Round 3 of the ETQW QCUP has been kicked off with EYE taking down Delta 4-0 to claim a spot in the semi finals. The battle for the 250 euro first prize is really heating up as there is only top teams left in the single elimination bracket and only two rounds left. Here is tonights matches:
*Updated with scores*

Today the main fight for spots in the quarter finals of the 4000 euro ClanBase OpenCup kicks off 20.00 CET with retro and Ocrana battling it out. The round will feature lots of exiting matches and as the cup is single elimination its do or die for the 14 teams. Yesterday we saw the two best Finnish teams Pelit and Logitech.fi go up against each other resulting in a 4-2 win for Pelit.

Splash Damage has just announced that the next patch for Enemy Territory: QUAKE WARS is right around the corner. And the list of features and improvements should please everyone and maybe even catch some critics by surprise. The update is numbered 1.4 as 1.3 turned out to be a small update for the Korean version of ETQW. If 1.4 turns out to be released on time and with no major flaws it will be one of the biggest and best patches I can remember for any game I have played.

Bracket and seeding released

[bSeeding[/b]] Dignitas
Kompaniet
Eyeballers
H2k-Gaming
4kings
Delta
Logitech.fi
NextLevel
Ocrana
Stofftiere Online
Infinity
inFerno eSports
Random Gaming
egp
Schwarz
Retroactive

Not seeded
ExAequoitalia
Overload
Triada
Team Coolermaster
C4
Return to Germany
aToon
Legion
team-phonetic
Scara-B

(Seeding done by swine and taken, with input from Speed Link and Four Kings)

Bracket (requires java)


New Schedule
Match day 1: Thursday 6th 21.00 cet
Match day 2: Monday 10th 21.00 cet
Match day 3: Friday 14th XX cet (please find a time that works for both teams or talk with admin for reschedule)
Match day 4: Monday 17th 21.00 cet
Match day 5: Final date TBA (will find a date that fits with the casting, team A and team B)

[bFinal maplist[/b]]
Area22
Sewer
Salvage
Island
Ark


Map schedule
Match day 1: Ark / Island
Match day 2: Salvage / Sewer
Match day 3: Area 22 / Salvage
Match day 4: Island / Area 22
Final: Teams choose maps. (Decider if needed: Sewer)

We will update on coverage as fast as we know more. Stay tuned and good luck.

The seeds for the ClanBase OC playoffs are now released. 24 clans are ready for the playoffs and 16 clans are playing qualifiers for the last 8 slots. 4000 euro is up for grabs in the tournament and by the looks of the seeding we will see exciting matches quite early. The seeds are based on what division the clans played in, how they performed in their group and admin input and are very different from the EMS seeds.

The complete playoff three will be published Saturday or Sunday and is a little delayed due to issues with the CB system not supporting 3 divisions going to playoffs. In the playoffs all matches will be fixed, so teams wont be able to schedule their own matches.

In the playoffs there will be played two matches each week for a while (most likely out the year) and there will be a short Christmas break. First match day is expected to be the 9th of December. Predictions will be in the next "Takens take".

You can find the complete seeding and a seeding explanation at ClanBase here: http://clanbase.ggl.com/news_league.php?nid=274671&lid=5313

EDIT!

Playoff tree: http://clanbase.ggl.com/news_league.php?nid=274738&lid=5313

Qualifiers finished
Earlier this week the last of the total 16 slots were filled for the ESL Major Series and the group stage is now about to kick off. As its only qualified teams in this tournament the talent packed in every group is immense and we will get top matches already in week 1. 1500 Euro is up for grabs.

[bThe groups:[/b]]
Group A
Team-Dignitas
H2k-Gaming
Team SPEED-LINK
They Kick Ass

Group B
Team Pelit
OCRANA
Inferno eSports
Team Infinity

Group C
EYEBALLERS
point-blank
raGe
Creativ

Group D
Kompaniet
Team Delta
nextlevel e-sports club
Random Gaming


First playweek

H2k-Gaming vs They Kick Ass
Team-Dignitas vs Team SPEED-LINK
Team Pelit vs Inferno eSports
EYEBALLERS vs raGe
Kompaniet vs nextlevel e-sports club
Team Delta vs Random Gaming
point-blank vs Creativ
OCRANA vs Team Infinity

Note: All matches will be scheduled, so no times available at the moment and no maplist available either.
Source: http://www.esl.eu/eu/etqw/ems/season1_gs/news/47624/

The work on ETQWpro has started!
.. and the team are in search for a good logo! Contact Spacecommander or sama in #ETQWpro if you can help.

Quote by First ETQWpro press release

The SDK-Beta has been released, but what is more important and anticipated for a long time now - a competition-mod, which enables a well balanced competitive play, is currently in development.

The upcoming competitive-mod will be named ETQWPro and the guy who decided to please the community with such an ordinary gift in Enemey Territory: Quake Wars is SpaceCommander

"for the community by the community" should be emphasized at this point. Right after the decision to develop ETQWPro, the webmaster of qw-scene.de x-ray decided to implement this platform where communication between players and ETQWPro-developers about the ongoing process of ETQWPro can take place.

A lot of work has to get done in the upcoming weeks. In order to accelerate the whole development, SpaceCommander needs help in form of:

-additional developers and programmers
-players giving constructive-minded feedback


This small list will be adjusted regularly. Additionally, our ETQWPro-Team needs a graphic-artist who provides an inspiring logo for ETQWPro. Every kind of content will be taken into consideration. So get your graphic-programs started folks and be a part of this huge thing.

You can visit the ETQWpro website here: http://www.etqwpro.net/news.php

ETQW-tv
Info was leaked on IRC yesterday that Splash Damage just performed their first (working) test of ETQW-tv. More news on both ETQWpro and ETQW-tv will be in next "Takens take"!

The last EU qualifier for the ESL Major Series for ETQW is now under way with 7 teams playing for 4 slots in the upcoming league. The league will feature 16 teams and a prize purse of 2000 euros. The league will contain some of the best European teams and the qualification process has been going on for some time already through national and open EU qualifiers.

Teams playing this qualifier:
GROF
H2k
Infinity
aevitas
Point Blank
r3volta
Infused


Hot matches:

Winner bracket round 2:
GROF vs Point Blank
Time: 15/11 21:00 CET
Maps: TBA
lineups
grof: sin hentai RuFiO 2easy Quark Waste athex
point blank: TBA

Looser bracket round 1:
Infinity vs aevitas
Time: 15/11 21:00 CET
Maps: TBA

Teams already qualified through earlier qualifiers:
Creativ
Inferno eSports
EYEBALLERS
Kompaniet
OCRANA
SPEED-LINK
Random Gaming
Team Delta.QW
Team Pelit
They Kick Ass
redCode
Dignitas

Complete brackets for the qualifier can be found here: http://www.esl.eu/eu/etqw/ems/2nd_qualifier/rankings/

ESL Major Series for ETQW is expected to start shortly after this qualifier is complete.

Clanbase have now announced the groups for their big ET: QW tournament this fall, sponsored with 4000 euro by Activision.
And there is one unusual catch to the tournament, teams from all divisions has a chance to pull through to the playoffs and compete for the 2000 euro first prize.
The way this is done is through one single playoff stage, with 2 teams from each first division group qualifying, 1 team from each second division group qualifying and from third division the two best teams of each group advance into a pre-playoff qualifier where 16 clans will compete for 8 spots in the playoff.

The cup features some of the best European ET: QW teams such as OCRANA, Team Dignitas, Greek Operation Forces and EYEBALLERS known from the beta and demo tournaments. But there is also many new teams waiting to get the chance to prove themselves. Among them big names like Team Logitech.fi and Wilda D-Link known from the Battlefield clan scene.

A complete overview of all the groups can be found at Clanbase. (Link)

It has been rumours that ET: QW would appear on steam after ID earlier added their whole game collection (except q4?) and the ET: QW demo being available as well. And now it's confirmed. The price is $54.95, witch isn't much with today's record low dollar. The game will be available through steam in Europe on the 5th of October, but you can already preorder.

"We're excited to announce that Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is joining the rest of id Software's line-up on Steam! The game is available for pre-purchase effective immediately and will be unlocked for play on October 5 in Europe and October 9 in the United States. While you're over there, don't forget to join the Official Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Steam Group - humanity is counting on you!"

Sources: EnemyTerritory.com and Steam