Metal League 9 Pro and Beginner: Schedule and new qualification criteria

Hello Metal Gladiators!

We’re very excited to announce that Metal League’s next Season is about to start!

 

What is the Metal League?

👉 Metal League is HMM’s official online Tournament. Play from anywhere!

👉 Prize Pool of €5.000  in cash!

👉 No entry fees.

👉 Players of any level can participate and enter at any stage of the qualifiers.

👉 Taking place over 5 weeks during every Metal Pass Season, every Saturday, in a special in-game queue.

Metal League for Pros and Beginners!

Metal League follows each Season of the Metal Pass, and since last Season each server will have two distinct divisions: Metal League Pro and Metal League Beginner. The purpose of the divisions is to allow Teams to compete against other Teams of a similar level, keeping the tournament fun and fair for everybody.  Metal League will take place in two regions, meaning we’ll have four simultaneous leagues, this time in South America and Europe!

 

Here’s how the divisions work:

 

• Metal League Pro

 

Following the same format that you already know, there will be 4 stages of Qualifiers to decide who will go to the Playoffs. The Playoffs phase will consist of  best of 3 (Bo3) matches, with the finals switching over to best of 5 (Bo5). Playoffs and Finals will be broadcast live on our channels.

As always, the Qualifier phase takes place every Saturday in the Metal League queue in-game, while the Playoff and Final brackets are managed outside the game with Custom Matches.

If the total number of Pro Teams is equal to or greater than 16 Teams, 8 Teams will qualify for the Playoffs, however, if the total number of Teams is lower than 16, only 4 Teams will go to the Playoffs, with the 1st place facing the 4th, and the 2nd facing the 3rd in the semifinals.

 

• Metal League Beginner

 

The Beginner division will follow the same format as the Pro division, but only with Teams that are starting their competitive journey. It will feature 3 weeks of Qualifiers and a weekend of Playoffs and Finals with Bo1 matches. Teams will be able to compete for in-game awards to take their first steps towards the glory of competition.

And like the Pro division, in the Metal League Beginner, if the total number of Teams is equal to or greater than 16 Teams, 8 Teams will qualify for the Playoffs – otherwise only 4 Teams will go to the Playoffs.

 

How are we going to separate who plays in each league?

At any time after the start of the Season, on Saturdays, during the period of the tournament, just enter the game and press “Play” in the Metal League queue; the system will then analyze all Team members to decide whether the Team will participate in the Pro or Beginner League.

 

To participate in the Pro division, at least one player of the Team must have 500 total victories or more (not counting custom matches) in their account, OR must be Gold division (2.000 points or more) in Ranked Mode. Teams that don’t match one of these requirements will be placed in the Beginner League.

 

The system will analyze the status of each member at the moment the Team captain officially clicks to participate in the tournament. If a Team member surpasses one of these criteria during the competition, the placement won’t change – what counts is the moment of registration. For this reason, changes in the Team (substitution, inclusion or removal of members) will not be allowed during the tournament.  Teams can leave the tournament, create a new Team, and then register again if they choose – but this will result in that Team losing any points they’ve gained up to that point.

 

With this change, we hope to provide a fun and balanced championship for beginners to have competitive experience and compete for valuable in-game rewards, while ensuring that veterans have their own high-level environment playing for money.

 

Remember: registration is completely free, just click on “Play” in the Metal League queue starting on July 4th in South America and Europe servers (you can play on both servers if you want)!

 

The improvements you’ve been asking for!

In the past few Metal League Seasons, we’ve received a lot of feedback from our community regarding the “sniping” issue. Sniping is a behaviour where players will abuse the in-game queueing system to manipulate matchmaking, giving them easier opponents during qualifiers. For this Season, we’re introducing some changes that will help us to prevent this behavior: 

1 – Players that are part of a Team registered in the Metal League will not be able to access the spectator feature during a Metal League stage. 

2 – Players that are part of a Team registered in the Metal League will only be able to see the status “Main Menu” for other players in the same tournament. For this reason, participating players will have only the “Offline” and “Main Menu” status during the stage, regardless of if they are in queue, in a match or even in a different game mode such as custom matches.

 

We’re also making matchmaking improvements on our side to make sure we can have more competitive matches with Teams close to each other in the standings.

 

Two servers, one Season!

This Season we will have Metal League Pro and Beginner ongoing simultaneously on two servers (Europe and South America). Access the game and choose, in the Metal League section, which server you will join. The same Team may participate in the leagues of the 2 servers simultaneously but will be subject to different levels (Pro or Beginner) according to their experience at the time of registration.

 

When does it start?

 

The European server leagues (Pro and Beginner) will start on Saturday, July 4th, from 14h to 17h GMT +1

The South American server leagues (Pro and Beginner) will start on Saturday, July 4th, from 17h to 20h GMT +1

 

And what are the prizes?

Metal League Pro

The total prize pool is €5,000, split between Europe and South America (2,500 each). Remember, regardless of what region you’re from, you can participate in both tournaments at the same time! 

• 1st Place – € 1200 + Totem Arena** + Exclusive Spray*** 
• 2nd Place – € 500 + Exclusive Spray 
• 3rd Place – € 250
• 4th Place – € 150
• 5th Place – € 100
• 6th Place – € 100
• 7th Place – € 100
• 8th Place – € 100

In the 4-Team Playoff Scenario:

• 1st Place – € 1300 + Totem Arena + Exclusive Spray 
• 2nd Place – € 600 + Exclusive Spray 
• 3rd Place – € 350
• 4th Place – € 250

*Country-specific taxes may apply.

** Your Team’s flag with your Team’s name and symbol, will be hung in the HMM arenas for everybody to see until next Season.

*** Your Team will receive an exclusive spray with your Team’s name and symbol

Metal League Beginner

• 1st Place – 25000 Fame + Metal Pass Premium + All Pilots in the game + Heavy Metal Model
• 2nd Place – 20000 Fame + All Pilots in the game + Heavy Metal Model
• 3rd Place – 15000 Fame + 5 Pilots + Metal Legend Model
• 4th Place – 10000 Fame + 3 Pilots + Metal Legend Model
• 5th Place – 5000 Fame + 1 Pilot + Rockstar Model
• 6th Place – 5000 Fame + 1 Pilot + Rockstar Model
• 7th Place – 5000 Fame + 1 Pilot + Rockstar Model
• 8th Place – 5000 Fame + 1 Pilot + Rockstar Model

In the 4-Team Playoff Scenario:

• 1st Place – 25000 Fame + Metal Pass Premium + All Pilots in the game + Heavy Metal Model
• 2nd Place – 20000 Fame + All Pilots in the game + Heavy Metal Model
• 3rd Place – 15000 Fame + 5 Pilots + Metal Legend Model
• 4th Place – 10000 Fame + 3 Pilots + Metal Legend Model

Each member of the Team will receive rewards according to their position. 

Players can choose if they want the Metal Pass Premium from the current Season or the next one.

Players can also choose which Pilots and Models they want among all items available in the game Store.

 

More information

Weekly Giveaways take place every week for those who participate in the Metal League.

Watch Metal League matches live on Twitch and on Metal Partners‘ channels.

 

Any questions?

Check out the rules here, but if you have any other questions, you can send an email to community@hoplon.com or reach out to us through Discord or our Social Networks.

Now that you know everything, assemble your Team on our Teammates  Finder (also known as Teamder), and start training!