CommunityFortress

Sup guys? Travis “-tC” Chapman here, a few of you might know me as Falco. I'm your average TF2 baddy who thinks he's good, and you'll have to bear with me as I'm new to this coverage thing, but I wanted to help CommFT out. I'll be writing for CEVO-A this season, trying to keep giving the lower teams of the game some love. Due to some technical issues, this article is appearing a little late, so I'm combining it with week 2.

Regardless of what people are saying about Team Fortress' decline, this season boasts just over 100 teams in the Amateur division, more than twice as many it ended with in Season 5. It's great to see so many new teams looking to get into the game, so shining the spotlight on them every so often should be just the boost we need to keep this game going.

Pre-season for Season 6 of CEVO started last week, and the map was a new KOTH addition made by none other than eMg's mackey: koth_ashville. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, you can check it out on GotFrag. Though it does leave a bit to be desired visually, the map plays rather well. It's nice and open like viaduct, but provides a few more routes that are defined better, allowing more varied pushes and flanks. There's also a large area underneath the point, so keep an eye out while your team caps!

For week 2, the map was cp_coldfront. This map made a strong appearance last season, playing a large part in the ESEA Open rankings. It plays a lot like granary in my experiences, with the last point being similar to badlands in that the point itself is pretty much exactly the same. It's a good map that adds some much needed variety to the rotations.

Also, I got the chance to show off my terrible interviewing skills by sitting down with Jehuty of Team Fallback, a team that's been together for well over a year now and has consistently performed, losing to Mainline in CEVO-A last season by just one point in the second round of playoffs.

-tC: First off, tell me about your team. I saw you've been in CEVO for a few seasons now, and you've done fairly well. How long have you guys been together, and have you changed up your roster a lot?

Jehuty: Our team has been together for about a year and half, but we've known each other for about 2 years. The roster has gone through a few alterations, but the core 6 have been together for quite some time.

-tC: Nice, I know from experience that it's hard enough for a team to stay together for a full season, let alone a few after that. So you guys made it into playoffs last season, but were knocked out by Mainline, who I'm pretty sure has since broken up. Your badlands match was a one-round difference, do you remember it well?

<-- Jehuty: Yes. It was certainly one of our best matches, despite the loss. I think it was a back and forth battle. At half we tied 2-2, it went 2-3, then 3-3 and so on until they pulled through one round ahead. Both teams seemed very well prepared, they just had the better finish.

-tC: Those are the more fun matches, when you really have to prove yourself instead of just rolling through the other team. So why do you think you guys have been able to stay together when so many teams can't even complete a season?

<-- Jehuty: Because we're not a team with an ego. We understand that there are teams more prepared, better practiced, and with better communication then we have. That's not to say we are a complete mess, because we aren't, but we're very aware that some teams work hard to be where they're at. So when we lose, we understand that we most likely lost to a better, more prepared team.

-tC: That's exactly the kind of attitude every team should have. As great as winning is, losing can be more valuable because you can learn how to get better. Probably common sense, but I guess that's something people tend to lack at times. So what has Fallback been doing to prepare for this season, if anything?

<-- Jehuty: We actually took a pretty long off season. We scrimmed quite a bit last week and the week before, plus we're in the midst of picking up a new soldier, I won't say who since we don't know as of now, but hopefully the transition works out well.

-tC: You're definitely heading into Season 6 strong, then. It's a much bigger league this time around, but do you think you have a shot at taking it?

<-- Jehuty: We certainly aren't counting ourselves out, but our first goal is to make playoffs. Should we make playoffs, I would watch out for us :D.

-tC: Haha, will do. Well, I wish the best to Fallback and all the other teams competing this season, and I hope we can see CEVO grow even more next season. Anything else you'd like to add before I wrap this shin-dig up?

<-- Jehuty: Yes, make CEVO-Main free again, we were just shy of getting in.

-tC: Hey, you've gotta earn your prize money somehow. Alrighty, well thanks for your time Jehuty, and hopefully (if I don't get fired) I'll be doing a CEVO-A finals interview with you.

<-- Jehuty: Thanks a lot man, take care.


Good luck to all the teams in CEVO Season 6, let's make it an exciting one!