If you go to a match page (which you can access if you go to a team's home page -> click on one of their matches), click on watch demo to download it. Some STVs go down, so not all matches will have demos, but I think most of them so far have been good.

https://play.esea.net/match/14854354 <- just an example

If you want BLOYO demos, they are still up. (https://play.esea.net/teams/77431?tab=league&period[type]=seasons&period[season_start]=200). Make sure you copy and paste that entire URL to get them.

RGL makes the most sense right now. It has a sizable prize pool, it's established, and if it ran similar to HL there, I don't see why that wouldn't be the best option. I know people meme about Sigafoo selling coke on the side to get those prize pools, but I don't think he would risk his finances by pissing 6s players off because of his TF2 philosophy. UGC has largely been their own thing forever now, and TFCL has little to no chance at competing without offering a massive prize pool / getting sponsors. That sucks in a way, because I don't see how it would be possible for RGL and ESL (if it were to happen) could collaborate, but that's how I see it panning out.

Also, I wasn't around for CEVO vs. ESEA, so I might be wrong, but I thought the reason why that situation was especially divisive was because 1.) The entire bitcoin mining scandal at ESEA creating distrust between the playerbase and 2.) you had to play ~ four matches a week on CEVO, meaning it was virtually impossible to play both leagues at once. I don't see those issues being a problem this time around. That isn't to say splitting the player-base into multiple leagues is necessarily a good thing, but I don't think it would be the end of the world if it were to happen the first couple of seasons.

the title of this post has already aged well

sad!

also a sexy beast in general

IGNORE TENTATIVE IN TITLE. definitely want to play next season, preferably invite. pocket or roamer. Add me.

https://steamcommunity.com/id/areyoufrightened/
https://play.esea.net/users/1582741

I remember when he asked me to tryout for a team he was making back in Season 25. I didn't have any experience then, but it felt good that someone much more accomplished thought I was good and asked me for a tryout, and I remember asking him if he wanted to make a team the following season. He said sure, and in a couple days, we had a roster that was scrimming 5 nights a week, no problem. I think that was the same season i was out of internet for about a month because of Irma. Instead of cutting me and moving on, they waited for me to come back, which i was super grateful for.

The next season, he moved himself onto medic, and started to main call a lot more. His main calling is superb; it's straight-forward, confident, never tilty, but he also leaves enough gaps so you never feel like you are being micro'd / can decide for yourself what the best plays are. I remember thinking that team wasn't going to be that good, (I would say most people saw us as fringe playoffs) but we ended up finishing almost making Grand Finals. As someone who played on that team, I can easily say Dagger was the major reason we improved so much; his calling and how well managed the team was integral to that team's success. He never tilted, missed scrims, etc.

I'm pretty positive I wouldn't be nearly as good as I am (or had anywhere close to the same enjoyment) had I never played with Dagger. I don't know how relevant any of that will be to whoever is thinking of picking him up as a player, but I can easily say he is the greatest teammate I have ever played with, and his soldier is definitely good enough to hold his own on a playoffs IM team. Sorry for the long post, but this felt like a good place to post this. Love this dude.

from my experience Ether has always been a cool dude, and I think if he gets on a dedicated invite team, he can defintely take the next step into mid invite, specifically on demoman.

monkaS the team

if you are an up and coming player looking for high IM experience, back up for this team, because I guarantee that you will have a good chance of filling a spot eventually during the season.

i haven't seen him play a combat class in PUGs, but gee, his MGE elo is like 2500+!

I had to quit my team because I have to work very early in the morning and can't devote time to the game and it makes me sad. I think after sucking so hard in invite, I had a lot more motivation to try hard and get back there to get another shot at it, but having only 4 hours of sleep isn't really practical.

on one hand, it's nice to have a consistent job with steady hours that pays well over minimum wage, but it sucks to give up this game I've been playing for nearly 7 years at this point. makes me regret not playing comp sooner. it also kills most of my motivation to continue playing, considering that NA pugs seem deader than usual and I won't be able to play on a team. I hope the game is still kicking once I graduate and I can devote time to it again

i think since he has sort of become a god at demoman a meme recently, people haven't taken him as seriously, but he is still a great player, and I think could easily hold his own on a playoff IM team. always been cool to talk to whenever i have pugged with him.

anime

i think most people know what trip is like at this point. he likes to talk and maincall a lot, but lacks confidence if everyone isn't on board with it, and does not play as well if he isn't the main caller. he'll also do some shit that will bug you, like not being able to take criticism constructively without saying "but" or "i just blow at this game." his calling is good, but he can be pretty irritating.

i like trip though, and i think he's an amazing / dedicated player with potential to make playoffs invite. i know he's mostly a meme at this point but i hope he does well because he actually seems like he cares a lot about the game. i think right now though, he will only do well on very specific teams

let's just say this is why i left excellent adventures

While I think there are a lot of good ideas being thrown around, how you statistically define those parameters based off the information that logs.tf provides is the main problem. I was thinking specifically about stalemates, and I am not sure what would be the absolute best way to define it (and I'm not sure what logs.tf is capable of). For example, how about something like net kills during a certain time interval? We would expect it to be low, but during times that would not be traditionally a stalemate, this could also be true (rolling out to mid, the moments following a complete wipe of the other team, etc.). How about if both medics have uber, is it always considered a stalemate? There are definitely plenty of circumstances where that is not necessarily true. I've no clue but it would be super neat to know.