Blue Carbon Cup Announcement / Clash of the Titans 2 Teaser

Dear AoE 2 community,

After some time to stabilise and think, I have considered being involved in some smaller tournaments again. Probably not as many as before – In 2020-22 I might have been one of the most active tournament hosts – but something with focus on things I liked the most.

So I am announcing the Blue Carbon Cup! If you have been waiting for a water-heavy tournament too long, welcome to have fun here.
A 1v1 tournament on maps with coastal environment themes: Mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes. Ecosystems that are very important for carbon sequestration, coastal protection and as nurseries for many marine animals. Like with the Double Cup series, starting from the Round of 16, it will be a double elimination (Bo5, Bo7 for WB/LB final, Bo7/9 for the grand final), before that Bo3 single elimination.

The prize pool starts at $50 (1st place $30, 2nd $20; to be adjusted with increased prize pool).
Donations: 50 % will go towards the prize pool and 50 % to a donation for the environmental NGO Nature Seychelles. Since I have worked with them and know people in person, the money going there can be trusted to end in nature protection, restoration and programs with the local community like environmental awareness education for school children.
(Paypal donation address on the Discord server; or you can message me.)

You can also further donate to raising a prize pool of the 10-Year Anniversary of Clash of the Titans (https://matcherino.com/tournaments/94798), which I hope to start later this year if everything goes well and we reach a minimum of $500. The funds currently sit at $59.

Blue Carbon Cup Map Pool:

1. Aguaje Swamp by XingXing (originally RMS Cup 2 contest submission, 2022)
2. Benteng by Marintho (originally RMS Cup 2 contest submission, 2022)
3. Delta by Huehuecoyotl22 (2020 map, used in Double Cup as a 2-tc start version)
4. Island Hopping by The_Prophet & Huehuecoyotl22 (based on The_Prophet’s Team Island Hopping from the 2014 War is Coming map contest)
5. Lagoon by Huehuecoyotl22 (2020 map, first used in Double Cup as a 2-tc start version, later in other tournaments)
6. Lençois Maranhenses by Huehuecoyotl22 (originally RMS Cup 2 contest submission, 2022, played in the RMS Series)
7. Marsh Madness by biz (first appearnce in the 2020 Masters of RMS)
8. Meltdown by TheMadCADer (modified version of the 2022 Terra Nova Duos version)
9. Moorea by TheMadCADer (2023 map from the Mad Random map pack)
10. Okavango by Huehuecoyotl22 (2020 map, first used in Double Cup as a 2-tc start version)
11. Pandora by TechChariot (new map)
12. Tidal Plain by Wolf_Silver (new map)
13. Trade Winds by Zetnus (originally Terra Nova Duos map contest submission, 2022)
14. Typhoon by TheMadCADer (2018, Mad Random map, modified by Huehuecoyotl22)
15. Water Nomad by Forgotten Empires (2016, start without fishing ships).

All maps except for Aguaje Swamp feature a secondary scouting unit: A junk, which is a trade ship with higher arrow fire resistance than trade cogs. Map images and the map pack mod will be available in a few days.

The main purpose of the tournament is to have fun for people who want to try slightly different settings than in most land-heavy tournaments. Open to everyone.
Seeding will be based on current and highest rating plus tournament Elo for players with a rating higher than 2000 there.

Spoiler: General Rules (comple Rules & Settings will follow):

On Nomad start maps: General Nomad rules: No villager fighting before 3:00 in-game minutes, no intentional town center wars.
One restart per player per set until 4:00 m.
Civilisations: Free hidden pick, no repitition within one set.

Map draft:
Bo3: 1 Pick A, 2 Pick B – 3 Ban B, 4-5 Ban A, Ban A, 6-7 Ban B, Ban B, 8-9 Ban A, Ban A, 10-11 Ban B, Ban B, 12-13 Ban A, Ban A, 14-15 Pick B. The last picked map will be played in game one.
Bo5: 1 Pick A, 2 Pick B – 3 Ban B, 4 Ban A – 5 Pick A, 6 Pick B – 7 Ban B, 8-9 Ban A, Ban A, 10-11 Ban B, Ban B, 12-13 Ban A, Ban A, 14-15 Pick B. The last picked map will be played in game one.
Bo7: 1 Pick A, 2 Pick B – 3 Ban B, 4 Ban A – 5 Pick A, 6 Pick B, 7 Pick B, 8 Pick A – 9-10 Ban B, Ban B, 13 Ban A, 14-15 Pick B. The last picked map will be played in game one.
Map order:
Bo3: G1: Last picked map - G2: HM loser - G3: HM of winner G1
Bo5: G1: Last picked map - G2: HM loser - G3: HM of winner G1 - G4: HM team behind - G5: HM other team
Bo7: G1: Last picked map - G2: HM loser - G3: HM of winner G1 - G4: HM team behind - G5: HM other team - G6: HM team behind - G7: HM other team

Schedule:
Registration deadline and seeding, if at least 32 players are reached: 2023-09-02, 20:00 GMT.
First round: 2023-09-04 – 2023-09-10; rounds following that; 1 round per week.

Discord Server Invitation Link:

Join the Blue Carbon Cup Discord Server!

Check out the Blue Carbon Cup community on Discord - hang out with 4 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

discord.gg

Some information about Blue Carbon Ecosystems:

The Blue Carbon Initiative

www.thebluecarboninitiative.org

 

Happy to see you back and hosting tourneys!

 

The "Blue Carbon Cup Map Pack" mod has been released: https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/183134/.
Some small updates are likely to still happen in the next days, but if you already want to look at the maps and maybe find some bugs, it's good to be available already.

 

The Blue Carbon Cup prize pool is now at $63, thanks to a 24.82 € donation by @BPDrej.

 

11 players registered now.

Next week we are planning to have 2 small show matches, dates/times to be confirmed.

Oladushek vs. Smokey and
Ciskhan vs. wide

 

pogged to hear you were able to get back involved in some way

 

After donations by PatataMaxtex ($7) and Elhyar (25 €) we're at a $80 priz pool and $30 for the NGO.

 

We received 2 more donations today. No messages, but one is 50 €, one 20 €. Meaning the prize pool and the NGO donations increase by $38 each to $118 and $68 respectively!

I will add matches to the event calendar starting from the Ro16.

 

Players who lost in the Ro32 or have not yet registered and a rating of maximum ~1850 can register for a 2nd division until Saturday, 21 GMT.
So far it's 8 players.

The format (group stage-single elimination or double elimination) will be decided among participants.

There might be a split into 2 groups (higher and lower ratings).
No prize money, but same map pack.