Teams

Teams are groups of CTF players looking to work together to beat other teams, get to know more people in the CTF community, get better at the game, or just have fun with other players. Team matches tend to be much more competitive than regular CTF games. Teams play matches on private match servers.

Types of Teams

There are several different types of teams:

Unofficial teams are teams that are not recognized as legitimate teams. There are no rules and regulations for unofficial teams. Squads technically fall into this category.

Recruiting teams are aiming to become official but currently do not fit the requirements to become pending. Usually, this means that they do not have enough team members to become an official team yet (10 members are needed to become pending).

Pending teams are teams that are looking to be official and have met the requirements. Pending teams become Official at the end of the month.

Official teams are teams that can participate in official CTF team events and matches. Official teams must follow the guidelines given by the Mods.

Creating a Team

There are 2 ways to become part of the CTF team system. The first is to create your own CTF team. The second is to join an existing CTF team either as a member or mercenary:

Member: A player who can play in both official and unofficial CTF team matches. You can only be a member of 1 team at a time.

Mercenary: A player can be a mercenary to as many teams as they like, but they can only play in unofficial CTF matches.

Official CTF matches count as wins and losses, whereas unofficial matches do not. Below is information about both joining and creating a CTF team

To create an official CTF team, one must gather at least 10 players who are willing to join the CTF team as members (they cannot already be part of another CTF team). They can either recruit using a recruitment thread or by asking players in-game.

Once there are 10 players, someone must become the team's Representative. The representative will be added to the CTF Teams Discord Rep chat at all times. The function of a representative is to organise CTF matches with other teams. Teams are able to change their representative at any time.

Once all these requirements are fulfilled, contact one of the Moderators in the CTF Team Committee for them to grant the Pending status. After attaining the Pending status a team must wait until the end of the month to be granted the Official title. This title is given as long as the team continues to meet the requirements to become official.

Joining a Team

Joining an existing team is much simpler than creating a team, but can be more difficult to accomplish. Each official team has a recruitment thread on the forums (which you can find here for official teams and here for recruiting/pending teams). The first post on each of these threads will give details on that specific team, member and mercenary lists, application formats and sometimes match histories of that team.

To apply for that team, respond to the team thread by filling out the application format. Sometimes teams have different application formats for members and mercenaries, so make sure to fill out the right format! Teams can have as many mercenaries as they want, but can only have a maximum of 25 members. This means there is no point in applying for member to a team with 25 members already. Once you have applied, the team will respond (usually within a few days) as to whether you have been accepted or denied.

If you are not sure which team to join, fill out an application here, so teams that are looking new recruits may invite you!

Here are some general tips for applying to CTF teams:

• Don't apply as a member to more than 1 team at once as this will increase your chances of denial with many teams
• If you get denied, it's best not to reapply to the same team straight away as there will likely just deny you again. You could always apply to a different team instead!
• It's best to apply to a team with friends in it. Teams usually value friendly players above those that are good, and you'll probably have more fun too!
• Currently, dwarf is not usable in team matches and so playing a class that is allowed means you're much more likely to get accepted
• Most teams have a group chat on discord or another platform which is used for communication. Having an account on one or more of these platforms could vastly improve your chances of being accepted

More information about what a CTF team is and how to join one can be found here.

Code of Conduct

The team system works differently to regular CTF. In addition to the usual brawl rules, a code of conduct exists with additional rules which have to be followed if you're a member or mercenary of a team. A team Committee govern teams with this code of conduct through a Strike System. The more strikes the more serious the punishment:

1 strike = Unable to play in Official team matches for 30 days. You can still play in unofficial matches and practises
2 strikes = Unable to play in ALL matches for 30 days. Applies to all type of matches, official or not (even practises!)
3 strikes = Permanently banned from CTF teams. This applies as a ban on the match server as well, meaning you can't play in unofficial events either. This also extends to alternate accounts

Both players and teams can receive a strike (called player and team strikes respectively). If a team reaches 3 team strikes, it is forcibly disbanded by the CTF team committee. Players that are in-game during an official match that fail to follow moderator rules, break brawl rules or do not follow this code of conduct will be kicked briefly, and this punishment can escalate into a strike. Strikes can also be appealed and removed. Should you wish to appeal for a player strike, you can go to this thread to appeal.

Team rules are always subject to change, as classes are being reworked and different tactics used. Strikes can be generally given for:

• Unsportsmanlike Conduct
• Harassment
• Being a member of multiple teams at the same time (this includes alternate accounts)
• Violating Brawl Rules
• Lack of common sense

For more information on strikes and team rules, check out this thread.

Additionally, in team matches there are a set of Mandatory Match rules which have to be followed in addition to regular brawl rules:

• No Dwarf
• No abusing glitches
• No spam of projectiles
• No unsportsmanlike conduct
• No messaging players in the match as spectator
• No speaking in allchat as spectator

More information on these mandatory rules can be found here.

What Are Restrictions?
In addition to the player strikes system, player restrictions have been added as well. A restriction is NOT a strike, it is a ban from the match server and CTF events for the duration of it. Restrictions are for members of CTF teams who are caught hacking or using illegal modifications on their accounts.

How Do Restrictions Work?:
When player X gets banned, they will receive a restriction from the match server, including but not limited to, matches, PPMS (Player Pool Matches), and events. The first one will be one month, with the second being two. These restrictions can stack in the case of two accounts getting banned at the same time/before the first one is unrestricted. These will be removed if the ban is appealed (A bought unban WILL NOT remove the restriction). On the second restriction, if the first one has been removed via a ban appeal, it will be 1 month again. This will apply to alternate accounts, and anyone caught alting to avoid a restriction will be punished. (Note: The restriction will be lifted during the appeal process in case it is a false ban.) More information on CTF match restrictions can be found here.

Information on the CTF Team Scene and information regarding punishments will be posted here each month on a thread with the title "CTF Team Update (Month & Year)". You'll be able to see the current active restrictions on players that have been punished and the current striked players within the CTF Team Scene.

Matches

Matches are CTF games between two teams. Matches are organized by the representatives of each team and are typically on weekends, though it can be scheduled for any time. Anyone can keep up with the latest and current upcoming matches here.

Matches occur on private match servers and officials and are sometimes whitelisted to prevent other players from joining the game. Players can join by typing /play ctf_match 1 or /play ctf_match 2 in-game. Players can also join the match server through direct connecting to it, using either 1.ctfmatch.brawl.com or 2.ctfmatch.brawl.com respectively.

Matches are set up by a committee of CTF moderators. These moderators include:
915
auromelt
Gyseline
Miskey
PYROYAN12345
scapezar
TomD53
wintergreen3
wulfi98
Zernaa

These lovely moderators help to set up the match server through setting the limits for the match as well as the maps that are going to be played. Unsure of what the limits are? Do /limits to see the limits and in addition, players who are already playing that role! Limits are necessary for every match, be it unofficial or official.

When you enter /limits, this is what you will see in the chat. This shows the allowed number of players that is allowed to be playing any particular class at any particular time.


If a class is unlimited, it will also show up when you type in /limits.


You need to have a referee for an official match, though not for unofficials. Matches can also be reffed by Match Referees, not within the CTF Committee and co-reffed by referees in training alongside a Match Referee or a CTF Committee member. These Match Referees and Referees In Training include:

Match Referees:
915
b0squet
Bloomishly
Foodcourt
Gyseline
Miskey
Ninsanity
wintergreen3



Referees In Training:
auromelt
PYRORYAN12345
scapezar
TomD53
wulfi98
Zernaa
Usual CTF matches are 3 map games where each team has a specific map choice, and a 3rd map is agreed between the 2. As these CTF moderators, Match Referees and Referees In Training can set these maps up in addition to reffing, it's advised you find a way to reliably contact them!

Teams can choose/agree on ANY map as long as it has been included in a map rotation before.

Players also have the opportunity to spectate matches of other teams. To do this, you must gain permission from both team representatives and the referee of that game. You cannot be a member of one of the teams and you cannot type to the players in chat during the match. If you cannot gain permission, or break one of these rules, you won't be able to spectate that match. If you are allowed to spectate, the referee in question will set you into spectator mode for the duration of that match. If you aren't allowed to spectate a match, don't worry! Most of the time official matches are recorded and uploaded to youtube. Official matches will also be livestreamed, allowing you to watch the match as it happens on our CMS channel here!

Not all matches are affiliated with the CTF team system, and the match server is often used for special events and other matches unaffiliated with the team system. The most popular and common of these are the player pool matches (PPMs). This type of match involves a group of random players signing up to play in a match regardless of which team they're on. 2 Team leaders are selected, whom take turns picking from the pool until everyone has a side. A random number generator can also be used to select the players on each side. These matches are unofficial and can have unique additional rules. These matches also don't have to be refereed, but as they are not affiliated with the team system, the results of these matches do not matter. Many members of teams participate in these player pool matches and so these are a good opportunity to become in the team system! PPMs are hosted through the CTF Community Discord. Should you want to be a part of these PPMs, please join via this discord link!

Tournaments

Occasionally, a CTF tournament will be held. This can be an official tournament organised by the CTF committee or an unofficial tournament organised by an outside group.

Tournaments are a competition to find the strongest competing team. Each tournament works in a different way depending on those organising it but generally tend to have multiple rounds due to the number of teams competing. Each round, losing team(s) will be eliminated until only 1 team is left standing.

Traditionally, a gauntlet style is used where if a team loses a match, they are automatically eliminated. Prizes for winning a tournament vary widely and can in many cases end up simply being bragging rights!

Each tournament also has unique rules, which can limit which maps are played and which tactics/classes are used. Past tournaments have limited the numbers of archers, pyros and other classes able to play, along with forcing teams to play certain maps such as Canadian Fort.

Teams are usually required to sign up to participate in tournaments, and due to some only have limited capacity, those who don't sign up fast enough can lose out!

Seasons

In addition to tournaments, we now host CTF Seasons! CTF Seasons was pioneered in September 2020, and it is now the main tournament format that we use! We are currently on Season 1. Teams are matched against one another randomly and play against one another in a round robin format and based on the number of games and maps they have won, they are placed into a specific ranking. The rankings then determine who they will play against in the playoffs, where the team who gets the most wins is crowned the champion!

The map pool for the season is pre-decided based on maps that are in the current map wave, as well as maps that have been deemed acceptable for the season. The matches and maps that are played for each match is decided in advance.

More information about the current season can be found here.

CTF Match Spotlight (CMS)

CTF Match Spotlight is a community led project designed to work alongside the team system. The aim of this group is to provide the latest information about the CTF team community. They do this in a number of different ways:
- Recording matches
- Commentating during matches
- Livestreaming matches as they happen
- Publishing articles in a newsletter giving information/results of the matches in the past weeks
- Interviewing players involved with matches that week
- Predicting the results of upcoming matches

CMS newsletters are posted on the main CTF forum page (found here). This group is open to new community members joining and lending a hand. Should you wish to join CMS yourself, please apply here with the designated application template.

Team List and Representatives

There are many teams in CTF, each with their respective representative. To join one of the teams in the community, make sure to check out both the unofficial and official teams (which you can find here and here) first. Once you've done that, all you have to do is fill out an application for a team that is still recruiting!

Below is a list of all current Official teams along with their team representatives:
Annihilation (Anni) - Miskey
Delta Force (DF) - TheSpartan33
Fotiá (FT) - _Pai
The Berets (LB) - bofbofbofbof
Team Fallen (TF) - Glaze111
The Monkeys (TM) - Wrongerbox
The Roxerces (ROX) - Fella001