Tagged charity

Under The Counter FAQ

About

Hey! Under The Counter Episode 2 is here after a long break - a whole year - and it's changed a lot. Instead of a two-day event streamed entirely by Don Ravioli and I, it's a whole week of fighting game action. It's also an event dedicated to supporting each other, and to that end we've decided to turn it into a fundraiser for Trans Lifeline.

We're also running a bunch of indie games, deliberately including them among games you'll see on stage at majors like Frosty Faustings and Combo Breaker, like Vampire Savior and Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2. These indie games are:

We'll also be giving out Steam codes for more games, including Heatwave and Beasts of Mystery, by trans developers in the scene. Please check these games out, share them with your friends. Word of mouth is powerful in the age of algorithms.

There are a few more things that I feel the need to clarify so that it doesn't get lost between bluesky and discord.

Base Tournament Rules

All tournaments are NOT region-locked. You can enter from anywhere in the world. I admit that the times are probably awful for you outside of North America, though - it's partly so I can be around, partly cuz our team is mostly NA-based, and it makes sense given Trans Lifeline operates in the US and Canada.

All tournaments are double elimination, and First to 2 sets until Top 3/Finals, which is First to 3. Any exceptions or additional rules are on the tournament page.

You must be playing on a wired connection. These events might not be serious and competitive, but... wifi isn't fun. Sorry.

Important Links

Donate to Trans Lifeline: tiltify.com/@polarbair/under-the-counter-episode-2

View the full event schedule: horaro.net/utc2/schedule

Sign up for tournaments: challonge.com/communities/UTCcharity/tournaments

Join the discord to play: discord.gg/RKhxD6X9Ud

The Mystery League

You may have noticed that out of our 29 brackets, one of them isn't open: Mystery.

The Mystery Game bracket is capped at 16 players because of its unique format. Called Prisoner's Dilemma, the way it works is simple and funny:

Players are presented with 3 games. If both players pick the same game, they play it.
But if both players pick different games, they'll be forced to play the one that they didn't pick. Before Top 3, it will be randomly decided sets of games, progressively deeper cuts of what's available on Fightcade and Arkadyzja (Duckstation).

To pick our final 16 players, we're going to plug all the tournaments into Braacket.
This means players who enter and make it far in more brackets will be more likely to make it into Mystery.

Donation Incentives

Our total goal for this event is to raise $2000 USD for Trans Lifeline. There are plenty of goals and incentives, though!

Every $400, I'm throwing in 10 keys for a new indie fighting game. At $400, Mega Knockdown, $800 for Beasts of Mystery, $1200 for Heatwave, and... game pending for $1600.

To be eligible to win one of these free games, you must donate $5 or more. Please get in touch with myself at polarbair_8 on discord if you win! We'll aim to run the raffle on Monday, August 17th at 8PM EDT.

Last Call!

Another thing that feels necessary to state is when registration ends. I want as many people to participate as possible, so registration will be open for each game up until 1 hour before the start time. At that point, check-in will begin, and no new players can join. So, say you want to enter Mobile Suit Gundam EX Revue. The game starts at 4PM EDT, so registration closes and check-in starts at 3PM EDT. Don't forget to sign up for any game that catches your eye.

Closing

I'm so, so thankful for everyone helping us make this event possible. This is my first time organizing a charity event, period. I've been involved in others, like Alexalchemy's Charity Thing and his friend ultrayoshi's Fight For The Future, but this is totally different for me.

I'm excited, I'm nervous, and I'm happy that we're here.

I hope we all have a good time this upcoming week!