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.
Contents
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
|
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
|
Spy
|
Maps
- See also: Category:Maps (competitive)
The majority of competitive play is done on 5-cp push maps, though exceptions sometimes exist (most notably Gravel Pit, 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)
- Gravel Pit (competitive)
- Gullywash (competitive)
- Obscure (competitive)
- Turbine (competitive)
- Viaduct (competitive)
- Waste (competitive)
- Well (competitive)
- Yukon (competitive)
Organizations
North American
- ESEA's TF2 Invitational and TF2 Open Divisions
- TWL's TF2 League
European
Oceanian
Country specific
Each of these leagues mainly run the standard competitive format, however some host Highlander, 7v7 and 1v1 competitions.
CommFT and VanillaTF2 are fairly well-known portals that post current events for the competitive TF2 scenes in North America and Europe respectively. Another popular place for North American competitive TF2 discussion and demo sharing is GotFrag.
