Team Fortress 2 resides in the long shadows cast by Valve's pair of popular titans, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2. But the class-based FPS has managed to endure despite its little-brother status, perpetuated by a passionate community that includes a competitive scene that's still producing fireworks.
During May’s Physgun Fireside Denver LAN, one fan I spoke to called the tricontinental tournament “the toughest competition in TF2 history.” The game is nearing 18 years of age, and the caliber of competition has only increased during that time. I’ve spent 2,900 hours in-game and frankly, the worst player on the worst team at Fireside Denver could run circles around me before taunting over my ragdolled corpse—it'd be like a Little Leaguer stepping up to the plate against Shohei Ohtani.
