Rage Forest VI

• Hosts: NakedNipples, Sensar & T‑West
• Admins: Modri, NakedNipples & Sensar
• Dates: July 8–August 30

After a year away to crown the Masters of Rage Forest, the premiere Black Forest tournament returns for its 6th installment. RAGE FOREST VI IS FINALLY HERE!

The tournament is returning to the classic format of the snake draft, where sixteen captains will form teams by drafting from a pool of sixty-four additional players.

This edition is funded entirely by the community. With our initial pledges totalling $5,000, all donations will go directly towards making sure Rage Forest VI can match, or even surpass, our previous editions.

Quick Links

Timeline

Players must be available to play the semifinals and finals live on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 30.

Prize Pool

Prize winners will be contacted with instructions for submitting an invoice at the event's conclusion. Payments can be made via Wise, PayPal, or direct bank transfer.

Signups & Seeding

Signups open Wednesday, June 24th and close Tuesday, July 7th at 23:59 GMT. 80 players will play in the tournament: 16 captains and 64 drafted players. Not all players who sign up will make the draftable list, as determined by the tournament hosts. Any player who signs up may be selected to be a team captain.

Signup requirements:

• There are no minimum game requirements in order to sign up.
• There is no Elo requirement. However, hosts will use a combination of ladder Elo and results from previous Rage Forest and community tournaments to determine eligibility. The top 64 players as determined by the hosts will be on the draftable list.
• By signing up, you agree that you may be made a team captain.
• You do not have a history of causing issues in other Rage Forest tournaments.

Signups must include:

• Aoe2 account name
• Aoe2Insights profile
• Time zone (e.g. GMT-4)
• Acknowledgement that you have read the rules and expectations, and that you will be available to play at the required times.

Players must sign up with their highest rated or most known account. Smurf accounts that do not reflect the player's true skill or rating will be rejected. Players must use the account they registered with to play their games and may not change their name during the tournament.

Captains select players from the draftable pool in a snake draft. To determine the draft position of each captain:

• The captains rank each other.
• Starting from the lowest seed, each captain selects their draft position.
• The highest seeded captain receives the final remaining draft position.

Bracket Format

Group Stage

The Group Stage consists of 2 groups of 8 teams. Each group plays a 4-round swiss stage format, wherein 4 teams from each group advance to the Quarterfinals.

• Following draft day, captains will rate each other's finished teams. Group stage seedings will be determined by these scores.
• Sets are Play All 3.
• Free scheduling, however all games must be played within their defined round limits.

Advancement out of the group stage is based on the following criteria:

1. Total number of set wins.
2. Games won minus games lost.
3. Total number of games won head-to-head.
4. Median-Buchholz method.

Quarterfinals

• Single elimination, best of 5.
• Free scheduling within the week with no overlapping sets; first come first served.
• Seed 1A plays 4B.
• Seed 2A plays 3B.
• Seed 1B plays 4B.
• Seed 2B plays 3B.

Finals Weekend

• Single elimination, best of 5.
• Semifinals: Saturday, August 29, starting 15 GMT.
• Finals: Sunday, August 30, starting 15 GMT.

Map

The tournament is played on the Rage Forest 2026 map from the Rage Forest - Official Map mod.

Drafts

Each set begins with a civilization draft. The higher seed chooses to draft as the host or the guest.

General Rules

Conduct: All participants, broadcasters, and administrators are expected to show good sportsmanship and be respectful of all other parties at all times. Poor behavior, including but not limited to insults, racism, or sexism, will not be tolerated and will result in disqualification.

Cheating: Cheating is not allowed in any form. This includes, but is not limited to: using software hacks, use of scripts or macros to issue multiple commands with few actions, collusion with other players, stream sniping, impersonating another player, receiving information from outside the game, utilizing bugs, glitches, or errors in the game, and/or any other form of unfair or unethical behavior.

Betting: Players may not bet on matches, direct others to bet for them, or share insider information with bettors. Players affiliated with an organization that runs bets on any match of the tournament are ineligible to participate and will be disqualified if such betting occurs.

Communication: All communication should be conducted in English. Players who need help communicating must sign up with a representative to assist them.

Coaching: Players may not receive coaching and may not communicate with anyone other than a tournament admin or their opponent during a game. Players may communicate with others in between games as long as all parties do not receive any private information about the player's opponent (such as planned civilization picks for each map).

Disclaimers: the tournament administrators reserve the right to act on cases not explicitly covered by this handbook. The administrators may make changes to the handbook at any time deemed necessary, but must ensure that a changelog is available documenting any changes.

Penalties: Upon discovering violations of the rules listed in this handbook, the tournament administrators may issue one or more penalties. Penalties may include verbal or written warnings, prize forfeitures, game forfeitures, set forfeitures, disqualification, and banning from future Rage Forest tournaments.

Scheduling

The time zone used for scheduling and communication is GMT. When scheduling a round, captains must schedule both the draft time and play time. The agreed upon time must be posted in the public scheduling channel.

• Example: Team A vs Team B, draft starts Saturday at 14 GMT, game 1 starts at 15 GMT.

Captains must contact their opponent at their earliest convenience and provide all available times as well as preferred match times.

All teams are expected to schedule their matches during the prescribed timeframes to the best of their ability. Should players believe they are unable to do so, they must request an exception as soon as possible with an alternate time for both teams for the admins to approve.

Teams must be in the game lobby and ready to begin their match at the scheduled playing time. Players must keep breaks between games to less than 10 minutes. If a player needs more time (e.g. after a very long game), they should message an administrator.

If a team fails to show up to a confirmed game with the minimum 4 players required to play, after 15 minutes the opponent will be granted an administrative win equivalent to one game per 15-minute interval. Exceptions may be made by the administrators if it is clear that a participant is experiencing technical difficulties that prevent the game from starting.

If a team is unable to play at a scheduled time, attempts may be made to accommodate the situation, but this is not a guarantee. Failing to play at a scheduled time may lead to losing the series.

All information pertaining to the set must be posted in the appropriate Discord channel, including civilization drafts, lobby codes, and notifications if there are any delays.

If tournament administrators feel that a team repeatedly is using unreasonable amounts of time, steps may be taken including administrative losses on the set.

Lobby Setup

All players are equally responsible for ensuring correct lobby settings. Wrong settings may result in a game's being replayed.

Colors: The higher seed chooses which colors each team uses.

• Odd colors: 1 (blue), 3 (green), 5 (cyan) & 7 (gray).
• Even colors: 2 (red), 4 (yellow), 6 (purple) & 8 (orange).

Server: Teams must work together to select a server that is fair for all players. If teams cannot agree on a server, they must contact an admin to select a server for game 1, then alternate between servers for the remaining games.

Spectator Delay: Set the spectator delay to None. If a team wishes to use a spectator delay, they may submit a request to an admin at least 12 hours before the start of their match. If streaming their point of view, players must use a stream delay equal to the spectator delay.

Game Rules

Game: Participants must own a genuine copy of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. No DLC is required, but players cannot use a civilization they do not own. If the game receives an update during the event, administrators will decide which version to use.

Voice Channels: A voice channel for each team will be created in the Rage Forest Discord server. The four players participating in the current game must be in their specific voice channel while playing. Administrators may join the voice channel in order to communicate with the team, such as requiring a pause in game.

Slinging: Players must be in the Imperial Age to send resources. Players may receive a sling in any age.

• Verified pre-Imperial slinging will result in an administrative loss for that game.
• The losing team must check the recorded game and report abuse before the next round has started.
• An administrator also may decide to end a game if a pre-Imperial sling occurs.
• If self-reported by that team that did it (accidental sling), admins will choose whether or not to continue the game, after conferring with both teams. An administrative loss may be granted for that game on a case-by-case basis.

Restarts:

• Only administrative restarts are allowed.
• In the case of a restart, players must rehost using the same colors and civilizations.
• Players may pause and request an administrative restart during the first 75 second of game time if they notice a bugged map.
• Captains may mutually resolve the restart request between themselves in the group stage without needing to call an administrator. However, if no agreement can be reached, they must contact an administrator.
• For ponds, an administrative restart may be requested if:
  • The difference in pond count between the teams is one or more, such as trapped or merged lakes.
  • A player's pond has only one fish.
  • A clearly ambiguous pond generation causes an imbalanced resource scenario.
• While it has never happened, administrators retain the right to restart the game at any time.

Ineligible Civilizations: If a player uses a civilization that is not available in their draft pool, the game must be restarted, and the enemy captain picks the player's civilization from the team's available draft pool.

Restarts are not granted for players who incorrectly pick a civilization that is available in their draft pool.

Patrol Stacking: Players are not allowed to continuously stack large armies of melee units (excluding ranged melee units: Kamayuks, Steppe Lancers, Axeman, Gbetos, Mamelukes) on a small area using patrol stacking to force an advantageous fight. Each instance will be reviewed by the administrator team on a case-by-case basis and may result in an administrative loss for the team that uses this unit behavior.

Pauses: Players should pause only for good reason, such as a technical issue, health issue, or real world disturbance. The player who paused must confirm all other players are ready before unpausing.

Drops & Restores: If a game drops, follow these steps:

1. If a fair restore file is available, use that to finish the game.
2. If no fair restore file is available, an administrator will attempt to create a restore file from a recorded game.
3. If no fair restore file can be created, administrators will decide whether to restart the game or to award an administrative win.

In the event of a disconnect, players must leave the game without looking at the map and may not watch back a recorded game before attempting to restore. Remember to set the spectator delay to None (a restore defaults to 10:00).

Content Creation

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to cast games, stream their point of view, or make other content. Usage of the tournament logo is optional.

Players must use a stream delay equal to the spectator delay. Communication with non-administrators is not allowed; chat and alerts must not be visible to players while playing. Players are responsible for ensuring they do not receive outside information during their stream. We recommend players do not stream their point of view for civilization drafting or lineup discussion.