League Ban

witz./Reb. STEAM_0:1:181196148

witz./Reb. has been found using game-altering, third-party clients to gain an unfair advantage within Respawn League. As such, they will be receiving a standard 2 Year Competitive Ban for their use of third-party clients, along with a 1 Year Community Ban.

Should ANY teams in Respawn be found housing this player, the team will be permanently removed from our competitions and all players involved will face severe penalties.

League Ban

kodiak STEAM_0:1:62544538

kodiak has been found using game-altering, third-party clients to gain an unfair advantage within Respawn League. As such, they will be receiving a standard 2 Year Competitive Ban for their use of third-party clients, along with a 1 Year Community Ban.

Should ANY teams in Respawn be found housing this player, the team will be permanently removed from our competitions and all players involved will face severe penalties.

Hey again everyone, before we get started we would like to thank every team, captain, and player who has participated in our league thus far, and for allowing us to have another season of multiple divisions! Below you will find the final seedings for AU/NZ Highlander for Season 8:

Premier

1. red pandas
2. ?
3. reckless rascals
4. OwO >w< UwU
5. Nuclear Ratz
6. Crippled Cartel
7. always salt your pasta while boiling it
8. bp.

Please be aware that Main will have a BYE match each week.

Main

1. moa
2. Catman's Cat Cafe Paradise
3. from gosford 2: highlander edition
4. Burnt Pizza
5. Arby's
6. The Mann from U.N.C.L.E
7. Cranial Crongoloids
8. Push 'til Dawn
9. Pandas Red

With the commencement of the AU/NZ Highlander season, we will be extending the signups of ASIA Highlander by another week (signups will close 13th Feb, with the season starting on the 15th). We have done this to allow more time for newer teams to signup for the region.

We've updated the versions and skews of maps being used in this season with the releases of the fixed versions from the Refresh Map team. You can see the new versions of each map listed below:

• cp_steel_pro_rc2 > cp_steel_f2
• koth_warmtic_rc4 > koth_warmtic_f1
• koth_ashville_rc2a > koth_ashville_rc2c
• pl_upward_pro_b2 > pl_upward_pro_b2b

As some of you may already be aware, I (core) plan to step down from the Head Admin position and fade into the background, so if you feel you are capable of filling some staff positions, check out our staff applications.

Over the coming days and weeks we will be releasing a lot of information not just for Highlander, but the limited-run return of 4v4 and upcoming and post-season tournaments.

With this in mind we thought it was crucial to avoid as much confusion as possible while we release this information, so we thought we'd give you a calendar or "road map" of our plans for 2021.

Any questions, queries or support requests as always should go to the #admin-support or #ticket-support channels in our Discord.

We are reopening staff applications for the RSL Staff team for the following positions:

• League Administrator: Within this role, you are expected to uphold the integrity and competition of our league, whilst assisting and moderating matches for our seasonal leagues and tournaments. We typically like some experience in this area when considering applications but it isn't required.
• Tournament Organiser: As an organiser, you will work with existing League Administrators and behind the scenes staff to help shape our upcoming tournaments through 2021 and beyond. Each organiser will have varying levels of public interaction so it is important that you are able to uphold to the values of our league and can commit the time in the lead up to events and during them.
• Social Media Manager: This role will likely only need to be filled by one person, and may not get filled. We're opening this role up to anyone who feels they have what the role would require and more. Basically, just surprise us with this one.

Our staff applications are now available on our league website and will remain there indefinitely, and we will work to update everyone via this space as there are new openings, but any application submitted there will remain there permanently, so if you miss out on the first go around you will likely be considered on the next.

You can find our staff applications here or via staff.rsl.tf

Thanks again everyone,
core.

Copy the template below and put a thread in Application Submissions:

TF2 Background:
Position you are applying for (League Administrator, Tournament Organizer, Social Media Manager):
Previous Experience (If applicable):
Why do you want to join the RSL staff team and what makes you believe you are the right fit for the role:

I just want to preface this post with the following; thank you again to everybody that has allowed us to host and run a total of 13 seasons of Highlander, and giving us the opportunity to reach two divisions again in AU/NZ which we haven't seen in a long time. This year has brought all manners of unexpected upon everyone, and we just hope that the continuation of this league has helped ease the troubles you may be facing and for a time put it in the rearview.

With 2021 approaching there are going to be some structural league changes to ensure both the continuation of the league, and the growth of our communities in both AU/NZ and Asia. In AU/NZ over the past 28 months, we've seen an uptick in the number of scrimmages between teams in each division, gradually more committed teams, and an increase in the number of new players coming to Highlander. Highlander is typically regarded as a much friendlier game mode for new players to jump into competitive for, as it more closely resembles their existing experience and is a good way to build upon it. This won't be news to anyone who has been around a while though, and to all of those people who have been around, made teams, and recruited some newer players, or even to those who have made pug and mentoring groups for new players, we thank you. You are growing this community and without this level of commitment from you all, we wouldn't be where we are now.

In recognition of that, we will be making a focus on bolstering the existing pug or mentoring groups by working in resources to our documentation site to try to improve upon the new player experience and give these mentors the resources and backing they need to continue to "initiate the new blood".

I mentioned some structural changes. This is a bit broad and I recognize that, but we aren't entirely sure where these changes will be made as of yet, we are sure of only two things:

1. At the start of 2021 (hopefully prior to the next season), we will be running our first tournament based around experienced players and creating a balanced, but competitive lineup of teams for a prize pool. We aren't too far on the details for this yet either, but with the season over we'll be moving full-steam ahead on this project.
2. Sometime in 2021, I (core / Connor) will be taking a backseat in Respawn, if not almost entirely stepping away from the league. This decision has been motivated by a few things (other projects, time constraints, etc.) but key among them has been seeing just how many people are dedicated to improving on the community we have together, and knowing that there are likely people who have a lot more passion and ambition for making Highlander in our region what it should have always been than I do. This is a decision I have reached over months of contemplation and I will be working with the existing staff and any new additions by then (hoping to bring on more administrators for both regions) to ensure someone is there to take the mantle, and the transition is as smooth as possible. I am nothing but appreciative of the opportunity I have been given over the past two years to help nudge Highlander in a (hopefully) better direction than it was prior to Respawn and see the community arrive at a better and more fulfilling Highlander experience.

So woah, what a weighted topic to try to move on from but nevertheless, there is one last thing to mention in this post. Moving forward into next year, we will be making a big push towards bringing everything we've mentioned in this post, everything we see as the normal Highlander experience and more in AU/NZ, to Asia. We aren't going to say how we plan to do this as of now, again we are still working out the details, but rest assured it will dwarf any previous attempt.

So I guess this might be one of the last times I'll be posting something this long on the site, so the Respawn team would just like to throw in a big congratulations not only to the winning teams of each division and region along with the runner-ups but also to everyone who made it through the year. Moving forward we'll continue to strive towards being everything and more, both as a league and community.

Before getting into things, we would like to congratulate every team that has made it into the Playoffs for this season, along with every team who played this season.

Main division:

1. Ambulas
2. League of Super Evil
3. AlumilaiX
4. Ching Chads

We are using Page Playoffs to run this competition, an example of how it works; the 3rd and 4th seed match up against each other, and the loser is eliminated with the 1st and 2nd seed going head to head with the winner moving straight to the finale. The victor of the 3rd/4th game will go up against the loser of the 1st/2nd game and decide who is brought to the finals. This means the playoffs will run for a total of 3 weeks. Since there are only 6 teams, only the Top 4 will proceed to Playoffs.

There are some playoffs unique rules that come into effect that everyone needs to be aware of:

• Mercenary usage throughout playoffs needs to be approved by both the captain/s of the opposing team AND a League Administrator. Failure to do so will result in a penalty.
• There are no forfeits allowed in playoffs brackets.
• Due to the low match count that comes with smaller playoffs brackets, you will have a staff member assigned to oversee everything regarding your match; from mercenaries, scheduling, disputes and just to answer any general questions you have.

If you have questions regarding anything, or merely need help during Playoffs, please contact either your assigned staff member or reach out through #admin-support or #ticket-support in our discord.

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