I like unicorn!
Hildreth — Welcome to part two of my three part article series documenting and reviewing the calendar year of 2011 in the world of competitive TF2. I would like to apologies to the Aussies, Africans and Asians for not really featuring you in these articles but I prefer to focus on the two main scenes which I actually know a something about. Anyway without further ado, I present to you the months of May to August of this year.
TL:DR – TF2 dies, gets born again and we have an awesome LAN.
Hildreth — 2011 was a great year for me personally; being the year of the ‘panda’ in the Chinese calendar – might have made that up, it could be a smaller animal with a likeness for orange vegetables – and has been one of the most eventful years, dare I say ‘THE MOST’ eventful year in our competitive scenes history. We have had the biggest LAN to date, TF2 going Free-2-play, launch of a new casting organisation and many, many great matches. It has also been a year of doubt and controversy. The slogan ‘TF2 is dead’ being printed on TF2 discussion boards everywhere and still being typed by many there has been dispute and frustration over unlocks, LANs and growth in the TF2 scene. There has been more gossip, controversy and drama than you’ll ever see on Maury. TF2 has changed – rising stars of TF2 have gone ’pro’, old pros have gone on the Brink of losing interest and leaving the scene. Coverage has changed and developed with new people writing articles, making videos, volunteering to cast or stream and hell we have even seen a new game mode start to become accepted in Team Fortress 2. To start it off I found a gem of an old-fashioned TF2 rant/commentary by 
Foster with an actual positive outlook for 2011 and to steal a quote from it made by 
Darn:
“Unless TF2 gets a proper LAN tournament in 2011, it will be the last year.”
Make of that what you will.
It’s been a long year. I intend to go over it month by month highlighting the memorable matches, the big dramas and the key events that defined our scene this calendar year. To avoid a TL:DR fest I will split it up into 3 parts, one to release now, one of New Years Eve and the last part in 2012. I would like to apologies to those who do not follow the Gregorian calendar, if for example you are Jewish please re-read this again in 9 months.
Torden — We’re halfway through the season, and there are still some major fluctuations going on the top end. First off, 
Diggy’s Punpu and Mafu seem to be heading off the Finnish power line, with a dwindling interest for the game. This move should see Hymzi back to playing demo, as he once was renowned for. 
Admirable once wrote the real meat in the team were Cookye, Hocz and Dajackal - Now we’ll be able to see if he’s right. In the words of cookye:
We want to be more active so we’re replacing mafu and punpu
This upcoming Dignitas cup, the team will be trialling los bandidos 
Longas and Jan who were recently seen in the defunct attempt at a TCM rejuvenation. Like I’ve previously mentioned for Mister and idk? Frogs, turning single nation teams international tends to be risky, only time will tell if Dignitas can break that curse.
Meanwhile, 
Infused.Tt are taking their part of the TCM cake, with camel rider Byte now expected, although unconfirmed, to join their ranks. The team will be identical to Team UK who rose to the top on last Summer’s ESL nations cup, aside from 
Quad trading for Fisshu. Flushy appears to want to focus on university, he’s written an elongated statement right after the jump.
In other news, it seems idk? Black’s search for a medic has finally come to an end (so far), with the recruitment of the Swedish kukjävel, 
Ceder. Yoyotech traded out Zoob, having Hat go back to soldier for main calls, and taking in 
Origo as a new scout.
Torden — It’s been a hard struggle for TCM the past months. Having already lost/removed Pena, Flisko and Antyy, ranks are thinning out, what could be the grand reunion last year’s near unbeatable team backfired. 
Haunter, Coinz and 
Skinnie quite openly abandoned ship last week, after internal disagreements. Additionally, super demo Kaidus reported to be having an unstable net.
The abandoning trio is still to be found on the ETF2L roster, but Byte’s description on his latest video leaves a pretty clear message:
TCM’s first week and probably last week playing in Season 10, due to insufficient players available at the top level since the bastardly departure by Coinz and thus leaving Skinnie/Haunter not wanting to continue! So I thought I’d record this and show you that despite using 3 merc’s as such (Zerox/Leon/Jan).
Bad news for season10, as we could be losing the 2nd finalist of the previous season. However, knowing the perseverance of Byte and manager Xman, we’ll be damned to be seeing the last of these thugs just yet!
Torden — Perhaps the biggest change of late comes in the shape of a an FB/Tt fold, but I’ll take matters into my own hands for a more proper obituary later on. In the meantime, there are some immediate effects, who will take their prem spot and where will the remaining players go? -And so starts the latest news post of the type only I can be arsed with writing.
Torden — It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there…now where to start. One of the biggest dogs right now is Infused, who’s secured themselves 2 new recruits, Quad and Flisko. The former was seen pulling something as hilarious special as a quadruple (fitting, yes) overbooking of trials this past Monday, until Infused pulled the longest straw. The latter, recently cut from TCM alongside Pena, as things simply weren’t working out, was ironically what pulled Quad away from TCM and into the infused roster. -Much to the despair of byte’s boys, who is trying to find a new scout to accompany the return of powerduo Haunter and Coinz as soldiers.
Those portoes aren’t the only ones back to old tricks, as members of the former Dignitas have been seen playing steady this week, with upcoming talent Larsa instead of Haza. The new name is “Relic“, and is said to have signed up for ETF2L. As top scouts are removed from the available pool left, right and center, the options for TCM and Tt are getting scarce, however all is not lost as 
Qun‘s newfound backup position might see him seeking a new team to play badly for on 1 map at lan. Meanwhile, MrMystery claims a return of Broder, but inside sources are adamant they’re still lacking players to take over the world (of div1) just yet.
One thing that is certain, Infused are now confirmed for ETF2L, with Boomeh also moved to backup, which should now ensure all top teams will be collected in (at least) one place this season! That’s the compact version, we haven’t been short on tips this week and 1 of them were from Daleth, who was kind enough to supply us with rosters (edited for known details).
Leftism — The ESL Premiership playoffs continue tonight as 
K1ck eSports take on TCM Gaming in the second round. The winner of this match will go onto play Team Thermaltake in the third round.
K1ck eSports
Pescanova, Harryhook, Mike, Retsh0ck, Estanis, Royze
TCM-Gaming
Pena, Flisko, Byte, Coinz, Skinnie, Torden
ESL Premiership Playoffs - Round 2Who will win this match?
Total Voters: 89
Loading ...K1ck, having finished fifth in the Premiership table, had to beat redCode a few weeks ago to get this far whilst TCM’s third position guaranteed them a bye through to the second round. Early team news indicates the TCM camp will be down a man tonight as antty is still on holiday – VanillaTF2′s own Torden will be his replacement. No news regarding any changes in k1ck’s lineup but if anything unfolds we’ll be sure to post it as soon as we can.
The maps to be played are the usual suspects: Badlands and Granary followed by a Gullywash as the decider map. Tune into VanillaTV who will be covering the action as it unfolds with casters flushy and Greg.
Tonight is where it gets real. With 4 teams left in the competition, one of which has already booked their place in the Grand Final ( Power Gaming) with a thrilling match vs Team Dignitas 2 days ago, the remaining 3 teams need to hold their nerve to be able to beat off the competition to grab the last spot.
Update: TCM win, and go through to the Lower Bracket final vs Team Dignitas!
TCM-Gaming
flisko, antyy, skinnie, pena, Coinz, byte
Team Dignitas
rebelli, darn, bybben, ryb, agron, haza
Esports Heaven TT eSports TF2 Cup Lower Bracket FinalWho will win this match?
Total Voters: 13
Loading ...Tonight sees TCM face off against TT at 20:00 CEST, with the winner of this game moving on to play Team Dignitas at 21:15 CEST for the elusive Grand Final spot, and a chance at winning the 500$ prize! Read on for more information.
TCM-Gaming
flisko, antyy, skinnie, pena, Coinz, byte
Team Thermaltake
Exfane, Leon, Mirelin, kaidus, Dorkan, Bash
Esports Heaven Tt eSports TF2 Challenge Lower Bracket Round 9Who will win this match?
Total Voters: 136
Loading ...
ESL’s third week will be wrapped up as of tonight, so why on earth am I writing these predictions today? Welcome to top level TF2, where we only play one game per week. And don’t start throwing i42 at me as an excuse, only one of the teams listed here actually attended. Top players are always complaining that there isn’t enough coverage for TF2, but you’re really not making it easy for us. Get your games scheduled and play them on time.
Read more for the predictions – honeymustard 
iSeries has ended. None of the competitive teams decided to make an effort and show up, except for Tt, who lost in the finals to some div7 also-thermaltake shitnerds.
It wasn’t the prize money being too low (higher than i39/i40), or the date that was bad (same as i39), teams simply decided not to bother.
TCM, Dignitas, Redcode and Power Gaming, they all decided not to show up. This is how a game dies. The veterans no longer care.
100% of prem teams @ i42
We all booed DrGonzo, for his article on how small TF2 was at i41, claiming how it was intentional, that i42 would show TF2 going strong again. But we’ve failed, i42 was nothing special, not anywhere close to the spectacle that was i39/i40.
So what’s on the horizon for TF2? The best thing that might happen is a proper TF2 tournament at Dreamhack, partly sponsored by Valve maybe? Is this going to happen? Only dunc knows.
Stealing Dignitas' seats
On a positive note, the casting/coverage was at least as good or even better than it has been for earlier iSeries. Cadred had some excellent articles and TF2TV covered all the matches that mattered.
But good coverage is not going to keep the game alive. It’s good tournaments with decent prize money and high level teams attending, showing off great games of TF2 for big crowds. We’ve done this before, what’s keeping us from doing this again?
Arie
Three week 1 games and one week 2 game – not the greatest combination of games played, but what can you expect from the premier division? We’re already on week 2 (though you wouldn’t know it – yes, saying this every week is going to get old), so let’s get some predictions into your eyeballs.
Read more for the predictions – Honeymustard
| more matches | ||
 |
eQ. vs qn. | 2 - 4 |
|
 Infs vs Broder | 2 - 0 |
|
decerto. vs Girafe | 5 - 1 |
|
Yoyotech vs exotic | 2 - 4 |
|
LDLC.com vs Cido | 0 - 2 |
|
Os' vs Inso. | 30/01 |
 |
iM vs Bulk Brogan | 29/01 |
 |
Mayhem. vs YouMust | 0 - 2 |
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