6v6 or 8v8? Class restrictions or free for all? Boxers or briefs? The questions swirling around the still nascent TF2 competitive scene has players and community forums raging all across the web, from interviews here (and here) on GotFrag to quite a lengthy debate a few months ago on The Catacombs. Both sides are passionate about their way of play, but the clock is ticking as the premiere league (CEVO) limps its way through the first season with a diminishing number of teams, and CAL seems to be on perpetual stand-by. "Competitive play will definitely die out in the near future - there's a lot of talk amongst current [6v6 clans] that there aren't enough teams competing in the existing leagues." - scoff[REK]

Other games like CoD4, equal in both its infancy and gaming potential, are actively pulling away teams from competitive play and while some are for the moment committed to both games, one can only wonder how much longer that will last.


The 8v8 format has its roots in TF2's predecessors, most notably Team Fortress Classic, who's main form of competitive play was 9v9 (originally based on the 9 classes) for most CTF maps and 8v8 for most Attack-Defend maps. The somewhat-rabid TFC community survived for years under the shadow of the competitively-dominant Counter-Strike, firmly committed to their unique and diverse game and all but hating their CS rivals for hogging the limelight at the major LAN events. It probably didn't help that the average CS-er saw TFC as a joke-game with no real competitive potential, not to mention Valve's own vague promises years past of a "TF2: Brotherhood of Arms" that never materialized. Needless to say, the TFC community is somewhat justifiably jaded.

When TF2 was first announced and subsequently released, with most maps being "push" or "a/d" maps, the notion of playing anything other than 8v8 (aside from the 9v9 Highlander ladders) was absurd - at least to the TF players of the past. Players with a history in other (non-CS/CoD/DoD) games, such as Battlefield or even Tribes, were also used to a larger playing field and therefore saw 8v8 as a perfectly logical format. The ancient TFC leagues (Stronger Than All, United Gaming Clans, and Team Fortress League) immediately spawned TF2 ladders, and the rabid TFers had their niche in the wide new world of TF2.

The sense of tradition is invariably the first point an 8v8-supporter will use in the 6v8 Debate; TF has always been a large-team affair, it's most recent ancestor (TFC) was played 8v8 for these map types, so TF2 will damn well be played 8v8. Yet, it's tough to support that argument when TF2 is such a vastly different game from not only its predecessors, but from any other game on the market today - the class balance of TF2 is leaps and bounds ahead of TFC.

The main advantage 8 players has over 6 is the lack of diversity with only 6. In the short time competitive TF2 has existed, we've already seen a basic class-format come to the forefront in 6v6, especially since the nerfing of snipers: two Soldiers, two Scouts, a Medic, with the 6th (Demo/HW usually, with the occasional Engi) player the only real variation that exists from team to team. This is, of course, with class restrictions in effect - another statute of 6v6.

In the 8v8 format, you may still have the essentials - 2 Sols, 2 Scouts, Medic - but the extra 3 players allow for a much wider variety of class choice and (theoretically) strategies to arise. Weaker classes, such as the Pryo (who is really only strong in short-range combat), may now find some playtime since there are 7 other players to protect such a class until it is in position to be effective. And, with more players overall, the chances of a Spy getting lost in the mix is that much more viable against all but the most coordinated of teams.

The crit-factor is another advantage to the 8v8 format; in 6v6, there's always that unknown potential of one crit rocket halting a full-team push dead in its tracks, forcing them to back off and regroup - that is, if they're not quickly finished off first. While a well-placed crit rocket can still have the same devastating effect on 8 players, the chances of the the attacking team recovering and even pushing somewhat successfully are much higher with more players.