Lakeside
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koth_lakeside_final
koth_lakeside is a King of the Hill map made by the mapmaker 3Dnj and made official by Valve on February 24, 2011. It is played frequently in Highlander, having been used by UGC for several seasons.
The objective of Lakeside is to control the middle point for three minutes. The two teams spawn on opposite sides of the map and rush toward the middle when the round begins. A round will continue into overtime if the timer is up but there is still enemy presence on the point.
Contents
History
Lakeside began development in November of 2010, created by 3Dnj. A mere four months after the map's conception, the map would be officially added to Team Fortress 2 in the Community Map Pack Update in February, 2011. Lakeside was first brought into the competitive limelight in the spring of 2011 with both the Wireplay and Community Fortress competitive communities featuring it in their 7v7 and Highlander tournaments at the time, respectively. After these brief appearances, UGC would begin to prominently feature Lakeside as one of their premiere Highlander maps, alongside other popular KOTH maps Ashville and Viaduct. In 2012, the map started to see usage outside of UGC once more, being played in ETF2L, TRR, and Wireplay. 2013 marked the first year Lakeside was played in a more "garish" competitive format, being Ready Steady Pan. As well as this, Lakeside was picked up by OzFortress for the first time, being featured in their short-lived Highlander League. Towards the end of 2013, Lakeside was also featured in the small-but-looming 4v4 competitive scene via a small community cup.
Lakeside started out 2014 strongly, being played in the first seasons of both UGC League and ETF2L that year; It even featured in UGC's second ever season of competitive 4v4. Not much far from that, Lakeside also had its first major exposure to the South American competitive scene by being played in LBTF2's first season of Highlander near the middle of the year. However, during the second half of 2014, both UGC and ETF2L dropped Lakeside from their pools simultaneously, leaving the map with no play until the next year.
Lakeside began to enter a state of semi-limbo, becoming the on-and-off King of the Hill map of UGC for the next few years. In 2015, the map was only featured in three events, a far cry from the map's prior successful years. 2016 gave the map a little bit more leeway, being reintroduced to ETF2L's Highlander scene across the year, however the map still lacked the relevancy it once held. 2017 was even more of the same for Lakeside, though the map did recieve some relatively new attention from the South American scene once again, being featured in Brasil Fortress' second season of 6v6. Unfortunately, what could be seen as a killing blow struck the map, as ETF2L relegated Lakeside to their Experimental Highlander cup early in the year. During mid-2017 though, something began to happen. Lakeside started to consistently appear in seasons of UGC once again.
2018 was the year Lakeside began to find its competitive footing once again, being featured in multiple new events and leagues such as Get it Onne and Sacred Scouts, but most importantly, obtaining a spot in RGL's first season of Highlander. Combined with its newfound love from UGC, the map came into a golden age of sorts. As well as this, Russian Highlander brought the map back into the folds of the east, with its first season in December including the KOTH map. 2019 was much of a continuation from the previous year, the map getting more attention via repeated inclusion in RGL and UGC, as well as coming back to ETF2L via their preseason highlander cup. Russian Highlander, Rasslabyxa, the map was booming! Lakeside did end up falling back into a semi-limbo state during the middle of the year, but the fact was that Lakeside was here to stay and stand its ground once again.
Lakeside began 2020 interestingly, being featured in RGL once again, however a new pro version of the map, aptly named "Proside," reared its face over in Oceania and Asia via Respawn League. While Proside in it of itself would prove futile, it DID bring interest of Lakeside back onto eastern soils. Lakeside had a much more consistent run in 2020, featuring in all three seasons of UGC and two seasons of RGL. However, the map was still majorly lacking in dedicated European turf, a reality that Lakeside had been struggling with for multiple years. In October, UGC brought the first use of "koth_lakeside_r#" to the table, which set to permanently improve Lakeside for competitive play.
With what could be dubbed as "Lakeside Pro" on the horizon, it's no surprise that 2021 was a very feisty year for the map. LBTF2 would be the first to feature the map outside of UGC in February, to which RGL promptly followed suit. Its consistency rising once again from UGC, ETF2L finally gave the map another jab in May that year via Lakeside Pro. Fortress Faceoffs even breathed some life into the original Lakeside in mid-2021, however even this effort was not enough. With newer Highlander KOTH maps like Cascade and Proot releasing in 2021 and 2022 respectively, Lakeside finally was granted the death that it desperately fought against for half a decade. With its final breath of both Proside and Lakeside Pro being played in OZF and UGC, the playerbase moved on from the map in mid-2022 in favour of koth_proot, and has not been played since.
Usage in competitive
| 4v4 | Highlander | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 UGC
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UGC
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 ETF2L
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| koth_lakeside_final1 | Season 3 | Season 20 | Season 11 | ||||||
| Season 2 | Season 18 | Season 10 | |||||||
| Season 16 | Season 6 | ||||||||
| Season 14 | Season 5 | ||||||||
| Season 13 | Season 4 | ||||||||
| Season 12 | Season 3 | ||||||||
| Season 11 | |||||||||
| Season 10 | |||||||||
| Season 9 | |||||||||
| Season 8 | |||||||||
| Season 6 | |||||||||
| Season 5 | |||||||||
| Season 4 | |||||||||
| koth_lakeside | Season 2 | ||||||||
| Total inclusions | 2 out of 28 | 13 out of 39 | 7 out of 30 | ||||||
Bold italics denotes the current or latest season
| Official map | |
Calls
| Lakeside, control point |
|---|
Tunnel Ruins Bridge Stone / Box Batts Bathhouse / Pool Tree / Obelisk Right Left Valley / Yard |
Strategy
The overall team strategy on this map is to simply kill the opposing team, take the point, and prevent an enemy counterpush. When in control of the point, teams want to hold it for as long as possible. This is often done by stationing the medic along with their combo members in bathhouse. It's a safe room, not allowing sniper, spy, or soldiers to get any damage onto the medic.
Midfight
During the initial fight for the point, a common position for the combo to push is in valley right behind the obelisk. This puts the medic safely out of sight while allowing him to heal people that are pushing onto the point. There is an important high ground vs. low ground fight on this point, often giving a large advantage to whoever reaches the point first, but doing so puts them at risk to a Sniper. The Engineer often keeps a mini sentry watching his valley to prevent bombers from killing someone. When actually pushing the point the sentry is eventually moved onto or near the point.
The Combo
Many teams use the Kritzkrieg for its versatility on this map. The critical damage can clear the point for a capture. When in control of the point, a Medic can use the charge to kill an enemy Demoman, Heavy, or Medic, delaying a push from them. Its fast charge speed allows for aggressive contesting of the point or relentless harassment of the team that doesn't control it. Other Mediguns can be used to better protect the Medic, but it can be more difficult to push onto the point with them if the holding team forces the Ubercharge in valley or around the pool room.
Defense
When defending the point when you control it, you should immediately consider a forward hold. You can do a forward hold if you have a significant number advantage and/or open ground that would allow you to do so. The typical forward hold consists of a combo holding the enemy plateau and a flank holding the battlements. This strategy works well with the stock Medigun because you can deny any incoming push with invincibility of your combo and scattering of your flank. With Kritz or Quick-Fix, you need to draw them out far enough that you can push into them, or you'll be sitting on a charge that will not save you from a Kritz. A forward hold with Kritz typically involves the combo in the bathhouse, because your flank will be able to call any offensive push long before you're threatened by it.
If you're not doing a forward hold, your team is essentially controlling your yard and platform with your combo classes, while controlling their yard and platform with your flank classes. It's important to call the enemy Sniper at all times during a hold like this, because he can get a sightline on most of the map without having to fight anyone.
Offense
The offensive strategy on Lakeside is to build an Übercharge while bombing their team and taking advantage of your superior spawn times. Kritzkrieg is usually the best option for this situation, giving you the chance for that magical first crit sticky medic pick. A good play here is to pair up your Demo and Soldier for a tandem bomb while your Spy is somewhere on their side of the map. When executed well, this is the best way to force a charge or kill a medic. All the while, your Sniper is working to create some sort of advantage you can push off of.
Rollouts
Demoman
The Demoman rollout for Lakeside is very simple. He fires his first sticky in spawn to get as close to the doorway as possible, then he walks out of the main door and uses one sticky to jump to either the bathhouse or the main point.
Scout
The Scout should basically follow the Demoman in, emulating his rollout. If the Demoman wants to go to the bathhouse first, the Scout should walk through tunnel. If the Demoman wants to go to the point, the Scout should walk through main.
Soldier
The Soldier's typical rollout is simply whipping the medic and heavy to the point as quickly as possible. After you reach the yard, most Soldiers will rocket jump toward the bathhouse and try to spam the other team out of it.
Other
Your Engineer is going to want to get a mini sentry watching your yard ASAP. Pyro, Medic, and Heavy will be following the Demo in and attempting to beat out their combo. The combo classes should try to stay alive in preparation for the first Kritzkrieg or Übercharge. The Sniper should either watch through the bathhouse sightline or go for an early pick on someone peeking over the point hill without exposing himself to the enemy Sniper. The Spy should determine what medigun the opposing Medic is running, either via name or by looking at the medic.
| List of active competitive Team Fortress 2 maps | |
| 3CP | Warmfrost |
| 5CP | Badlands · Granary Pro · Gullywash · Metalworks · Process · Reckoner · Snakewater · Sunshine · Villa |
| Attack/Defend | Steel |
| King of the Hill | Airfield · Ashville · Bagel · Brazil · Cascade · Clearcut · Coalplant · Lakeside · Product · Warmtic |
| Payload | Badwater · Borneo · Swiftwater · Upward · Vigil |
