Maps are an important part of competitive TF2; they allow different types of playstyles, create strategies and mind games between teams, and they can deliver the best games for players and spectators.
Over the past year we’ve seen a surge of new maps created by the mapmaking community, with many players showing interest in said maps, and a chance to potentially see them in the map pool. To showcase these new maps and also gain feedback for the map creators, we’re excited to announce the teamfortress.tv New Map Cup sponsored by marketplace.tf!
Community created maps will be put to the test by teams from all across North America (picture by concor)
Info
The cup will take place from February 25th-26th, where teams from all across North America will compete in a selection of community created maps.
Five Invite teams will be playing in the cup, with froyotech, EVL Gaming, mario party 4, fishy fishes, and Team Skull attending the tournament.
Signups
The tournament is open to all players, with 27 team slots available. Teams can signup on Google Forms here, with signups closing on February 24th at 9 PM EST.
Servers for the cup will be provided by serveme.tf.
Format
The first phase of the cup will be the group stage, where 32 teams will be divided into four groups of eight. The teams will compete in a swiss system format, where each team will be paired with another team with the same record in each round. The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. All matches are best of one's.
The second phase of the cup will be the playoffs, where the eight remaining teams will fight in a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best of three's (including the 3rd place match and the Grand Finals).
5CP maps will have a 5 round win limit and a 30 minute timelimit, along with Golden Cap for tiebreakers. Stopwatch (Payload and Attack/Defense) maps will be a best of three, and King of the Hill maps will have a 4 round win limit. Finally, the cup will use the Global Whitelist.
Map Pool
Eight community created maps have been selected for the tournament. The map pool is:
- cp_cardinal by Phi
- cp_daytrip by FatherBrandon
- cp_drudgery by Mould
- cp_kalinka by Jusa
- cp_logjam by Hyce
- koth_bagel by Yrr
- koth_warmfront by Dagger
- pl_tfcl by FatherBrandon
The group stage will have each team picking and banning maps in each round from a predetermined map pool, with the order of the draft being ban, ban, and then the remaining map being played. The map pools for the group stage are:
- Round 1: cp_cardinal, koth_warmfront, pl_tfcl
- Round 2: koth_bagel, cp_drudgery, cp_kalinka
- Round 3: cp_daytrip, cp_logjam, pl_tfcl
- Round 4: cp_cardinal, cp_kalinka, cp_drudgery
- Round 5: koth_bagel, koth_warmfront, cp_daytrip
The playoffs will utilize the full map pool, with the order of the draft being ban, ban, pick, pick, ban, ban, and a randomizer deciding the final map from the remaining two maps.
Schedule
The schedule for the cup is as follows (all times are in EST):
Group Stage
Saturday, February 25th:
- 6:30 PM | Pre-check
- 7:00 PM | Group Stage Round 1
- 8:00 PM | Group Stage Round 2
- 9:00 PM | Group Stage Round 3
- 10:00 PM | Group Stage Round 4
- 11:00 PM | Group Stage Round 5
Playoffs
Sunday, February 26th:
- 6:30 PM | Pre-check
- 7:00 PM | Round of 8
- 9:00 PM | Semi Finals
- 11:00 PM | 3rd Place Match and Grand Finals
Prize Pool
A total of $500 is up for grabs in the New Map Cup, courtesy of marketplace.tf. The prize pool distribution is:
- 1st: $240
- 2nd: $120
- 3rd: $90
- 4th: $60
Cover image by concor