CommunityFortress

On Tuesday, October 13th. Pandemic announced the revealing of their new TF2 team. If you missed the article, here is the link.

This is the 3rd generation of Team Pandemic, with their original team leaving for Complexity and the 2nd team moving to Loaded early this summer. Pandemic.TF2 has been one of the most recognizable organizations in TF2. Their roster has dominated the top divisions since the release of the game, a who's who of TF2 have wore the Pandemic tag, from the Godfather of competitive Soldier Reptile, to two of the best demomen in the world in Solidsnake and dummy, to the inventor of the Meatshot and the new "aggressive" style scout, Carnage. It is no surprise that Pandemic has decided to return to the TF2 scene with a new team. 

The most surprising part about this news was that Pandemic decided to bring in a brand new team. Their last two teams have been previously formed and proven teams (The Experiment and iDemise). I'm sure the Pandemic staff have plenty of confidence in the team with previous Pandemic members jmitchell and TheFragile, along with former MoB gaming sniper extraordinaire justin, young and rising stars TLR and kermit, and one of the top soldiers who disappeared from TF2 for a season, Wonderwall. However, this is the first time the TF2 community is questioning the Pandemic.TF2 team and wondering if they will be able to keep up with the "big 3". 20id, EG and Loaded....or will they fall into the 2nd tier group with teams like Point and Click, Vicious Gaming, Strickland Propane, etc.

TheFragile was gracious enough to speak to me tonight and we talked about the new team and his thoughts.

Click Read More to :3

cc//djfivenine: What's the lineup going to look like?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: myself as medic, justin and whoevver we're going to recruit next as scout/sniper, TLR and wonderwall as soldiers, kermit as demo
Pandemic TheFragile :3: jmitchell scouts, he can soldier, but he backs up regardless.

cc//djfivenine: and you guys are looking to only do ESEA? or are CEVO and TWL in the talks as well?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: We plan to take up ESEA, not really sure about CEVO, and we have no interest in TWL.  It really depends what CEVO wants to do for prizes next season, but we also don't want to overwhelm ourselves, so we'll see.

cc//djfivenine: Did you approach Pandemic? Or did they come to you?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: A little bit of both actually.  Myself and Lemley always talked from time to time, and we hinted about it here and there, and finally things came together.

cc//djfivenine: Cool, let's talk about your team a little...how did you pull wonderwall back into TF2? The man disappeared for a whole season.

Pandemic TheFragile :3: Well, Kermit actually got the team together.  I got Justin to tag along with me, so we were kind of a package deal.  From that point, Kermit talked to people that were friends with wonderwall, and we eventually got contact with him.  I know wonderwall has been pretty busy with work and travel (which has probably contributed to his inactivity for a while), but he's here to play.

cc//djfivenine: There are plenty of cevo-p veterans on the roster, kermit had experience playing at a high level with Propane and Vicious. The interesting player on the roster is TLR, who have done very well at the mid/high level, but have never really been on any teams that made a big impact in TF2. What did you guys see in him that made you think that he can perform well at the pro level?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: Well, we've heard a little about him, mostly that he was stuck playing for lower-skilled teams, not really having the chance on a higher-up team.  However, after a bunch of scrims, TLR is a very solid soldier, and has also clutched some absolutely amazing situations.  He also has a very positive in-game attitude, and he's an overall chill guy.

cc//djfivenine: With jmitchell at backup, do you guys have anyone in mind as your other starting scout? Or is that spot wide open at the moment?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: We have one person in mind.  They'll join us before the next ESEA season starts.  It's not a super-secret surprise, but I'll wait to announce him when he joins the team.

cc//djfivenine: A well-known player in the community I assume?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: yes.

cc//djfivenine: Pandemic.TF2 has always had the reputation of having one of the best TF2 teams around. Even without seeing you guys play, the TF2 community have already changed the "Big 3" (20id, EG, Loaded) to the "Big 4". What kind of mentality does your team have playing for Pandemic as a brand new team? Are you worried at all about trying to fill those big shoes left by the previous teams?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: We are very aware of what the past Pandemic rosters have brought, obviously great success.  However, this isn't going to throw us  in any different direction than we are already headed.  Yeah, we've scrimmed a pretty decent amount in the past month, but not with our ideal full-starting roster (again, waiting on a few certain people to join).  Once everything is set, we'll be only rising from that point.  Some people are uncertain about us, some people are really excited.  I can't really say how it's going to start or end, but we'll just have to wait and see :].  I have a massive amount of faith in this team, and that's really all I feel about it at this point.

cc//djfivenine: Great. Thanks for the interview Fragile. Would you like to give any quick shoutouts?

Pandemic TheFragile :3: EG, The Catface Club, Cats in general, and everyone else in the world! Sorry, I would make this list more interesting, but i need sleep :p.

cc//djfivenine: Haha thanks again. Have a great night!