Podtacular 529: Grifball is Here

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Dust Storm

The Hammer Storm update is out and as one of the biggest content updates to Halo 5: Guardians so far, there’s a lot to look forward to.  New REQs, bug fixes, maps, modes and more!  The sport of the future, Grifball is a community favorite among the offerings and is, in the short time we’ve played it a lot of fun!  Aside from the update, there’s a lot of miscellaneous community news happening as well, so expect a packed show for this episode.  We also give a sneak peek at what’s coming up for the #SpartansForTroops livestream with Operation Supply Drop.

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GrifballHub’s First Halo 5: Guardians Grifball League Registration Ends Tomorrow

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Dust Storm

Grab your swords and hammers because it’s time to sign up for the sport of the future: Grifball!  Registration for the first Halo 5: Guardians Grifball league closes tomorrow and play starts next week, so grab three of your friends and create a team over on GrifballHub.com.  Games in the league are played on set nights and will use game settings similar to those released by 343 Industries.  The league is open to newcomers and veterans alike and it doesn’t matter if you’re playing to win or playing for fun.  If you’re looking for a team to join for the first season, you can head over to the Recruiting forum over at GrifballHub and find a team to play with.  What is Grifball you ask?  Here’s a nice little video for you.

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Halo World Championship Group Draw

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Dust Storm

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The top sixteen teams from around the world have made their way to the world finals happening in two weeks in Hollywood, CA.  All teams were placed into pools based on their regional placings and from those pools were drawn into one of four groups.  The top two teams from each group will go on to the quarter finals after pool play.  All teams who made it this far is guaranteed to walk away with a portion of the $2.5 million prize pool broken down below. What team are you cheering for in two week?  For the latest in Halo Competitive Series news, stay tuned to @HCS and Halo.GG.

hwc16_prizepool_detail

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Spartans For Troops Arena Tournament Information and Registration

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Dust Storm

As part of the Spartans For Troops Halo Community Livestream, Podtacular will host a Halo 5: Guardians Arena tournament after the pro exhibition.  This tournament is open to all Halo community members and veterans and will follow a format similar to the HCS online qualifiers.  Up to 16 teams will play in this tournament for a chance to win Xbox Live gift cards, REQ packs and official stream t-shirts.  The tournament will be broadcasted using Halo 5’s spectator mode with commentary on the livestream.  If you are interested in competing, here’s the info and rules you need to know. Continue reading →

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Spartans For Troops Stream Schedule

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Dust Storm

As we count down the hours to the Spartans For Troops Halo Community livestream, we have worked out our tentative schedule of events.  Right now, we’re waiting on one large event to be confirmed on a time: the pro exhibition.  The latest we know is both teams that have been asked to participate are checking with their schedules to ensure they’re able to do the exhibition map during the weekend.  The exhibition is currently penciled in to the following schedule, which will be updated to reflect their availability. Continue reading →

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Spartans For Troops Grifball Tournament Info and Registration

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Dust Storm

Spartans for Troops Grifball

In partnership with GrifballHub, the Spartans For Troops Halo community stream event will have the first ever Halo 5 Grifball tournament.  This tournament is currently scheduled for March 5th at 1:00PM EST, 10:00AM PST and will host 16 teams from the Good Games League, American Grifball League of America and European Grifball League.  In partnership with OSD, every team who registers through GrifballHub will have their 4th player be a veteran participating in the event.  Registration for Grifball teams is done over on GrifballHub.  Registration for Veterans is available here.

Grifball teams will register three team members through GrifballHub and will pick up a 4th veteran player who registers to participate in the tournament.  All game mode settings and map selections are provided by GrifballHub.  The tournament will be streamed using the spectator mode feature in Halo 5.  Teams are required to check-in 30 minutes prior to the start of the tournament to receive final bracket information and rules for the tournament.  The first place team will receive $10 Xbox Live Gift Cards and GrifballHub t-shirts.

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Announcing the Spartan For Troops Halo Community Livestream

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Dust Storm

In conjunction with Operation Supply Drop, Podtacular is pleased to announce the inaugural Spartans For Troops Halo Community Livestream event!  Partnering with over twenty groups and personalities, this event involves some of the most well known YouTubers, content creators, and players of the game all coming together to stream Halo for thirty-six hours starting on March 4th at 7:00PM EST, 4:00PM PST on Twitch.TV over at Operation Supply Drop.  This stream will feature game lobbies, tournaments, giveaways, machinima, podcasts, and special appearances by some of the biggest names of the Halo community.

The event features many opportunities to participate in the festivities during the livestream consisting of Warzone matchmaking with community groups, live recorded podcasts, custom game lobbies including remakes of classic Halo maps, and a HCS-style Arena tournament.  In addition, viewers of the stream can also catch debut machinima from your favorite Halo YouTubers and a Grifball tournament featuring teams from the Good Games League and the American Grifball League of America.  Among the communities represented during the event are GrifballHub, Ready Up Live, Ultimate Halo, ForgeHub, ProAceJOKER, Halo Canon, Thomas Productions and more.  More info about the Arena tournament including rules and sign ups will be available this weekend.  Once the schedule has been finalized, a complete list of community groups and personalities will be revealed.

Spartans For Troops aims to bring awareness to all kinds of Halo communities and raise awareness and support for Operation Supply Drop and their mission.  Throughout the event, viewers will learn about this charity organization and their impact on active-duty military and veterans through the power of video games including Halo.  We are excited to have this opportunity to showcase the best of the Halo community and bring awareness to a charity that has proven to make a positive impact to our brothers and sisters in arms as our fellow Spartans.

We are excited to bring an incredible amount of Halo talent together and embrace the many different aspects of the Halo community.  Through the livestream we hope to bring awareness to other Halo groups and personalities and support Operation Supply Drop.  The event is also supported by 343 Industries, Mega Bloks and Simon and Schuster who have graciously given us Halo merchandise, prizes and giveaway items for viewers and participants.  Please join us March 4th for an incredible weekend of Halo content and community involvement.

What: Inaugural “Spartans For Troops” Halo Community Livestream with Operation Supply Drop
When: March 4th, 2016 at 7:00PM EST, 4:00PM PST thru March 6th, 2016 at 7:00AM EST, 4:00AM PST
Where: Operation Supply Drop Twitch Channel (http://twitch.tv/operationsupplydrop)
Who: Halo community groups and personalities including: 405th Infantry Division, DefendTheHouse, Drunken Halo, Forge Channel, ForgeHub, GrifballHub, Halo Canon, Halo Wheelmen, Halo5Remakes.com, iSpiteful, KnightmareFilmz, ProAceJOKER, Ready Up Live, ThaGreatIsaiah, Thomas Productions, Ultimate Halo

About Podtacular: Podtacular is a community-based podcast covering the Halo franchise and community featuring news coverage, franchise discussions, notable Halo group and personality appearances, and community interaction. https://www.podtacular.com

About Operation Supply Drop: Operation Supply Drop is a military charity organization supporting US, NATO and ANZAC active-duty military and veterans through video games and digital entertainment across their three global outreach programs. http://www.operationsupplydrop.org

About 343 Industries: 343 Industries is the developer of the Halo video game series oversees the Halo franchise, including games, original programming, novels, comics, and licensed products. http://www.halowaypoint.com

About Mega Bloks: Mega Bloks is a division of MEGA Brands, member of the Mattel family of companies and is home to the Mega Bloks Collectors licensed Halo construction line of products. https://collectors.megabloks.com

About Simon and Schuster: Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is the the parent publishing company of  six Halo novels including the upcoming paperback edition of Halo: New Blood. http://www.simonandschuster.com

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