The Beginners' Tournament

Fellow underdogs, beginners and new players, I wish to present to you the Beginners' Tournament, where new blood shall rise to fight for glory on the virtual battlefields of World War II, safe in the knowledge that you will not have to face someone who may leave you forever in the mud. The Beginners' Tournament is your way forward into the brave world of 1v1.



This is an event aimed at players who are new to 1v1, who take a casual approach to the mode, or those who never thought they would ever even touch it. The dates for this tournament will be Saturday 7th November and Sunday 8th November, with the Saturday check-ins starting at 3pm GMT/UTC (4pm CET and 10am EST) and the tournament itself starting half an hour afterwards at 3:30pm GMT. If there is any confusion regarding certain timezones coming out of daylight savings time we will go by what time it is in GMT/UTC.

• Format: 1v1
  
• Bracket size: 64 players
  
• Best of 3, finals best of 5
  
• No mirror matches allowed, axis vs allies only
  
• Rank limitations apply*
  
• 500 victory points
  
• Standard resources
  
• Random starting locations
  
• All commanders, units and bulletins are allowed
  
• Join the Steam group chat a 3pm GMT for the check-ins: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/coh2org
  

*Rank limitations: As a tournament for less experienced players, we can't have any old person wander in, so these are the rank limitations:

• No one will be accepted if they have an army in 1v1 ranked better than 1000. All ranks in 1v1 must be worse than 1000 or you will not be accepted
  
• If a team game player (2v2, 3v3, 4v4) and not a 1v1 player, then ranks of 600 or worse in 2v2 and 500 or worse in 3v3 may apply, including both arranged team ranks and random team ranks
  

If you have any outside ladder experience that you think is noteworthy, please comment with it.



Due to the special nature of this tournament I am introducing a new rule that lets players gauge their opponent's strategy before the game even begins as well as simplify the VP tracking system.

• Upon sign up you must nominate which axis faction (OKW or Ostheer) and which allied faction (USF, Soviets or Brits). This means you you will be restricted to using two factions in the tournament, one axis, one allied.
  
• You have free reign over which commanders you pick
  
• Which commanders you use may be altered between matches
  
• The top bracket player announces their faction first
  
• After the first game, the loser of each game picks which map they want from the map pool and then which faction, after which their opponent is forced to use their opposite faction. For example, I lose game one so I pick Crossing in the Woods and then Wehrmacht, my opponent must then use their USF choice
  

• Dates: Saturday 7th November and Sunday 8th November
  
• Times (Saturday): Check-ins at 3pm GMT (4pm CET, 10am EST). Start at 3:30pm GMT (4:30pm CEST, 10:30am EST)
  
• Times (Sunday): Semi-finals and finals at 4pm GMT (5pm CET, 11am EST)
  

• The first map is always detailed at the top of the bracket header
  
• After the first game, the loser of the previous game picks the map
  
• The same map, including the one chosen for the first game, may not be played on twice during the BO3, but can be during the BO5 finals
  
• All maps must be chosen from the map pool
  
• The winner has one veto to use per matchup and may announce it after the loser picked their map. If a map is vetoed it may not be played on at all during that BO3 or BO5 matchup
  

Map pool

• Angoville
  
• Langreskaya
  
• Kholodny Ferma Summer
  
• Arnhem Checkpoint
  
• Semoskiy Winter
  
• Crossing in the Woods
  
• Faymonville Approach
  

• Sign up in this thread here: http://www.coh2.org/topic/43832/the-beginners-tournamnent-sign-ups
  
• Include your name and your two factions (1 axis, 1 allied)
  
• Add your steam profile link as well as your playercard
  

• First place receives either of the new OKW or USF commanders as well as 3 more of their choice plus a complete skinpack
  
• Second place receives two commanders of their choice plus a complete skinpack
  
• Third place receives one commander of their choice plus a complete skinpack
  

The tournament will be streamed live on twitch by a handful of streamers who shall all be displayed on the sign-ups thread. POV streaming is not allowed for your own games but feel free to stream other people's games if you have been knocked out.