Community competitive play
Competitive play refers to organized gaming done for the purpose of having fun through skillful competition, practiced teamwork, and self-improvement, especially in a league setting.
Format
- See also: standard competitive format
All competitive games have the following in common:
- Team members are chosen before the game starts.
- Players use vocal communication to quickly relay information.
- Both teams are of the same predetermined player count.
Beyond these, there are many differences between various leagues, seasons, and communities. That said, most competitive TF2 games follow the standard competitive format, which has class limits, 6 players per team, and certain gameplay settings that try to encourage fairness and reduce the impact of chance. All of the major TF2 leagues and PUG communities follow the standard competitive format, though each has variations on specific rules. Some smaller leagues run more specialized formats, such as highlander, where each team always uses one of each class.
Dynamics
- See also: Category:Competitive
Patterns and protocols have emerged from competitive play's unique format and setting, leading to a set of gameplay dynamics distinct from noncompetitive play. See competitive dynamics.
Classes
- See also: standard competitive lineup and Category:Classes (competitive)
Classes are used somewhat differently in standard competitive play than they are in public play. The smaller team sizes, increased coordination, class limits, and refraining from turtle-prone maps result in classes being used at different times, for different reasons, and for different durations than one might except in a typical public TF2 game. For this reason, there is a competitive version of each class article:
Scout
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Soldier
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Pyro
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Demoman
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Heavy
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Engineer
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Medic
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Sniper
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Spy
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Maps
- See also: Category:Maps (competitive)
The majority of competitive play is done on 5-cp push maps, though exceptions exist (most notably gravelpit, turbine, and viaduct). On these maps, the standard format and lineup have caused strategies and tactics to form unique to competitive TF2. You can read more about them in each map's competitive article:
- Badlands (competitive)
- Fastlane (competitive)
- Follower (competitive)
- Freight (competitive)
- Granary (competitive)
- Gravelpit (competitive)
- Gullywash (competitive)
- Obscure (competitive)
- Turbine (competitive)
- Viaduct (competitive)
- Waste (competitive)
- Well (competitive)
- Yukon (competitive)
Organizations
Currently, the major leagues are:
- ESEA's TF2 Invitational and TF2 Open Divisions (North America)
- ETF2L (Europe)
- TWL's TF2 League (North America)
Each of these leagues runs the standard competitive format. CommFT is a fairly well-known portal that posts current events for competitive TF2. Another popular place for North American competitive TF2 discussion and demo sharing is GotFrag.
Additional Reading
- A guide to joining competitive TF2 can be found here.
