March is behind us, and with it goes a month's worth of profound changes to the TF2 gaming scene here in North America. Less than a month ago, NA-TF2 seemed to be on its deathbed as the premiere league (CEVO) struggled its way through its first season while interest fell continent-wide. Crits were ruining online league play and frustrating players, pushing them to leave the game, while Call of Duty 4's wild popularity continued to pull with the promise of more competition and more LANs.

Yet in Europe, TF2 was and continues to be as strong as ever, with multiple leagues offering all levels of play to a deep pool of teams eager to compete. The difference between the two scenes was obvious, and the choice that was before NA teams was a simple one. Despite the critisism of "too little, too late", North American teams took it upon themselves to play crit-free, first with the tftrue mod, then with Valve's own built-in mechanism, and the leagues like TGL, CEVO and CAL soon followed suite.

So now North American teams are playing in crit-free leagues.. but the question is, will the scene rise to the success and stability of Europe? Or is there just too much competition in the North American market?


There's no longer any doubt: the Euro's got it right. Crit-free Europe has flourished from the beginning of TF2, supported by the largest league-names in professional gaming as well as quite a few pro organizations, and offering a highly competitive scene for the fans to enjoy. From the ETF2L to the ESL Major Series to theSGL, teams are battling it out for dominance and respectability, honing their skills for what they hope is in the future: more prize money and more LANs. Yet, as is the case with TF2 the world over, LANs are few and fleeting. While Multiplay's recent i33 LAN did offer a TF2 tournament, the purse was a little smaller then some would have liked (just £2,500 total), resulting in a mostly-UK attendance with ^wotr^ coming out on top.

But despite still waiting for that high-profile, high-attendance, major prize pool LAN that will let TF2 teams make their mark on the eSports gaming world, teams will continue to grind it out in the aforementioned leagues. ETF2L's 2nd Cup is coming down to the wire in the round of 16, with all the big names still in contention such as Fracture, The Last Resort, Clan United and the defending champions, 4Kings. ETF2L also just announced the numbers for their 2nd season, which includes 120 teams from 20 different nationalities.. of which 4Kings is, again, the defending champs (of the top division). Meanwhile, the EMS Qualification process has wrapped up and 8 teams have made it through to the Groupstage including NA's own Pandemic, joining the 8 National Qualifier winners from the previous month in what from all accounts looks to be an exciting and successful second season for ESL's Major Series. Much like the EU-1.6 scene, TF2 is indeed alive and well in Europe and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.


In last month's State of TF2, I stressed the importance of CAL in TF2's North American future. Well, CAL has finally started and have even made the right moves with map selections and going nocrit.. but one can't help but notice the lack of activity. It seems CAL has growing pains of its own to go through, with more then half of the matches so far being FF'd as the season approaches its halfway point. At the moment, it looks likes CAL will go through the same thing CEVO has - a crappy first season, but some positive signs for season 2. CAL-TF2 has an active admin team, a set system for competition and the (albeit dwindling) weight of its name behind it. For the sake of the local pub and community teams that want to play TF2, one can only hope that'll be enough to keep CAL going.

Meanwhile, after being blatantly overlooked by yours truly, TGL is firing up for its 2nd Open season of 6v6 and 8v8 play, with the first week of play slotted for April 16th. To be perfectly honest, I think TGL's league is nothing but a success for what it offers - a place for non-CEVO caliber teams to test their stuff against similar teams; a CAL without the massive FF numbers. Already with 20 teams signed up for season 2, offering mostly mid-level teams a step or two below CEVO-A (except Xen), TGL just might be the perfect place for those eager teams who want to play but have been bonk'd with inactivity in CAL. It's even got Brazilian teams, too!

I think, given the choice between the two, TGL has a better feel to it.. they've already been through one season, and have been running well ever since their startoff Roughbeck tourney (unlike CAL, which was delayed for months before finally starting). While they may not have the big names or numbers of CEVO and CAL, it's definately a league to look at for those mid-level clans.


I suppose it's only fitting that CEVO's rough season 1 has a rough playoffs to match. Although there have been some awesome moments - DANCE's run to the LB Finals; the cp_granary matches in Pro R2; rk's incredibly awful predictions - as well as finally getting some SrcTV Coverage for fans of the game, there have also been some pretty major busts. At first, it looks like $hot was going to FFW its way to the CEVO-A crown, refusing to let Legacy play with ringers for the final.. then there was a reschedule in which $hot was short players.. and now.. ??

In the Pro division, it seems only 3 of the 7 teams will remain intact heading into next season, while the rest break off and merge with each other and some CEVO-A squads in an incestuous jumble. This may actually make CEVO stronger in the future, as the talent is spread around a little bit more and more teams overall get stronger.. but it also may just make Pandemic, 20id and Devastation that much better than the rest. It'll be interesting to see where the league goes from here - there are rumours of delaying Season 2 in favour of another tournament, which I think would be a fabulous idea - but so far the CEVO admins are all mums.

As we head on into the heart of April, I sense TF2's not to far from where it was a month ago.. still waiting for some LANs, still hoping for the promise of "next season", but also enjoying a mini-revival as the matches get tighter and the excitement around them spikes. GotFrag will do its best to keep you up to date on all the happenings in the TF2 world, while we all wait for Valve's upcoming content package (WHEN DO I GET MAH GOLDRUSHHH!!) and grind through their inevitable tweaks and fixes.