You, yeah you, should sign up for this beginners TF2 tournament

Most battles may be fought royalley nowadays, but some still like to fight in the olden ways. Team Fortress 2 is alive, kicking, and hosting a 6v6 tournament explicitly for beginners. It's called the Fresh Meat Challenge 2, it begins in a couple of weeks, and if you've ever thought about playing competitive TF2 then you should absolutely consider signing up. I dipped my toes into those waters many years ago, and it was wild.

It's being run by the European Team Fortress 2 League, so all the matches will be played during European evenings. Signups close on the 8th of April, and the tournament itself begins on the 9th.

You can only participate if you've played less than 10 matches in ETF2L tournaments - unless you play as a Medic. Each team is allowed up to two "Buddies" who are restricted to that class, letting them guide their newbies without dominating the game. Neat!

More particulars can be found on the announcement post, which starts with a better sell than I can come up with so I'm gonna steal it. You should join IF:

• You want to play competitive TF2 but you are afraid you’re not good enough.
• You want to play competitive TF2 but you find it hard to find a team.
• You want to play competitive TF2 but you have no idea what you’re doing.

To give you some idea of what you're doing, 6v6 matches are generally fought with a Medic, two Scouts, two Soldiers and a Demoman. It says so right here in this handy guide.

It's interesting how little has changed. When I played (almost a decade ago, wat), straying too far from that composition spelled disaster. I used to play a Scout who'd occasionally have wild success when swapping to a Spy, then forget that only really works just after you've swapped and people aren't constantly riddling their teamates with spy-sniffing bullets.

Gosh, I love the Spy. He's still the best character in any multiplayer game ever, even in this modern age of holograms and grappling hooks.

I just asked myself if I prefer TF2 or Apex Legends and now my head hurts. Go, sign up, I need to think.