Stronghold Frenzy II

• Hosts: T‑West & UnknownPlayer
• Admins: Marintho, Potkeny & welcometorapture
• Dates: October 6–November 16

Once upon a time, in a peaceful palisaded village, a young Monk heard the elder bards singing about great castles and mighty fortresses that guarded treasures in distant lands. Longing for these riches, the Monk set off, gathering a party of friends and acquaintances, and converting more followers along the way. Few became many, and many became a crowd.

However, the distant lands were dangerous. And as the battlements were besieged, disputes broke out among the parties. Quickly the situation devolved into a frenzy. A Stronghold Frenzy.

The fighting raged on land and sea. The clergy had their hands full keeping the rebels under control… and weeks passed before the opposing sides finally shook hands. But peace is deceptive, and oaths are fragile. It's only a matter of time before the flames of conflict are fanned again.

Quick Links

Timeline

Players in the top league must be available to play the finals live on Sunday, November 16.

Prize Pool

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

Signups & Seeding

Signups close Friday, October 3rd at 23:59 GMT. Brackets will be posted on October 4th. Players from all skill levels are welcome and will be divided into leagues based on their Elos.

Players must sign up with their highest rated account. Administrators may adjust the seeding if they discover a higher rated (smurf) account.

Players are seeded with their 1v1 Elo values when signups close:

Bonus points are awarded for previous closed map events.

After the top 32 players are determined, the lower leagues are seeded using only the 1v1 Elo values without bonus points. These seedings may be adjusted by administrators as they see fit based on match history.

Bracket Format

The event features a top league of 32 players. Additional leagues will have a similar format, with varying player numbers depending on the Elo ratings of signups.

The top league consists of an 8-group GSL stage followed by a single-elimination bracket. Players are randomly placed into groups, with each group consisting of one player from each division of seeds 1⁠–⁠8, 9⁠–⁠16, 17⁠–⁠24, and 25⁠–⁠32. In the first round the top seed plays the bottom seed, and the middle seeds play each other.

Each set is a best of 5, except for semifinals and finals, which are each a best of 7.

If a lower seeded player upsets a higher seeded player, the victor inherits the defeated player's seed.

Maps

The tournament features 9 maps, available by subscribing to the Stronghold Frenzy 2 Map Pack.

Dzimbabwe Kolo Narak Ngome Sardis Todai‑ji Treasure Beach Tulou Veldschans

Dzimbabwe

Marintho

The first map returning from Stronghold Frenzy 1, Dzimbabwe has seen play in both 1v1 and team games. Venture out of your base to the northeast to find Gold, or boost your early economy with hunt in the southwest.

Different from last year's version, there no longer is an elevated platform between the player bases. The Gold and Stone mines inside player bases are also reduced.

Kolo

Marintho

Set on an island in the Pacific Ocean, Kolo has three distinct generations. A visiting Merchant has come to explore this beautiful island, but beware, no Scout Cavalry might only make the Monks coming your way more effective….

Deer are replaced with Komodo Dragons: these are huntable and not aggressive.

Narak

welcometorapture

War camps have been erected at the edge of the shattered plains. Who will come out on top in the fight for the precious resources on Narak?

Narak is played as Regicide. Players start with a Fortified Tower. The middle of the map holds Gold and Stone on elevated plateaus, while Forage Bushes and Box Turtles fill the ditches.

Four plateaus with Gold spawn on the outside ring. The map holds six Relics.

Ngome

Marintho

A spiritual successor to Gusuku, which was perhaps the most strategic map in Stronghold Frenzy 1. On one side players start safely walled in on an island, but connected to each other! On the other side Villagers are stranded on the mainland. These Villagers can start making an additional Town Center straight away. Will you defeat your opponent on the mainland, or will you conquer the seas?

Sardis

bazidrown

Sardis, the city on fire, is separated from players by Fortified Walls. The quickest to find their way to Sardis proper will find great benefit from the captureable Trade Workshop.

The promise of Gold to plunder has attracted merciless, exotic warriors. Each player starts with a Mercenary Camp from which they can train unique Battle for Greece units.

Todai-ji

Marintho & welcometorapture

The temple of Todai-Ji lies near your walled base. This beautiful temple might prove crucial for your game plans, since losing it means you are defeated. There are Deer to push near your Wonder, but this comes at a cost, since there are captureable Cows in the wooded middle. The corner lands have Shore Fish for any fast Imperial Age plans you might have.

Todai-Ji starts with a Wonder. There is no Victory countdown, but losing the wonder means defeat.

Treasure Beach

Marintho, UnknownPlayer & welcometorapture

A quiet, idillyc beach in Jamaica, untained by civilization. Riches can be found in the corners, but will you survive long enough to get there? Players receive only one starting Boar, but there are plenty of herdables to be found. An enclosure opposite your spawn holds huntables.

Tulou

Marintho

Known and loved from Stronghold Frenzy 1, Tulou makes a return, but this time without Regicide. How will you defend without the safety of the Fortified Tower?

Stone can only be found after chopping through the outer woodlines. A ring of Shore Fish is found in the center.

Veldschans

Marintho & welcometorapture

A farmer's fortification on a dyke, players fight over the valuable resources held inside the neutral Fortified Palisades. These walls are uncaptureable and have 300 hit points each. Players start with 3 Farms, but only 1 Boar to hunt. The rock terrain connecting players to the middle is unwallable.

Drafts

Each set begins with a map draft. The higher seeded player chooses to be the host or guest. Players pick maps in a serpentine sequence starting with the host. Each player then bans one map in parallel. The map for Game 1 is selected randomly from the remaining maps. For all other games the losing player from the previous game picks from any of the unplayed drafted maps.

Players may use each civilization once during the tournament. There is no civilization draft. Players may select any of their remaining civilizations for each game. A list of civilizations used by each player will be provided and updated by administrators.

Ineligible Civilizations: If a game is launched and a player picks a civilization they already have used, the game must be restarted, and their opponent picks for them any civilization from that player's unused civilization pool.

Admin Win Civilization Picks: If a player receives an administrative win for a set, they must select civilizations to remove from their pool.

• Best of 5: Pick 3 of the 9 most played civilizations unpicked by that player.
• Best of 7: Pick 4 of the 11 most played civilizations unpicked by that player.

The numbers of times played include all games in the player's league through the round of the administrative win. The Winner and Elimination GSL matches are counted as one round. If there is a tie in the count for the final civilization, then all civilizations with that count may be selected. The civilizations picked in this manner are included in future civilization counts.

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, betting on games or instructing others to place bets, and/or any other form of unfair or unethical behavior.

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).

Scheduling

Scheduling: Players are placed in a private Discord channel and must use this channel to schedule. Scheduling must begin as soon as possible once a matchup is determined. If players are unable to schedule during the set timeframe, they must notify administrators immediately to work for a solution to play their games.

Uploading Match Results: Directly upon the conclusion of each set, players must post the score, map draft, and recorded games, along with the played civs for each map.

• Top League: The winner must post in the set's scheduling channel.
• Lower Leagues: The higher seeded player must post in the league's results channel.

Late Penalty: Players who are 5 minutes late to their start time will receive a warning. Failure to arrive within 20 minutes may result in an administrative loss for the set. Causing excessive delays between games, such as repeated breaks of more than 5 minutes, will also result in a warning. After repeated warnings, players may receive further penalties at the discretion of the administrators, including prize reductions or disqualification.

Lobby Setup

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

Spectator Delay: Players should set the spectator delay to 2 minutes, but may mutually agree to use a delay of None. If streaming their point of view, players must use a stream delay equal to the spectator delay.

Server: Players should find a server that is fair for everyone. If players cannot agree on a server, they must alternate between the two fairest servers. The higher seed picks the server for Game 1, and the player picking the map picks the server for the remaining games.

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.

Restarts: Players may pause and request an administrative restart during the first 5 minutes of game time if they notice a bugged map. If a restart is called, players must rehost the game on the same map with the same civilizations and colors.

Nomad Starts: If enemy players place their Town Centers in range of each other, the game must be restarted. Players may not intentionally position a Town Center in order to force a restart. Within the first 3 minutes of game time, the following rules are in effect:

• Attacking or walling enemy units, herdables, or buildings is prohibited.
• Walling in Relics or neutral resources is prohibited.
• Killing Boars or Deer without gathering 35 Food is prohibited.
• Stealing enemy herdables is allowed.

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 their opponent is 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, resuming at the latest moment before the drop occurred.
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 or to 2 minutes (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, as long as the tournament logo is displayed.

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 while playing. Players are responsible for ensuring they do not receive outside information during their stream.