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Schedule

• Signups: NOW! – 13th August 18:00 CEST (late joining in swiss divisions is possible until the end of the first regular season week)
• Provisional Tiers: 13th/14th of August
• Main Season: 17th August – 27th September (5 weeks + Uberfest break)
• Playoffs: 28th September – 18th October (3 weeks)

Map Pool, Feedback results, Weapon bans, Map Rotation & Map Votes

In the Highlander Season 35 (Spring 2026) Feedback poll we asked you to rank the season’s maps from best to worst indicating that the (2) lowest voted map(s) will be rotated out for season 36. The following are some results to highlight from the polls:

Reading some of the written feedback we also notice a pattern across divisions of play. People tend to not like 1 or 2 specific KOTH maps and tend to be fine with all the stopwatch maps. Most people were fine with the map pool as a whole but common feedback such as: “DELETE product”, “ashville is super duper bad…”, “I despise warmtic, I think I’d genuinely enjoy dustbowl more”.

Notably, despite scoring the second lowest numerically, proot received zero negative comments while all other maps were mentioned negatively numerous times. proot in fact was praised as something “fresh” numerous times.

Based on all this feedback the maps koth_warmtic_f10 will be removed from the map pool being clearly voted the most disliked map from last season.
Additionally koth_ashville_final1 will also be removed being the both 3rd worst voted map as well as being the map that received the most qualitative complaints out of any of last seasons maps.
Both warmtic and ashville will become voteable for the season again for reintroduction in Highlander Season 37.

Weapon Bans

Another part of the feedback poll is always whether weapons should be banned or unbanned. We haven’t been publishing these the last couple seasons as nothing noteworthy has happened here. This season again the consensus is that the whitelist is not in need of any change. And we on the staff team agree.

We do see a small group of people without knowing it, seriously arguing against each other surrounding the bleed weapons. Some lobbying to unban the flying guillotine whilst others want to see the wrap assassin banned.

There is also an unnamed group of higher division pyro mains (and we suspect also one particular demo main) that seemingly wanna troll people with a scorch shot unban. Our response: No.

Map Pool

Here is the list of the currently confirmed maps for the season:

• pl_vigil_rc10
• cp_steel_f12
• pl_upward_f12
• koth_product_final
• koth_proot_b5b

Map Rotation

The round structure of this upcoming season will be as follows:

• Week 1: pl_upward_f12
• Week 2: koth_product_final & koth_proot_b5b
• Week 3: cp_steel_f12
• Week 4: Map #1 from Preseason Poll below
  • (In the case that a Map #2 is needed due to a KOTH/5CP/TOW map winning the poll, this map will be decided by a mix of vote results and admin discretion)
• Week 5: pl_vigil_rc10

As you can see, week 4 needs its maps decided. Please vote for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 maps that you would like to see in the upcoming season.
The first (and potentially second) most voted maps will make it into the upcoming season. The poll will end August 10th around 12:00 CEST.

Rules that are being worked on

2.7. Player Experience

We are currently fine-tuning some improvements to rule 2.7 Player experience. We are noticing specifically some issues with unclear wording and the rules surrounding transferring HL to 6s experience not being accurate for higher div highlander players, along with some smaller issues. We are trying to get the full rule update out ahead of the start of Highlander Season 36. Related rules such as the already mostly depreciated rule 3.7 are part of this rework.

There is a Ping Limit Discussion happening

Last season a discussion around ping limits was started in the Highlander Premiership players channel on the etf2l discord. Teams were expressing their frustration after scrims against Brazilian sniper Mujet playing on over 220 ping.

Firstly, we would like to preface that we understand ETF2l’s role as the most globally accessible league for regions that don’t have their own larger competitive leagues (Africa, Middle East, etc.) and we will keep accommodating and trying to serve that function for these regions. However we do understand the frustration of having to play against a 220 ping sniper main with a 100 ping Russian sniper, effectively creating a 300 ping chasm in a sniper vs sniper scenario.

Hence we are actively considering whether or not to introduce some form of ping limit into the rules, and if so what form that could take. Please reach out through the etf2l discord if you have any input on this as we understand this is a contentious issue. We don’t plan to rush any decision regarding this issue.

Setup

Roster Lock

We will be maintaining a roster lock starting on the 13th of August (after sign-ups close), after which players can only join through admin requests instead. This will be possible up until the start of the last week of the regular season, after which no new players will be able to join teams.

For all divisions players cannot be more experienced (in accordance with rule 2.7) than the tier of the team they want to join. Experience in other leagues is also included.

Between the signup deadline and the season start we might be more lenient when it comes to players. However adding higher skilled players will affect your team’s seeding.

We are currently in the process of looking at changes to the player experience and late joiner rules. So stay updated to any potential rulechanges ahead of the season!

Class Restrictions & Division Helpers

We’ll avoid trying to apply class restrictions at the start of the season. However, based on feedback from previous seasons, we will be applying limited restrictions on specific players. This means that teams might have large skill gaps between its players but we’re trying to put a bit more emphasis on allowing people to play with their friends on the class they enjoy playing the most. For this purpose we are also employing Division helpers for Season 36 as we did in the previous seasons.

Are you interested in being a division helper for Highlander Season 36? Sign up below!

Furthermore teams WILL NOT be transitioned between divisions during the season, neither will teams in the playoff positions.

Playoffs

Playoff information will follow at a later date. For Premiership and Division 1/High teams (2nd highest division) we will be employing a double elimination bracket where the top 4 teams make playoffs. The top 2 teams will enter the Upper Bracket Final and the 3rd and 4th place teams will start in the Lower Bracket Semi-Final. For Open & Low, expect a standard single elimination bracket like in previous seasons.

Fresh Division

We will determine if this division will be used based off of signups. After gathering feedback from Fresh players, we will be more strict on which players are eligible to participate in this division. Players who meet any of the criteria below are not eligible to play in the Fresh division:

• played more than 10 matches in ETF2L Open
• played in ETF2L Open playoffs or above (this does not include cups)
• participated in the playoffs of a previous Fresh season or Fresh Meat Challenge
• played more than 10 matches in RGL Amateur
• participated in RGL Newcomer playoffs

6v6 experience will be considered. Any previous experience from leagues not listed above will be judged on a case by case basis.

Sign-up Process

First and foremost, you must sign your team up here: 

Then, if you are applying for Division 6/Open/Fresh (which are our entry divisions), you do not have to provide any proof that you are capable of playing at that level.

Otherwise, we encourage you to send in an application through the ticket system in our Discord or by directly contacting a league admin, with the following information:

– Team name, Division you apply for and ETF2L team link
– Roster
– Recent results and logs associated to them
– Reasons why your team deserves to be placed in the tier you applied for (optional)

e.g.
– Team BIG EXPLOSION, Premiership, https://etf2l.pro/teams/1/
announce the roster with the classes
– 5-2 vs Team Aoshi’s All Stars (Prem) : https://logs.tf/012345

Teams that do not contact the admins risk losing their spot in the division they are asking for. If your team is signing up for the High division, we strongly recommend that you tell us if you are looking to play in Division 1 or Division 2; the same goes for Mid teams that have a preference for Division 3 or Division 4.

Please note that the success of your request also strongly depends on the free slots in the tier you aim for. Established teams will be favoured over new teams or teams that request to jump a tier.

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