fileplay:
http://www.fileplay.net/file/9644/i40-tf2-6v6-idk-vs-team-dignitas-granary (.dem)
http://www.fileplay.net/file/9642/i40-tf2-6v6-idk-vs-team-dignitas-gullywash (.dem)
http://www.fileplay.net/file/9643/i40-tf2-6v6-idk-vs-team-dignitas-badlands (.dem)

Download the podcasts from tf2.fi
http://tf2.fi/nautti/i40/diggy_vs_epsilon_i40_granary.mp3 (.mp3)
http://tf2.fi/nautti/i40/diggy_vs_epsilon_i40_gullywash.mp3 (.mp3)
http://tf2.fi/nautti/i40/diggy_vs_epsilon_i40_badlands.mp3 (.mp3) *last 5 minutes is missing

Now enjoy the game and thanks to Byte and Dave for their great commentaries!

- nautti

It is mere days before Insomnia 40 is finally here. The biggest LAN TF2 has seen up till now. With estimates of as much as 50 teams attending, it is going to be big, very big. We even have our own place, called the Team Fortress 2 Arena. The prize pot is bigger than ever, with up to £5,000 cash, and hardware. All elements for a great spectacle are there, the only thing that remains is for the people to turn up and enjoy the LAN.

Let’s see who exactly is fighting for the spoils of LAN.

Predictions

Team Dignitas

The i39 winners. Until the recent Assembly LAN where they came second, they had never lost at LAN. But with the absence of the other Finns, Dignitas once again have the best cards to end first.

Prediction: 1st

TCM-Gaming

One of the, if not the best team on-line. They have proven to be on top time after time, recently by winning the ETF2L AFS season and the ESH Sennheiser Euro Challenge. At LAN however, they thus far failed to achieve the same results. Last two Assembly lans, they failed to end in a top spot. With the Finnish teams skipping this event, they might just make it this time. If Epsilon don’t spoil their plans, that is.

Prediction: 2nd

Epsilon e-Sports

The other contender for the title. Online, they have proven to be among the best, with their victory in ETF2L season 7 and solid performances at various cups. However, this is their first appearance at LAN, a whole new experience. If they manage to get the right LAN-rhythm in time, they’ll do well here.

Prediction: 3rd

FakkelBrigade

FakkelBrigade gave away their chances of ending high at i39 against PwR. This time they’ve come back, armed to the teeth, to get revenge. Having been a stable Div 1 team for a while, they’ll surely end high. However their recent summer break, and the loss of their soldier, Dr. Leon, will cost them. Given the quality of the opponents, they might not make it into the top 3 again.

Prediction: 4th

Other notable teams include Team Empathy, flying in their members from all over Europe (Turkey and Latvia of all places), Shootin your Pixels, an interesting mix, and Red Eyed Jedis, who are not yet as skilled as they are controversial, but they get a long way. And there are plenty of other teams who might just make it into the top 8, and snatch a bit of that prizemoney.

Coverage

I will be leaving for Newbury on Thursday morning, and I (or someone else) will try to keep the landodgers up to speed with some news now and then. Also, the interesting matches should appear on the matchticker. :)

Have fun at the event everyone, I know I will.

- DeNeusbeer

Multiplay have announced the initial prize funds for their competitions. Unsurprisingly, Team Fortress 2 is one of their top games. Along with Counterstrike Source, we have a guaranteed £2,500, with the possibility to increase that to £5,000 if there are at least 64 TF2 teams. Other games with a prize fund are COD4 with £1,000 and Starcraft 2 with £250. Here’s a quote from the announcement that will put a smile on your face :) :

We are overjoyed by the response this event has seen to our commitment to the Team Fortress 2 community, and we’re pleased to be able to reward that commitment with a prize fund it deserves.

It is also nice to see that the TF2 trigger is lower than that of the other games this time, due to TF2 teams being made of 6 players as opposed to the regular 5. (COD4 and CSS have a triger at 80 teams).

We will be locking the amount of teams who contribute to the prize triggers 2 weeks before the event starts, so make sure you’ve all got tickets and you’re ready to sign up!

Information about sign-ups is expected soon. If you haven’t got your ticket yet, now would be as good of a time as any!

Source: Multiplay

Big thanks to DeNeusbeer for his contribution!

Not even the early bird gets up this early….

i39 just finished, but riding on the good wave of the last one, signups are already opened for i40. Next i-Series LAN will be from 27th to 30th August. INSOMNIA40! “Earlybirds” have the chance to get their tickets at 30% off – £63 / 72€

This offer is staying only until 23:59:59, Wednesday 14th April 2010. There will be 2000 players participating in this biggest UK LAN event. Last time, TF2 were only a quarter the amount of people to CSS, yet they still managed to bring the biggest noise. This time around, its in place that we completely steal the show. So, sort your team out, and off you go.

You can find out more at i-Series booking page , coverage pages and also video page on Fileplay!

Source: Multiplay i-Series