https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxAZIpON_Z0

Play at 0.25 speed to see the exact moment Elmo toggles

Well the Indiegogo campaign has finally ended with the community managing to raise an astonishing $5,540 USD! With the extra money given to us privately, we not only met but surpassed our goal. The generosity that the global tf2 community has shown has been truly overwhelming, and on behalf of everybody in the team I'd like to extend a very humble thank you to everyone who donated.

For those of you who ordered the VIP scrim access perk with your donation, I will be sending an email to each of you in the next day or so with the relevant instructions and mumble details in order to claim this perk.

For everyone who ordered the item signing perk, I will also be sending an email to get in contact with you. This will be carried out after i58 once the team has returned back home to Australia.

Once again, thank you to everyone so much for all the support and donations. With our flights having been booked and accommodation almost finalized, we have every intention of fulfilling our promise of making i58 one of the best competitions in TF2 history!

Woof.

Geel has set up a scrap.tf donation drive for us where you can donate items instead of money! https://scrap.tf/fundraiser/TEAI58

I'll update the OP to include this new way to donate.

c u @ lan n3rd

I'd like to point out that the majority of people commenting on this thread about this recent development aren't even in the team and don't necessarily reflect how we feel about it.

When we were first approached with the idea of coaches being allowed I said we were personally against it. The main issue we had with the whole thing was the short notice/cost issues, not the principle behind it. If this decision had been made months before the competition then none of this conflict would have ever arose.

That being said, I feel like this is being blown way out of proportion at this point. Once the decision had been made we were a little bummed out yes, but we were always willing to put up with the consequences. This includes not being able to afford using a coach we know and trust at the event.

We'll just install viruses on the other teams PCs or something to level the playing field anyways 8)

Keen.

I NEVER AGREED TO THE SECOND PART OMG

Good news! Some of our team members have recently received some private funding from our parents/friends to be used purely for the trip. This means we're able to reduce our required goal! I've updated the OP to explain this in more detail.

Fake.

Fuck my life

If anyone is interested in donating, I’ve made a formal post about the fundraiser (which can be found here) explaining the nuances of the endeavour.

Any support would be immensely helpful and greatly appreciated by all of us :)

I can't express enough how much we appreciate receiving stuff like this from the community. In the last 24 hours we've received so much support in the form of logos, extra publicity, offers for jerseys and even potential sponsors. Was not prepared for this level of enthusiasm.

Also, camper your design is amazing. Definitely our lead candidate for an official logo so far.

(Screw Virtus Pro, they can get a new logo)

inb4 copyright infringement

If we win i58, I promise to donate my share to fund a working image embedding option on tftv.

Help an Australian Team Fortress 2 team go to i58!

Donate money by clicking here

Donate items by clicking here

Update 17/6: Some of our team members have recently received some private funding from our parents/friends to be used purely for the trip. This means we're able to reduce our required goal!

I have updated the cost breakdown on the campaign to reflect this. With that being said, our new minimum goal to guarantee the team's attendance is now $5160 USD.

Unfortunately, Indiegogo doesn't let you change your campaign's goal after it has gone live so I will manually update this message if any more money is received in the future :)

Update 4/7: More money has been received privately and so the goal can once again be reduced;

New minimum Goal: $5000 USD

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Hey guys!

In case you didn’t catch the awards show last week on TFLIVE, Jasmine Tea has confirmed that we are intending on going to i58! This is particularly exciting as the last time an Australian team went to an i-Series was almost 2 years ago at i52, so it’s been a long time coming that we had a team represent the country overseas.

Who would attend?

The team we intend to take to i58 is the same one that has been dominant in the Australian scene the past few years and the winner of numerous competitions. Specifically, the roster we are hoping to take is the same that won the recent ozfortress Season 15 but with one small change. Unfortunately, one of our core scouts, Elmo, cannot get out of his university commitments during the event and consequently he will not be able to attend. In his place we are recruiting another Australian scout superstar, Yui, whom some are calling the “next sheep” and for good reason. He recently asserted his dominance in the latest season, winning the award for Best Utility (basically best sniper) and being a hot contestant for the Best Scout award as well. Given the circumstances, Yui was the obvious choice to replace our monotone flank scout.

That being said, the current roster of Jasmine Tea and the roster hoping to attend i58 is the following:

• Medic: Dave
  
• Pocket Soldier: Geoh
  
• Roaming Soldier: Zaka
  
• Demoman: Paulsen
  
• Scout: Madness
  
• Scout: Yui

All players on the current roster have won numerous awards for best in class and MVP over the seasons, with every single member taking each of their respective best in class awards in the latest ozfortress Season 15.

http://i.imgur.com/VkuNCQA.png

Because of this, we believe this to be the best combination of players possible to challenge Europe and North America, but more importantly, provide some of the most entertaining and captivating TF2 for spectators and players alike!

Our Goal

Unfortunately, there is significant financial cost sending 6 players half way around the world, and while each of us is willing to contribute, we can’t do it alone. In addition to paying for all necessary living expenses (travel costs, food, etc.), each team member will be chipping in approximately $1250 USD for the trip (which includes their share of the ozfortress Season 15 prizepool).

Taking this into account, we are hoping to raise the minimum amount required to cover the remainder of the costs for the essential expenses such as flights, accommodation and PC hire. This equates to roughly $6300 USD (a detailed breakdown of these costs can be found here). However, a minimum goal of $5600 USD has been chosen as the absolute minimum funds required to guarantee the team's attendance at i58.

In return for any kind donations, we've already prepared a range of perks which are listed on the campaign. Additionally, we are in the midst of discussing various community stretch goals (we are open to suggestions!) such as international show matches, pub vs. pros and getting Elmo to solo cast a game. These will be carried out when specific amounts have been raised.

As this is a flexible funded endeavour, if the $5600 minimum isn’t met then any money donated will be given back to the TF2 community, such as funding the North American teams' travel expenses to the event or providing additional funding for future competitive TF2 prize pools.

If the minimum goal is reached however, we will be attending i58 with the hopes of recapturing the awesome spectacle of having the best teams from the three largest communities on the planet compete on the biggest stage in competitive TF2!

Summary

It’s not often we get to see the level of skill and calibre of games the i-Series events have consistently provided over the years. Because of this, we have every intention of representing the Australian/New Zealand communities to the best of our ability. While taking the world title is a significant goal of ours, our main ambition is to provide the community with some of the most unforgettable TF2 to watch and to help our game grow into something that it should have been years ago. This is why we want to go and hope you will help us get there! All donations are immensely helpful and greatly appreciated but if you can’t donate, then just spread the word! Help us get to i58 and broaden the scope of this international competition once again!

Have yet to purchase one sorry. Toe cam will have to wait...