Editing Lakeside

|updated=24 February 2011

|gamemode1=highlander

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 [https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Community_Map_Pack_Update 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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20131005204439/http://andyvichtf2.com/4v4-weekend-cup/ 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.

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.

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.

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.