6v6
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6v6 is the most common competitive format played in Team Fortress 2, and is often viewed as the 'default' format. It is played with 6 players per team, with class limits and weapons bans. The weapon bans and maps played vary depending on the region, league, or season.
History
Since the beginning of the Team Fortress 2 competitive scene, many experiments with different formats were made including 6v6 and 8v8. 6v6 quickly stuck and today is widely accepted as the staple competitive format. It was the result of a lot of experimentation with class limits, unlocks and maps. It started out without enforced class limits, eventually the class limits got stricter(i.e. Demoman was limited to 1 per team) and the map pools became more refined. This culminated in the refined, fast-paced and interesting metagame played today.
Format
Classes
6v6 is played with six players on each team.
The common class format is:
This is also commonly referred to as the "Cookie Cutter" lineup, as it's the most versatile lineup which balances both mobility and damage output. Most classes have classlimits of 2, but Demoman and Medic always have classlimits of 1, with other classes such as heavy and engineer also being limited to 1 depending on the league ruleset.
Primary Classes
Standard play involves a team of two Scouts, two Soldiers, one Demoman, and one Medic. The Demoman is usually the damage dealer and the most important class following the medic. The scouts play similar roles, but one is usually supposed to be more passive than the other. The soldiers play completely different roles, the Pocket Soldier protects the medic and spearheads pushes, while the Roaming Soldier helps the scouts and is usually the first player to initiate, or to create a window of opportunity for his team.
Offclasses
In some cases, a team swaps a class of the cookie cutter lineup for a utility class, in order to create an advantage for your team, to help in a defensive situation or even to break a stalemate. This is called offclassing. A scout or the roaming soldier generally switches, which allows classes such as Sniper, Spy, Engineer, Heavy, or Pyro to be utilized. In general, offclassing means trading off the mobility of the standard cookie cutter lineup for damage or positional advantage or even a suprise effect.
Snipers and Spies are often referred to as "pick" classes, as their different playstyles and ability to 1-hit kill any class are very valuable when attempting to gain an advantage. Pyro, Heavy and Engineer are often called "defense" classes as they trade the mobility of one of the scouts or soldier, for better area control and/or damage output.
Sniper is perhaps the most common offclass, and a scout is the most common offclasser.
Game Modes
In 6v6, a few different map types are played.
Control Points
The most common is 5CP, or "5 Control Points", which requires a team to control all five control points in a map in order to win the round. Common 5CP maps include cp_granary, cp_badlands and cp_process.
King of the Hill
KOTH, or "King of the Hill", is a game mode where teams fight for control of one central control point in a race against the clock. The only widespread koth map currently used for 6v6 is koth_pro_viaduct.
Attack/Defend
A/D, or "Attack/Defend", are maps which use a stopwatch to time the attacking team in trying to capture all of the defending team's control points. The defending team then switches to the attacking team and tries to beat the opposing team's time. The only 2 common attack/defense maps are cp_gravelpit and cp_edifice.
Capture the Flag
CTF, or "Capture the Flag", are maps where a team has to capture the intel from the enemy base and take it to your own base to score a point. This gamemode is very rarely played in 6s and most leagues have dropped CTF maps of their map pool. One of the most famous 6v6 CTF maps is Turbine Pro.
Organizations
Below is a list of organizations which currently have, or have had, 6v6 leagues or cups in the past .
European
North American
South America
- Brasil Fortress
- UGC
- Chapelaria (Defunct)
- FBTF (Defunct)
Oceania
- ozfortress
- UGC
- ATF2L (Defunct)
- NZFortress (Defunct)
Asia
Africa
- tf2.co.za (South Africa, Defunct)
Other
- Tf2Ladder (Xbox 360, Defunct)
6v6 Coverage
Oceania & Asia
Practicing
There are a few different places where you can play practice games of various game formats:
- TF2 Center - A successor to TF2Lobby catering to all levels of players, allowing players to join casual games of 4v4, 6v6, 9v9 (Highlander), Ultiduo and BBall. Offers optional mumble integration with hosted mumble servers. Available across all geographies, but particularly Europe, USA and Australia.
- MixChamp - "conceived as a successor to tf2mix, a similar mix PUG system. It was also created as a pug system that is friendly to players that are new to pugs and PugChamp." - description from the website.
- PugChamp - "Draft-organized pickup games, in which captains select players for their team from a pool of available players, are a familiar concept to many game veterans." - description from the website. Generally has a high level player base.
- Pug.TF - "A Discord dedicated to advertising in-house pug servers. Rules and formats vary per pug server.
- Spaceship Servers - Links to DM and MGE servers, both of which help practice deathmatch.
