Payload Race

On the official TF2 website, Valve announced some additions to their Sniper Update package.  Among these additions is the payload race maptype...a maptype that is similar to the current payload gamestyle except that both teams are pushing carts - each team must attack and defend simultaneously.  

Arena Maps

Sawmill

Set in a stormy mountain sawmill, this arena map has its cap point in a large structure atop a hill in the center of the map; beneath which lies a hidden underground spytech base; and above which, pouring down on everything we just mentioned, is rain—the first weather effect to appear in a TF map. If that previous sentence wasn’t long enough for you, replace the period with a comma and add this next part: players must ALSO watch out for the two deadly saw blades near the cap, which were left on when the previous occupants abandoned it for a less deadly, hilly, rain-swamped sawmill not built on a spybase.

Nucleus

A diabolical doomsday device is the foundation of this circular arena map, which features long sightlines and a bottomless radioactive pit underneath most of the game area. The cap, located in the center of the arena, is only accessible by catwalks suspended over a chasm, which open after the timer has run down.

Although this news does not really affect the competitive community, it is still interesting to see Valve forge ahead with it's pub-friendly game styles and maps.  Stay tuned for more information on the Sniper Update pack.

Valve has topped it's shitastic Jarate with another Sniper update weapon, the Huntsman.  It's unclear what exactly the Huntsman does but here's the news release from the official TF2 website:

Any experienced sniper will tell you how irritating it is when your targets keep moving around. The question is how to stop these cheaters from wind-sprinting around like they own the place. And the answer is to pin them to a wall. How? With arrows!

"Now, hold on," you might be thinking. "I'm strong, but no one could throw an arrow that hard." Introducing the Huntsman longbow, which solves that age-old throwing problem.

"Now, hold on," you keep saying. "Aren't bows and arrows primitive and harmless?" Why don't you ask the dinosaurs? Except you can't, because the cavemen bow and arrowed them to death. One headshot from the Huntsman can mean an instant crit, in addition to a bolt-riddled corpse hanging from a wall that's gruesome and funny.

And even if you don't kill them, they'll carry around a certain arrow-shaped something as a living testament to your awesome archery skills and their frankly unawesome dodging skills. Comes with 18 arrows and a one-second charge for full power shots.

It seems like a terrible idea but we'll have to see how it plays out.  Rumor is that the new Kukri is going to be a wand with +5 intellect and +10% crit chance for the Huntsman.