Meta Plays Halo Wars 2 League Season 6 Announcement

We are pleased to announce the Meta Plays Halo Wars 2 League Season 6!
Meta Plays will cover key matches, with the rest being open to community casters.

Introducing the "Scorpions" Pro League (Season 6):

Scorpions Pro League Qualifier 1 - £100 - Double Elimination - 1000 Ladder Points - Sep 28 - One day event
Scorpions Pro League Qualifier 2 - £100 - Double Elimination - 1000 Ladder Points - Oct 12 - One day event
Scorpions Pro League Main Event - £750 + Community Donations - GSL Group Stage - Oct 26 - One day event

Introducing the Rising Star League Season 1:

Rising Star League Season 1 Qualifier 1 - £50 - Double Elimination - 500 Ladder Points - Sep 29
Rising Star League Season 1 Qualifier 2 - £50 - Double Elimination - 500 Ladder Points - Oct 13 
Scorpions Main Event - £175 + Community Donations - GSL Group Stage - Oct 27

Introducing the Amateur League Season 3:

Amateur League Season 3 Qualifier 1 - Double Elimination - 500 Ladder Points - Oct 6
Amateur League Season 3 Qualifier 2 - Double Elimination - 500 Ladder Points - Oct 19
Amateur League Season 3 Main Event - £150, GSL Group Stage - Nov 9

Note: this article and our calendar will be updated as we progress through the season and new info becomes available.

Thanks to the following pre-announcement contributors (accounting for each as if they were GBP as a bonus to make up for the long time we took):

• Pro League:
  • Skettiboi: $115
  • Jimmins: $75
  • BlueJ: $50
  • Willz: £20
  • HighTorqueJoints: £10
  • RadioFlyer: $10
• Rising Star League:
  • S1r L1am: £70
  • DarkAngel: $75
  • Willz: £5
• Amateur League:
  • Stormy: £30
  • Theta Goliath: $37.5
  • Skunky: $12.5

Access To Sign Ups

Our recent break from hosting events happened in order for us to add the new Provisional Ranking system, which we will make full use of for Halo Wars 2. This will allow us to segment the leagues, stopping top players from playing in the Amateur League, and likewise stopping low and mid level players from playing in the Pro League, which is strongly in line with player feedback we have gotten over the last few years. 

Provisional Ranking Tiers will give you access to sign up to specific qualifiers like so:

• Pro League: S and A Tiers
• Rising Star League: A, B, C, D, E, F Tiers
• Amateur League: C, D, E, F Tiers

Moving through Provisional Rankings happens every time a tournament series or a showmatch gets a result on our website with immediate effect. So if you are currently rank 8, and beat rank 5, you will be the new rank 5, and the former rank 5 is now rank 6. Everyone inbetween loses a rank as well.

The tiers are distributed as follows for Halo Wars 2:

• S Tier: Rank 1-8
• A Tier: Rank 9-16
• B Tier: Rank 17-28
• C Tier: Rank 29-44
• D Tier: Rank 45-64
• E Tier: Rank 65-90
• F Tier: Rank 91+

We will start with Provisional Rankings that are based our staff's best judgement, but we expect any errors will be corrected within a single season, especially with the help of showmatches.

Playing in the main events however is NOT tied to your Provisional Ranking Tier! Read on to get the full picture.

You can take a look at our initial Provisional Rankings here. Please discuss, offer feedback, and arrange showmatches if you wish to contest spots.

We are also unbanning every banned player (minus smurf accounts) from past seasons, considering the significant amount of time that has passed since most of them.

Main Event Qualification Via The Seasonal Ranking Ladder

Each tournament we host will reward players that have won any series with Meta Plays Ladder Points. The more you win, the more points you receive.

These Meta Plays Points then will go towards a Seasonal Ranking Ladder. Each League has its own separate Ladder.

We are going to only invite the top 8 players of each Seasonal Ranking Ladder to Main Events, after Qualifiers are done.

Your Provisional Ranking has no impact on your ability to participate in Main Events, as we will only look at the Seasonal Ranking Ladder status. Provisional Ranking only impacts your ability to join a Qualifier, but your points are yours to keep once you earn them.

It is however possible (especially for A tier players) to qualify to Main Events of multiple leagues.

The Seasonal Ranking Ladder will start everyone at 0 points when a new season comes around.

The scaling of the ladder points works as follows:

• Base value: 10x Prize pool in GBP (or monetary value in prizes).
• The number of players in the tournaments will scale the points in the following way:
  • 4-8: -50%
  • 9-15: -25%
  • 16-23: no change
  • 24-31: +50%
  • 32-47: +75%
  • 48-64: +100%
• You can review the point spread between player placements using our Tournament Point Calculator.

Cosmetic Features In The Seasonal Ranking Ladder

Based on your position in the ladder, we assign you to a "Class" - one of D(lowest), C, B, A and S(highest). The classes give you a badge and will be featured on your Tournament Profile. For the Main Event, we will only take our own ladder into account for your seeding. Check out the Class icons below.

The top 4 players will also receive medals corresponding with their final placement in each Tournament. While qualifiers are generic, the Pro League Main Event will receive custom medals.

For additional info, please check our Tournament and Ladder explainer posts!

Can I Help Meta Plays Directly?

For any of you looking to support our project, the best way to do so is becoming a subscriber on the website. This is a monthly recurring payment that you get perks and exclusive news for. The more goals we hit, the easier and safer it is for us to keep the project going.
We are also currently looking for Moderators to join our team, so that we can keep our chats, Discord and website a pleasant and friendly environment for all. Moderators will also help with entering scores during events. You can apply here.

Where To Watch

We will live stream all Pro League and Rising Star League events on our Twitch, and VoDs will be available on our YouTube.
Meta Plays will not cover the Amateur League Qualifiers, but we will cover the Amateur League Main Event.
Community casters will have access to cover matches - all games that we don't cover are open casting for live streamers. Please contact each event's manager for clearance. Bear in mind though, that in Halo Wars 2, due to limited spectating slots and lag reasons, our Content Partners have priority in key matches.

Can I Host Tournaments Too?

Soon! We are currently in the process of splitting season timings, so that they would be tied to their specific Seasonal Ranking Ladder. We are in fact looking for additional Content Partners that are interested in either helping to cover our own events, or once our work to allow this is complete, to host their own leagues on the website.
You can apply as a content partner here.

That is pretty much it! Let us know what you think in the comments below, join us on Discord for real-time chats, and we will see you on the battlefield!