Guess what’s back. Back again—tell a friend. Today, the 1v1 Showdown makes its official debut in matchmaking!

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1v1 Me Bro. For Real This Time.

One of the most common pieces of feedback we heard during the Combat Workshop outing was that you would love to take a friend with you for the ultimate showdown. We heard you loud and clear and the playlist has been updated to allow parties of two to search. Thanks to Forger Artifice, you can now literally challenge someone to a 1v1 and duke it out on the battlefield for the ultimate bragging rights.

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Rules of Engagement

Before you jump in, you should know what you’re getting into and how to win. The victor is the first to win the best of 5 rounds. If you’re asking “How do I win a round?” we have you covered. You can win in one of two ways:

• Be the first to 5 kills
• Capture the zone

Each round is a race to 5 with spawns resetting immediately after a kill happens to ensure everyone is on an even playing field. However, if at any point during the round someone captures a hill, they win the round. Yes, this means you can be down 4-1, capture the zone, and still win the round. Both players will be equipped identically with random loadouts that vary from round to round. You never know what you’ll have in your pockets so be nimble and ready to flex your strategy to adapt to the gear you might find. Just to keep you on your toes, you may be granted a round modifier (you’ll see the UI banner pop up) that adds a new twist to the game. Keep your reflexes sharp and be ready to adjust to whatever the game throws you, including a damage boost, low gravity, or amped up speed. You never know whatcha gonna get.

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Lay of the Land

So, you’ve thrown the gauntlet and are ready to face off in the 1v1, meaning you’ve got the who and the what. Now all you need is where. We have found that standard Arena maps are slightly too large for 1v1, so with the help of community Forger UneeQ, we’ve taken slices of some of your favorite maps and created a unique set of battlefields. Between rounds, loadouts aren’t the only thing that changes—you’ll be teleported to a new map slice so the scenery will also stay fresh. Here are the maps that have had slices pulled from them:

Aquarius

Argyle

Bazaar

Catalyst

Empyrean

Fortress*

Origin*

*Fortress and Origin slices are making their debut with the full release of the playlist, with Origin joining the full map pool at a later date.

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[/hr] If you can talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk so challenge your friend and put your skills to the test!