In an offseason update, the panel behind the Global Whitelist have elected to unban the Solemn Vow, reducing the number of bans to 21 weapons.

Graphic by mitch

We've had the opportunity to examine the effects of the Solemn Vow on the North American scene with its unban in season 3 of RGL. In an investigation by Recurse, which you can read here, we found that while the known equip rates were overall lower (although logs.tf does not account for all equip data), the conclusion among Invite Medics was that the Solemn Vow positions itself as a useful utility, even at the top level. The unban was also tested in the ozfortress ISOLATION DEVASTATION test cup, among other unbans and plugins.

We asked catfish, one of the leads behind the Global Whitelist and ozfortress head admin, to summarize the panel's reasoning:

As mentioned in the announcement post, the Solemn Vow has seen significant testing recently and we now believe that the next step is its inclusion into the Global Whitelist. In Oceania our poll results indicated a slight majority of players wanted it to be unbanned, and subsequent cup testing showed its impact on the game to be minor. The Solemn Vow is already a familiar sight to North American players, with its inclusion in recent RGL seasons. Over 68% of RGL players voted for the Solemn Vow to remain unbanned after RGL season three, while only 11% voted to reban it (21% were indifferent). No recent tests have been conducted by ETF2L for obvious reasons however past testing has indicated a rough 50/50 split on its inclusion (although this data is from several years ago, the game has seen no major changes since then). Because of these factors we no longer see any reason that it shouldn’t be allowed in the Global Whitelist, and as such have unbanned it. Players should also be aware that this decision may not be final and if the need arises in the future there is always the possibility of a reban if necessary. The Global Whitelist was created to be a less restrictive whitelist that did not drastically impact 6s core gameplay. This has been its purpose since its inception in 2016 and the inclusion of the Solemn Vow fits in with this philosophy.

The new whitelist is effective immediately, and will be used most notable for all upcoming 6s seasons of ETF2L, ozfortress, and UGC, as well as the upcoming LOCKDOWN THROWDOWN: Round 2. Players should share feedback, and participate in any league surveys should they feel strongly about the changes.