With over 100 teams from North America, Europe, and OCE/Asia participating weekly, this is gearing up to be our biggest Onward season yet!
Prizing
So far, HyperX, ProtubeVR, and VRML have contributed over $5,000 USD in cash and gear for the season 12 prize pool! Stay tuned, we'll be announcing more contributing sponsors and increases to the pool during the season.
We're Back on Horizon Venues!
VRML is happy to announce that we will continue having Venues showcases every week! Horizon Venues is a social viewing app available on the Quest and Quest 2. It's a great way to watch Onward matches with friends on the big screen!
However, we would like everyone's help when doing this. Listed below is the showcase times. If a team is interested in being features on Venues and can schedule their match at that time, then do it! Then, based on who is available at that time and which matches seem to have the most hype (match upvotes on the website), casters will choose which matches to be featured. You can view the complete Horizon Venues schedule here.
Showcase 1 - Saturdays 1800 PST | 2100 EST | 0200 UTC
Showcase 2 - Sundays 1200 PST | 1500 EDST | 2000 UTC
This app is available on the Quest and Quest 2. Showcases will also be featured on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook!
New Moderators & Casters!
Join us in welcoming our new mods: ICWoods, Shiba, Typic, and ImDonnie! They will be joining Fitz in organizing and moderating the season. If you have a question or just want to say hi, join the Discord!
There are also new faces on the casting team! Grenade Magnet, Nomad, and Lord Visceral will be commentating matches on our official Twitch channels (OML1, OML2, OML3, VRML). Be sure to join the streams to cheer them on! More casters might join the team before the season is done. If you're interested in applying, find the registration from here.
Season 12 League Format
Much like in previous seasons, league operates with a ladder format. Eligible teams will be assigned one (1) match and have the opportunity to play an additional challenge match. Winning matches will improve a team's rank, climbing the ladder. Matches are generated every Monday around noon EST. Make sure your team is active before then to receive a match!
This season is fifteen (15) weeks long with an additional three (3) weeks for post-season events such as the Challenger Cup (an Open Qualifier Swiss Tournament), the Close Qualifier Round-Robin Tournament, and the Finals. Climb the ladder to qualify!
If you're a new team, you will need to play three (3) matches to reveal your matchmaking rank (MMR). Subsequent matches should reflect skill level more accurately and as the season progresses. So, if your 1st three matches were tough, don't worry! The ladder will place you against teams of similar strength.
If you'd like to sign up as a reservist (league substitute), sign up here.
Season 12 Map Pool
Based on the results of our recent captain votes on how many total maps were wanted to be in the active pool and which custom maps to include, the map pool will include five (5) DPI native maps and three (3) Custom maps for a total of eight (8). The ban process will be the same as previous seasons, resulting in six (6) maps left to choose from for any official VRML matches.
The map pool for Weeks 1 to 5 will be as follows:
Customs: Shipyard, Sand, USS Quest
DPI (native): Cargo, Subway, Abandoned, Snowpeak, Quarantine
For Weeks 6 to 10, the map pool will be:
Customs: Arctic (Day & Night), Paradise, The Hook 2.0
DPI (native): Bazaar (Day & Night), Downfall (Day & Night), Suburbia (Day & Night), Subway, Tanker
The 3rd map pool will be confirmed and announced no later than 2 weeks before the Monday of Week 9, and we will again have the Team Captains vote on what custom maps will be included in it.
Rules
In the off-season, the moderators made some tweaks to the rules based on community feedback. Make sure to review them in detail here. Thank you to everyone who filled out the Season 11 survey!
Good luck to all participating players! Happy to see you in chat and on the battlefield!