Contested Territory

Contested Territory (CT) is BTD6's team event. Your team and five others share a hexagonal board of tiles, and you capture tiles by beating the challenge on each one, either by setting a score or by beating the score of the team that owns it. Captured tiles earn points every hour, and the teams and players with the most points at the end win the biggest rewards. CT runs every other week and alternates with Boss Rush.

How Contested Territory works

Schedule and teams

CT usually starts on a Tuesday at 22:00 UTC and lasts seven days. You must be in a team to play. Teams have up to 15 members, led by a Mayor. Competitive teams have to sign up 24 hours before the event begins, and players who join after sign-up closes do not get personal tickets.

The board

The board is a big hexagon with sides eight tiles long, shared by six teams. Each team owns one corner tile that cannot be captured and gives no points. Every other tile starts neutral. You can only attack tiles that share a side with a tile your team already owns, so the map spreads out from your corner.

Every board in the same event uses the same set of tiles, so a strategy for a tile works for every team that faces it.

Tile challenges and scoring types

Each tile has its own map, tower and hero restrictions and a scoring type. To capture an owned tile you must strictly beat the current score; a tie does not capture.

• Least Cash: spend as little money as possible on towers, upgrades and removals.
• Least Tiers: place as few towers and buy as few upgrades as possible.
• Race: beat all rounds as fast as you can, with the option to send rounds early, timed like the Race Event.
• Boss: beat one or two tiers of a Normal boss as fast as possible, timed like ranked Boss Events. Boss tiles never appear as Regular tiles.

Insta Monkeys, Double Cash and Fast Track are always banned. Every tile is guaranteed to have at least one tower that can deal with Camo and one that can pop Lead. Some heroes are banned on certain tile types: Sauda and Corvus on Least Cash, and Gwendolin, Sauda, Captain Churchill, Geraldo and Corvus on Least Tiers. Every hero is allowed on Race and Boss tiles.

Tile types

• Regular tiles give 20 points per hour and allow Monkey Knowledge.
• Relic tiles give 10 points per hour and grant their Relic to your whole team. Monkey Knowledge is disabled.
• Banner tiles give 40 points per hour. Monkey Knowledge is disabled.

Each board has 24 Relic tiles and 24 Banner tiles; the rest are Regular.

How long tiles last

• A captured tile earns points for 24 hours, then stops scoring but stays yours. These tiles are marked with flashing green arrows.
• After 72 hours the tile turns neutral again unless someone recaptures it.
• The score you set starts to degrade 5 hours after capture, getting gradually worse so other teams can beat it more easily.

This means a strong team keeps recapturing its own best tiles to reset the 24 hour clock, rather than only pushing outward.

Tickets

Every 24 hours each player gets four personal tickets. You need at least one ticket to attempt a tile, but attempts themselves are free: a ticket is only spent when you successfully capture a tile. Unused tickets at the end of a day go into a shared team pool (up to 30 tickets), and each player can use up to six team tickets per day. Team tickets add to the team score but not to your personal score.

Relics

Relics are bonuses such as extra lives, extra cash or limited free use of a Power. When your team holds a Relic tile, every member can use that Relic on the tiles they attempt, up to four tile Relics at a time. Teams can also buy Shop Relics with Team Trophies. Three Shop Relics unlock after 24, 72 and 120 hours (costing 400, 600 and 800 Team Trophies), and a Daily Power Relic costs 200 and must be bought again every day. Relics that grant a Power cannot be used on Race tiles.

How to play CT well

For individual players

1. Use all four personal tickets every day. Each ticket used also gives you 100 Monkey Money, up to 400 per day, plus Team Trophies.
2. Practice before you capture. Attempts do not use tickets until you succeed, so test a tile, find a better line, and only lock in a capture when you have a strong score.
3. Prioritize Banner tiles. At 40 points per hour they are worth double a Regular tile.
4. Set scores that are hard to beat. A barely winning score will be stolen within hours, especially once it starts degrading.

For teams

• Coordinate with focus markers. Mayors and vice-Mayors can mark up to four tiles for the team. Use them to point at Banners, key Relics and tiles about to expire.
• Grab Relics that help the board. A Relic that boosts cash or lives on every tile lifts the whole team's scores.
• Recapture your best tiles. Because tiles stop scoring after 24 hours, refreshing high-value tiles keeps points flowing.
• Split tile types by skill. Some players are great at Least Tiers, others at Race. Let each player attack what they do best.

Leaderboards and rewards

Four leaderboards decide the end-of-event rewards: Global Teams, Global Players, Local Teams (the six teams on your board) and Local Players. You can earn rewards from all of them as long as you contributed. Rewards are handed out about two hours after the event ends, and Casual teams do not receive global leaderboard rewards. The top global team rewards include 1,000 Monkey Money, thousands of Team Trophies, a Power and a random Tier 5 Insta Monkey.

Team Trophies buy cosmetics for your team's island and profile, so CT is also the main way to customize your team.

CT and Boss Rush

CT and Boss Rush alternate every week. Both are team events, both use tickets and both use Relics, so getting used to one helps with the other. See the Boss Events page for a short overview of Boss Rush. For a full walkthrough, see our videos on the BTD6 Master YouTube channel.

Frequently asked questions

How often is Contested Territory in BTD6?

Every other week. It usually runs from Tuesday 22:00 UTC for seven days, alternating with Boss Rush.

How many tickets do you get in CT?

Four personal tickets per day. A ticket is only used when you successfully capture a tile, and unused tickets go into a shared team pool.

What do Relic tiles do?

Holding a Relic tile gives every team member that Relic's bonus on the tiles they play. You can use up to four Relics from tiles at once.

Why did my CT tile stop giving points?

Tiles stop scoring 24 hours after capture and turn neutral after 72 hours. Recapture the tile to reset the timer.

Can you use Insta Monkeys in Contested Territory?

No. Insta Monkeys, Double Cash and Fast Track are always banned on CT tiles.

Do I need a team to play CT?

Yes. Joining a team is required, and teams can have up to 15 members.