We're at the end of the road and it's an all-Asian grand final between:

NV- vs Of Four Ubermensch

Due to technical difficulties on my end and lack of time, I cannot write out an elaborate announcement so first I will just say thank you to everyone who was involved in this cup, it was a pleasure working and playing with you all. Second, the finale will be played and also that if both teams are willing to do so, the semi finalists may play each other for 3rd place, which would be:

Team France vs l4m

Good luck to all of you!

The finish line is in sight: only two weeks remain until we have our new champions. The teams that finished in the top 4 of the swiss table did not flounder and prevailed to meet each other in the penultimate round of the cup.

The final four teams will slog it out in Hard Rain and by random flip of the coin again, this time it's the teams that finished lower in the swiss table (3rd and 4th placed teams) that decide whether the finale is played or not. So, here are the semi final match draws:

SEMI FINALS - HARD RAIN

Match 74: NV- vs l4m (Japanese home match - Tokyo)

Match 75: Of Four Ubermensch vs Team France (This is South Korea vs France, so it will likely require server testing in advance - either one Neutral match on Dallas server, or two neutral matches - one on Dallas and one on LA)

So we're now in the final phase of playoffs and the cup winners will be crowned in the next 3 weeks. It is VITAL that you post your scheduled times in the relevant discussion thread and in decent time (such as the previous day for example) so that casters and streamers can prepare in advance.

For the finals, we are also going to announce server choices for each specific draw as recommended by the admins. You are not obligated to follow the recommendations, but any alternative choice you make and the risks that choice carries, you do so at your own peril. We have always given teams the liberty to choose which servers they wanted and that still remains, but the teams are expected to be responsible enough to test pings for themselves and agree in advance on what is the best choice for both teams.

By random flip of the coin, the teams that finished higher up the table in contrast to their opponents will have the choice of whether the DK finale is played or not. So without further ado, here are the table and the next draws. Good luck and have fun!

01. NV- [6] <14> +1364 (7)
02. Of Four Ubermensch [5] <12> +1009 (7)
03. Team France [5] <5> +846 (2)
04. l4m [4] <16> -99 (6)
05. N0n' Stop< [4] <12> +496 (6)
06. Team Something... [4] <10> +334 (7)
07. Team aZ [4] <7> +349 (7)
08. Team Switzerland [4] <7> -500 (3)



QUARTER FINALS - DARK CARNIVAL


Match 70: NV- vs Team Switzerland (Neutral match: Dallas/Chicago)

Match 71: l4m vs N0n`Stop< (Neutral match: Dallas)


Match 72: Team France vs Team Something... (Home/Away matches: Frankfurt - Dallas/Chicago)

Match 73: Of Four Ubermensch vs Team aZ (Neutral match: Tokyo?)

So here we are: the sixth and final round of the swiss phase. Only 8 teams can advance to the playoffs. And to make things more interesting, we are debuting a custom campaign that's never been seen before in official competition. In preliminary testing, it seems like a decent and well-rounded campaign, only 4 maps and not too long but also not too short either.

Note: DO NOT download Fall in Death from the l4dmaps.com website! The map author has only very recently released a new version, but all the necessary stripper edits have already been made for the previous version. All teams and players MUST download the correct version from this link: http://31.186.250.11/addons/

There are two major things I would like to mention: first is the lack of scheduling and results. I have had to hand out up to 4 random defwins (as I warned that I would 2 weeks ago) due to no team captain or member confirming their match schedules let alone their results. Hell, not even a single word. It's on you to be more organised.

And second, really be certain about your choice of the HAN system. A couple of recent incidents have resulted in drama where it could've been avoided easily. Although the admins would rather that teams choose what they want between themselves, we recommend that if there's ever a viable chance to play on a neutral server with even pings for both teams in an international draw, to play one match on that neutral server instead of risking more of a ping disparity with two home/away games in succession. Just because it's an international draw, does NOT mean that home/away is mandatory 100% of the time. It's only mandatory if there is not a suitable enough neutral server. But if there is a neutral server for both teams, then sometimes the neutral option is more preferable. It's also why we recommend testing the pings before you make a concrete decision.

19 teams still in, but only 8 will still be here next week. Good luck to all of you!


ROUND 6: FALL IN DEATH

Match 61: NV- vs l4m

Match 62: Of Four Ubermensch vs Team USA

Match 63: N0n`Stop< vs Team France

Match 64: Pink Panther Gang vs Team aZ

Match 65: Wubbalubbadubdub! vs Team something...

Match 66: Team Switzerland vs Impossible Gods

Match 67: The VooDoo BoyZ vs Team Dat Italy

Match 68: Team Axis vs Dynasty

Match 69: Sweet Venom vs Team dno skill

BYE: Tim Vintage

With just 2 rounds remaining until the knockout finals, this is the moment where things really start to heat up. Based on our current predictions, it appears that any team that wishes to advance to the playoffs must have a minimum of 4 wins as well as a healthy amount of resistance points. There could be as many as 9 teams with at least 4 wins by the time all 6 rounds of the swiss phase are done, but only the top 8 of those teams will qualify! So your resistance points do matter, and your average points difference tally is also important in the event that you are tied with a team for wins and resistance points.

The Parish will serve as a more familiar and welcome ground for Round 5, especially as there are a number of big matches coming up. As always, thank you and good luck!


ROUND 5: THE PARISH

Match 52: NV- vs N0n`Stop<

Match 53: Pink Panther Gang vs Of Four Ubermensch

Match 54: Wubbalubbadubdub! vs Team USA

Match 55: l4m vs Team Something...

Match 56: Team France vs The VooDoo BoyZ

Match 57: Team Switzerland vs Dynasty

Match 58: Sweet Venom vs Team aZ

Match 59: Impossible Gods vs Team dno skill

Match 60: Tim Vintage vs Team Axis

BYE: Team Dat Italy