CommunityFortress

With a 9-1 record in ESEA-Invite and only seven matches remaining, CommFT-sponsored The Experiment seems to be on a sure path to the ESEA LAN. Attended by the top four teams in Invite, the ESEA LAN acts as the playoffs for the Invite division of ESEA. While the teams of other divisions compete in their playoffs online, the Invite players travel to Dallas, Texas to duke it out face-to-face with lights and cameras illuminating their every error and triumph. With their regular season record, their veteran roster, and their determination to win, The Experiment is ready to take home the top prize at the LAN in front of thousands of spectators. Except there's a catch.

It costs more than a thousand dollars to get a full TF2 team to Dallas.

Although CommFT was able to pay for the team's regular season league fees, we cannot even pretend to have the cash on hand to fund their likely and imminent trip to the ESEA LAN. Recently we have seen an uptick in advertiser revenue but it will be many more months before we have the cash available to fully sponsor a team's trip to the ESEA LAN.

So where does that leave us? Well, given the generosity of the community in donating for the CommFT HL tournament purse, we think that it is possible for the community to fully fund The Experiment's trip to Dallas. With a little bit of cash from dozens of community members, the large sum necessary to send the team to LAN can be realized with ease. For those who want to help out, we have altered our donation button on the top right of the homepage so that all of the donations that are submitted through the button go directly, via PayPal, to The Experiment's LAN fund. We are looking to community members, regulars of CommFT, and fans of The Experiment to lend a hand in getting them to LAN.

Since we know that many folks have little spare cash, we want to give back to those who donate above a certain amount. In fact, we have decided that those who contribute $20 or more to the effort to send The Experiment to the ESEA-I LAN will be able to join members of the team in group lessons. Depending on what class the donor plays, he/she will be able to meet and interact on a personal level with the appropriate member of the team to learn more about how to play their class in the competitive setting.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Experiment and the classes played by the members, the roster is stacked with many of the longtime stars of competitive North American TF2. All of the members of the team have extensive professional competitive 6v6 experience. dummy has played Demoman for Evil Geniuses, compLexity, Team Dynamic, and Blight. PYYYOUR has played Medic for iDemise, Eximius, Team Dynamic, and compLexity. carnage has played Scout for Eximius, compLexity, and Loaded. justin has played Scout for Blight and compLexity. TLR has played Soldier for Check-Six (who were the ESEA-I LAN champions last season), Blight, compLexity, and Pandemic. Finally, ww- has played Soldier for Dynamic, Blight, AI, and Frag Dominant.

To be clear, all of the money donated via the button on our homepage will go directly to the team. CommFT will not take any of the donations for any other purpose. Those who donate $20 or more and want to attend group lessons with the team must check the forums for a thread bearing their name in order to connect with the team. Thanks for reading and thanks to all who lend a hand to get The Experiment to the most competitive LAN in North American TF2.