Competitive TF2

The competitive TF2 community is one of the friendliest and most dedicated gaming communities to be involved in. All over Europe, Russia, the Americas, Asia and Australia, competitive TF2 is being played in numerous leagues, cups, ladders and LAN events. The LAN events in Europe have prize pots of thousands of Euros for the top team. It has been hailed as the most exciting spectator tournament to watch at Multiplay's regular 'i series' events and the big matches between the top teams are regularly streamed live for spectators. Have at look at vanillatf2 and here for the live streaming.  This archive of matches that have been covered by them are well worth a browse.  Listen out for some helpful and insightful commentary from the vanillatf2tv team.

The dominant format for competitive TF2 is the 6v6, 1 demo, 1 medic, 1 heavy and limit 2 on the other classes. Most teams run a lineup of the 1 demo, 1 medic, 2 soldiers and 2 scouts for the ultimate mix of speed, power and point capture ability. The other classes do see action in 6v6 but are more situation specific, a heavy for defending the last CP is easier to kill with a sniper and a flame throwing pyro is a nice counter to the sneaky spy sent in to kill your medic. 

There is a smaller 'Highlander' competitive scene where two teams of 9 pit their wits against each other.  One of each of the 9 classes is used at all times on red and blu.

The mechanics of TF2 allow for some very strategic matches, the massive variation in class loadouts make it the most varied of competitive FPS games with a huge amount of tactics and strategies used to outwit and outfrag your opponents.  There are many guides that can get you started on the road to glory, and this is a great thread on the European Team Fortress 2 League website to have a look at too.  The other league played in in Europe is Wireplay, 

The two leagues normally run side by side but use slightly different map pools and sometimes slightly different unlock rules as well,

nervousENERGY  currently has 4 6v6 teams and a 9v9, (highlander) team.  .:ne:.BLU, .:ne:.Green, .:ne:.Platinum and our newest team, .:ne:.Cosmic Latte.  They all will compete in season 12 of etf2l and the highlander team is playing in the second season of etf2l's highlander league.