Its that time of the year again. The 2nd season of the Hogs of War League will be commencing from the 4th October, and with it we have a whole host of new and old players who are ready to battle it out for the bacon! Last season the league had one giant system, consisting of 10 players in a single group. This time round however we've increased the number of participants to 14 and have split them into two groups of 7. Progression remains the same, with the top four players from each group going through to the Live Playoff Finals, which by rough calculations will take place sometimes in November.
Splitting the players into two separate tables has helped reduce the feeling of fatigue, as last season it was 9 straight weeks of hosting, organising, playing, recording and uploading the matches. With this new format we have reduced that time down to 6 weeks, with an added rest week for all players.
Alongside a new format - we have also made some changes to the map pool for this season. There were four maps in particular that seemed to be stuck in the same 'basic' category, in that they had very little to offer the player in the way of crates, environment hazards and spawn placement. Wasteland, Porkchop Temple, Headquarters and Hilltop all suffered from non-slippery tiles, meaning that all pigs could walk on any part of the map without falling off, and in competitive that can cause several issues when it comes to balancing. I mean first off - it can be pretty boring to watch, and second - the player who ends up going first will usually always have the advantage.
The hope with these map changes is to provide a more dynamic approach for competitive players, rather than starting a match and immediately being able to walk up to your target without having to think about the terrain around you. Maps are incredibly important to both players and viewers of the league, and I feel we take a good deal of pride and effort in choosing the map pools. At the end of the day we just want to provide the best experience for everyone, for everything to feel fair and ultimately - to have fun.
So feel free to join us over on the Hogs of War League channel for the upcoming Season 2 fixtures, of which you can check out over on the League's toornament page which lists everything you'll need to know. Castor is of course the raining champion from Season 1, so the big question this time around is whether he can maintain his unbeaten run going into Week 1!
Alternatively you can also check out the League section of this site to get involved in upcoming competitive events, and if you feel like playing like the Pros do - you can download the updated Hogs League ISO as well. Good luck to all participants, I'll be seeing you on the battlefield!