Here we go then, the release of our BETA ladder for bug hunting purposes. We will be accepting a limited number of teams to get to grips with our new system. Please apply to join in the usual manner.

All teams accepted are done on the understanding that site debug and error messages are reported to us so we can iron out any teething problems as we find them. Please post in the BUG HUNT forum with a description of the error (cut and paste would be nice thank you very much) along with a sentence telling us what you were doing at the time the error was generated. Without this we cannot proceed so please complete this step.

I am deliberately not listing the options and details of the system at this time simply to see how intuitive you find it.

You can challenge other teams directly selecting date and time, map, user defined rules (otherwise all rules will be considered as default theSGL Counter-Strike 1.6 rules).

You can create open challenges for any other random team to accept.

All challenges both open and team specific can be made as official or friendly match types.

Scores and feedback on the team you have played can be entered after the match itself.

We trust you will find everything that is needed to make a successful ladder but if you have any additions or suggestions please do let us know.

As the BETA progresses we will be adding more teams to the system, when we feel everything is running smoothly the BETA ladder will be closed and the official theSGL Counter-Strike 1.6 ladder will replace it, open to all teams.

Once an application has been made to take part in the ladder we will consider the teams and select a limited number to start things off in this BETA environment.

Thank you for your assistance and your patience and we look forward very much to a period of sustained activity of which the ladder system is just the beginning. Watch this space...

Now we are moving into the latter stages of the pre season tournament, I thought it would be appropriate to run through which teams have qualified for it. Before doing so though I would like to run through the format of season 11 and the reasons behind it as it will be changing.

Season 11 for Counterstrike 1.6 will go back to the original format we started with back in 2004. For people who do not remember this format it was very simple with Invite, Premiership, Division 1, 2 etc however this time round we will add playoffs at the end of the season so again its all to play for so if you end in fifth you can still get promoted. Each division will have 8 teams in it with a simple two teams up and two teams down promotion/relegation. I’m sure some teams will see this as great move some will see it as a disaster. Before you make judgment though I would like to run through my thought process and give the reasons why we are moving back to the old format.

Back when theSGL started, your placement in CSGN was your ranking in the UK you could see who you had to beat and who you were better than. Even the teams at the top knew if you won a season you were the team to beat. Of course you had 4kings who were often away playing in European competitions much like Dignitas are now. No one could and can dispute there claim to being best in UK. Even then though It was always felt the teams flying the UK flag were the ones at the top of CSGN. When CSGN stopped theSGL took over there place to some extent especially in seasons four to Six but after season six the amount of games hit a low the system went stale. So we introduced the new system it worked well for us a lot more teams were playing & it was very competitive, it did exactly what we wanted it to do. For all its plus points though the one thing which was lost was teams could no longer have bragging rights over others. It is time for theSGL to step up to the plate once again and give teams those bragging rights back especially within the middle sector of CS teams where there is such debate on who is better than who. This season was all about playing a basic game of Counterstrike along with this it’s now about where you sit in the UK community who are you really better than.

So now onto the teams which will be in season 11 these are not in order of seedings. I will release these over the course of the weekend so keep checking back:

#thelastresort
Flattering to decieve
Dangerously overrated has-beens
Clip
Infernal Gamers
Afterlife-gaming

Some of these teams will have to play each other to determine there placing in season 11 fixtures will be posted here and i will inform the clan leaders of the game over PM on the site.

Afterlife-gaming vs Infernal Gamers  (To be played before October 31st)
Clip vs Afterlife-gaming (To be played before October 31st)
Clip vs Infernal Gamers (To be played before October 31st)

So its back to basic’s and back to the old days where teams knew where they stood all they had to do is turn up and win. I want those teams who turn up and play constantly the ones who are really keeping the CS1.6 UK community going to have there ranking back.

‘Just AVE IT’

So this week has been jam packed full of counterstrike with all group stage games getting played. There still may be some games to be played tonight and tomorrow but the majority have been played and finished. So we move onto the knockout stages which I will post up on Sunday morning with the games kicking off Sunday night.

Important Information

I just want to take this opportunity to run through a few things which I have been asked over and over.

• Players with time left on your roster, generally in the group stages we said that if the other team allow you to use the players with time left then it is fine. We will continue to use this rule however you must inform your opposition before the game and it will be there choice if they say “no” they are not default hunters. This seems to be a term used by the higher up teams thinking they have the right to moan because they are better, well wise up if your team is so good they should have a stable five players and you should not be adding new players on match night.

• If you don’t use SGLAC you will be suspended until the tournament is finished if two or more players don’t use SGLAC your team will be suspended. I have already done this to one team so do not think this is a empty threat. (Note: We know about the FPS issues with SGLAC and currently working to resolve them, you moaning about them isn’t going to make us fix it any faster. The best thing you can do is help us by giving us as much information as possible so we find the problem faster. You must still use SGLAC other anticheats or just demos isn’t acceptable, I’m sorry you will just have to play through the FPS drops)

People who have there antivirus blocking SGLAC please refer to http://www.thesgl.com/anticheat/

Moving on I have updated the schedule below:

Schedule of games

Sign Ups open: Complete
Sign Ups close: 24th September 2009 Complete
Qualifier Teams Announced: 25th September 2009 Complete
Qualifier Commences: 27th September 2009 Complete
Second Round qualifier: 28th September 2009 Complete
Groups for both Cups announced 5th October 2009 Complete

Group Game 1: 11th October 2009 Complete
Group Game 2: 12th October 2009 Complete
Group Game 3: 15th October 2009 Complete
(All group games must be played by the 17th October 2009 if not I will void the game)

First Round of Knockout: 18th October 2009
Second Round of Knockout: 22nd October 2009
Semi Final: 25nd October 2009
Finals: 29th October 2009

Qualification Fixtures

You can find the Knockout stages here and here

Teams Removed due to defaulting:

Immolate
el3men7s
4 dimensional FX
inquest.gaming
revolutiongames
average-joes
i-sight
fortius
xperience-gaming

So lets get on with the next stage of the tournament, remember all games are best of three. Thankyou to the teams which have continued to turn up and play I hope you are all looking forward to the knockout stages. GL HF

PLEASE NOTE: I have increased the time between games so you until Wednesday to play your game as the next round will be Thursday 22nd October

Bracket

It’s been around a week since the qualifiers finished for CS1.6 and firstly I must apologize for not posting the groups as per the original schedule. I found myself very busy with work in the latter part of the week and was unable to find time to post the groups.

This morning though I have finally had chance to post the two sets of groups for all the teams. As promised the teams that lost in the qualifiers still have there chance to prove themselves with them being involved in a second separate cup.

Again I will state clearly the whole point of these cups is to see who is active and playing, secondary to that is to produce the league tables from these tournaments.

Schedule of games

• Sign Ups open: Complete
• Sign Ups close: 24th September 2009 Complete
• Qualifier Teams Announced: 25th September 2009 Complete
• Qualifier Commences: 27th September 2009 Complete
• Second Round qualifier: 28th September 2009 Complete
• Groups for both Cups announced 5th October 2009 Complete

• Group Game 1: 11th October 2009
• Group Game 2: 12th October 2009
• Group Game 3: 15th October 2009

(All group games must be played by the 17th October 2009 if not I will void the game)

• First Round of Knockout: 18th October 2009
• Second Round of Knockout: 19th October 2009
• Semi Final: 22nd October 2009
• Finals: 25th October 2009

You can find the group tables #1 here and group tables #2 here

Lets crack on with this tournament then, all games are best of three remember so please enter your scores in maps not round so for example 2-1 on maps. I wish all the teams the best of luck if you require any more information or have any questions about the tournament please PM me (Blizzard) on the website.

Just a note to CSS teams your pre season tournament has changed format due to the amount of teams and full details will be posted shortly.

OLH#34 already? A glutton for punishment I decided to stop playin Aion for a night and run another cup. You've got plenty to go at this week with the Pre Season Tournament in full swing as well I suppose. Anyway the featured map of the week is going to be... tuscan. No, not toucan, tuscan.

• de_tuscan
  
• de_inferno
• de_train
• & de_dust2

All players taking part must be registered on theSGL.com website with their Steam ID. The 72 hour rule for eligibility will not be enforced. All players must be on the roster of the team they are playing for - again no debate will be entered into for this rule, it isn't rocket science!

Your admin for the evening will be myself (Uzi) I look forward to seeing you on Thursday from 8pm. Come and hang out in #theSGL to report scores and check out any queries....

You can grab de_tuscan from our download section which will also include  other custom maps which you might as well have since they will be included over coming weeks.

Last week saw me open sign ups for our CS1.6 pre-season Competition. The response I’m glad to say has been fantastic with over 60 teams applying from Europe and the United Kingdom. During this past week I have invited sixteen teams straight to the group stages these teams in our opinion have shown a dedication to counterstrike over the years I would like to state here there invitation was not based on Skill. The whole idea of this competition is to see which teams will turn up and play however the majority of seedings for season 11 will be based on this tournament so the pressure is on to win as well.

The question on many teams lips will be how can I seed a team on one game, for example if you get knocked out in the first qualifying round how can I seed you just on that game, every team has there off days of course. I totally agree with this we can not seed any team off one game. This is why even if your team loses in the qualification stages you will be moved into a totally separate competition with groups. Players and teams may slate this idea however my focus for these tournaments is to see which team is reliable. Teams that lose one game then decide not to participate in the any other competition are not right for season 11, what will a team like this do in season 11 lose one game then quit the season.

Moving onto the details and fixtures:

Important Information

• You must play in this cup to be considered for season 11
• Majority of the seedings will be based on this event.
• If you default without good reason you will not play in season 11
• Qualifier games can not be rescheduled to a different day. (You may reschedule the time of the fixture to earlier or later as long as both teams agree).
• All games will be best of three you will choose your maps in the standard way which will be explained in the Rules. The five maps will be de_dust2, de_train, de_inferno, de_tuscan, de_nuke.
• Players with timeleft on there profile will be aloud in the qualifying rounds however you wont be allowed to clan jump any player found to be clan jumping will be removed from the tournament.
• Please refer to this news post  for more details.
  

Qualification Fixtures

Fixtures for the first round can be found here

*Fixtures to be complete by 27th September
*Teams can enter there own results please enter them per game results for example 2-1 on not full round scores like 32-16

Teams which are rejected are listed below this is because they do not have five players on there roster. These teams need to get five players on there roster to be considered there are a few places left but it will be first come first served. Once these teams have five players they must pm me (blizzard) on the website:

miNority.CS	bloodPack
takedown.	dink!
FocalPoint	dubtastic
Divinity.e-Sports	Game Alliance
Lead.Gaming	SYNDICATE GAMING
ave it!	Equiped
AMIGO

theSGL’s aim now has changed we want teams that want to play, if you default you will not be in season 11. Our focus now is making sure that teams that want to play get a game. I wish all the teams the best of luck. If you have any questions regarding the tournament please contact me (blizzard) via personal message on the website.

Bracket  / Fixtures

Who knows, this could be your last chance of an OLH for a while. Bewteen the Pre Season Tournament and my love of Aion - I'm not sure where the next one will be comng from, so you may wanna make the most of it,...

Keeping with the tradition of previous weeks the first round map is what I like to call a "car crash" as teams run all over the map mostly not having much of a clue where they're going ( ie - "bits flying everywhere"). It's in teh download section if you want / need it.

• de_cpl_fire
  
• de_dust2
• de_train
• & de_nuke

All players taking part must be registered on theSGL.com website with their Steam ID. The 72 hour rule for eligibility will not be enforced. All players must be on the roster of the team they are playing for - again no debate will be entered into for this rule, it isn't rocket science!

Your admin for the evening will be myself (Uzi) I look forward to seeing you on Thursday from 8pm. Come and hang out in #theSGL to report scores and check out any queries....

You can grab cpl_fire from our download section which will also include  other custom maps which you might as well have since they will be included over coming weeks.

Moving swiftly on from my post yesterday its time to announce the feeder cup details for CS1.6, last season saw an amazing amount of defaults and a lot of reshuffling which I think none of us want this season. Over the summer I’ve had a think of how to avoid this and the pre season tournament is what I’ve come up with.

Firstly before I dive into the full blown details of the cup I would like to breach the topic of teams wanting to play. You could say this season theSGL will be going back to the basics we have always maintained we do not need the best teams to run a league we just need ten teams of fairly equal skill to put on a league. This is not saying we don’t want the best teams but our focus now is providing a league for teams that want to play the game which I believe was lost in previous seasons. So all we are asking from teams this season is what we originally asked back in 2004, which is, to turn up play a good clean game of something you enjoy playing with minimum hassle and minimum fuss.

So onto the details, I’m just going to bullet point them so they are very clear.

Important Information

• You must play in this cup to be considered for season 11
• Majority of the seedings will be based on this event.
• If you default without good reason you will not play in season 11
• If you reschedule you must contact Blizzard via pm on the site (Not IRC) to get it confirmed, the games will all need to be played by a certain time which you will be informed of.

Format

• The cup will hold as many teams as want to play so no one will be left out.
• Standard format with Group stages leading to a Single Elimination cup.
• Sixteen teams will be invited straight to the group stages these invites will not necessarily go to the better teams. They will go to the teams which I believe deserve them such as teams which turned up last season constantly, teams which have played in the online heroes’ cups over the summer and teams who have shown a commitment to playing Counter-Strike.
• Depending on sign ups there will be a qualification round or two to decide the sixteen teams which will join the invitational teams.
• The teams which lose out in the qualification round will be placed into a separate cup/groups. This will be completely separate to the other cup. As someone else has said one game isn’t enough to seed a team on.
• All games will be best of three (even the group games) you will choose your maps in the standard way which will be explained in the FAQ. The five maps will be de_dust2, de_train, de_inferno, de_tuscan, de_nuke. With de_sgl_stone being introduced at the knockout stage replacing de_tuscan.
• All games will be played on your own servers with SGLAC being mandatory and HLTV must be provided also in eye demos must be recorded and provided when asked.
• Some games will be picked out to be played on SGL server with admin etc.

Schedule

• Sign Ups open: Now
• Sign Ups close: 24th September 2009
• Qualifier Teams Announced: 25th September 2009
• Qualifier Commences: 27th September 2009
• If needed Second Round qualifier: 28th September 2009
• Groups for both Cups announced 30th September 2009

• Practice Cup: 4th October 2009 de_sgl_Stone (Open to all)
• Practice Cup 5th October 2009 de_tuscan (Open to all)

• Group Game 1: 11th October 2009
• Group Game 2: 12th October 2009
• Group Game 3: 15th October 2009

(All group games must be played by the 17th October 2009 if not I will void the game)

• First Round of Knockout: 18th October 2009
• Second Round of Knockout: 19th October 2009
• Semi Final: 22nd October 2009
• Finals: 25th October 2009

Invitational Teams

• Hardfrag
• catchmydrift
• Locked
• txr.cs
• Euphoria
• Flattering to decieve
• Clip
• Urban Vikingz
• Flying V
• Inconcessus
• denied
• jags
• #thelastresort
• Firecore
• Afterlife
• You're in my system
  

(Teams will be added as/if they accept there invitations)

I’ve tried my best to work around fresher’s weeks but I’m sure this will clash with someone all I can do is apologize. The whole idea of this is to get teams playing as many games as possible to see who will turn up and play. All teams will play at least three or four games in the best of three format so it should give an idea where everyone stands skill wise and activity wise. I plan on running a smaller one of these in the second or third week of season eleven so if there are any new teams wanting in to replace teams they will have there opportunity. Good luck have fun.

Sign up here.

The general feedback is that everyones loving a bidda sgl_stone so who are we to dissapoint? So just to make sure you all get the option of a first round stone face off it's thrown back in once again. (And in case you were wondering the absence of OLH last week was solely down to the fact I was busy tangling with Frost Wind spirits in Aion.)

If anyone still has yet to work it out , you cannot download stone from the gameserver as you need to manually place the bwcsl_wad file in your main cstrike dir to make it work. If this didn't already alert you to the fact - this is a VERY old map !

• de_sgl_stone
  
• de_train
• de_nuke
• & de_inferno

All players taking part must be registered on theSGL.com website with their Steam ID. The 72 hour rule for eligibility will not be enforced. All players must be on the roster of the team they are playing for - again no debate will be entered into for this rule, it isn't rocket science!

Your admin for the evening will be myself (Uzi) I look forward to seeing you on Thursday from 8pm. Come and hang out in #theSGL to report scores and check out any queries....

You can grab sgl_stonefrom our download section which will also include  other custommaps which you might as well have since they will be included over coming weeks.