My TF2 Community Game Mode Tier List

[@Buster_real]

I played Stop That Tank once, wiped the floor with the enemy team as Giant Soldier and it was the best time I've ever had on a community gamemode

[@RedBaronFlyer]

Meanwhile whenever I got to be a giant I would be something extremely disappointing like a giant pyro with a flaregun.

[@starmaker75]

Honestly I kinda wished stop that tank was a official game mode because it both fun and fit with the lore

[@Landjrin]

Stop that Tank is incredible and I desperately wish it was more popular.

[@WooHooLadttv]

i played it on stream and it was the first time in years i had that childlike wonder and excitement that tf2 used to give me during it's golden years

[@breadhead9407]

Please tell me what do u do in stop that tank

[@Kelsang01]

I remember the OG death run where, as a runner, you could use weapons to survive some traps or move really fast. It added some mind games as the death like, “Oh that demoman is sticky jumping! I’ll have to leave the group and go kill him with a trap,” or “that medic is going to Uber through the next trap! Better focus him down with this non-Uberable trap!”

[@HueManatee]

yeah, now its just trying not to get baited by a scout and playing a game of stop and go for 15 minutes. it doesnt take advantage of the class part of tf2

[@narrowgauge0727]

i know right, that was so cool, i remember using the force a nature and the winger to great effect

[@lolzers7986]

That sounds extremely more enjoyable than regular old deathrun, as another reply highlighted it would be really cool if they had more things to think about with the classes like "oh that heavy is using the fists of steel so he might be able to survive a trap but he doesnt have the mobility to bait me into prematurely activating another" or something like that, sounds so much more enjoyable than just gmod deathrun but in tf2, which i've never played but it sounds really boring, probably the only highlight of the gamemode being the maps and funny traps so you can atleast have a little enjoyment when you die to tide you over for the next 15 minutes of staring at players in spectator mode

[@commanderknee3821]

now it's just some pyro furries bhopping thru the whole thing

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

@@lolzers7986rip

[@doublesystem9790]

Stop that tank is a little complicated, but it can be extremely fun once you find a server with people actually playing it. There are two versions, one is like payload and the other like payload race, but the general idea is that the attacker team plays as mvm robots, with players being randomly selected every few seconds to become special units like giants and sentry busters, and the tank is a modified payload that can move without being pushed by players but slows down when under attack, and can be destroyed on the normal payload mode, which will then drop the bomb and the game becomes more like trying to take a flag to the enemy's base. The giant bots are so damn fun, both to play as, with and against, but damn is it sad how hard it is to find full servers.

[@hornyvonhornmeister5227]

They really are fun. I remember how satisfying it was to quick fix heal the giant robot. Quick fix ubers on him makes him unstoppable

[@Landjrin]

Stop That Tank is my favorite TF2 game mode of all time, it's a freaking blast when it really gets going. Literally the only place I've been able to play stop that tank since like, 2014 was on Creators.tf's event days, but that's barely ran anymore either so there currently isn't many place to actually play it. I think there's like, 1 Skial or Wonderland server that runs it but it's always dead.

[@Paranoid_Vigilante]

@@Landjrin the same goes for the hidden but only panda runs it and its dead

[@MayW15663]

So it’s basically L4D2 pvp

[@Landjrin]

@@MayW15663 Yes except only the top scorer for the round is picked to be a special infected

[@goksir5845]

Balloon race is so underrated. Some of my best times ever had in TF2. Shame it's hard to find good servers for it.

[@guyug6940]

Know any?

[@IC-23]

Yeah, I remember playing TF2 for the first time in years and the Balloon race server I played on all the time was gone. Losing the race and going something like Soldier to camp the next point was always super fun since you had to hold of 6-10 players while your team tried to catch up. I love that balloon race also filters the "objective only from the death match/casual" players that happen at spawn some of my favorite 1v1s have been in balloon race spawns when everyone is busy at the point

[@dimabobrov582]

@@guyug6940 Delfy Fun server

[@sethweddle5160]

100%. I got the majority of my hours in TF2 (on a terrible office laptop getting 20 FPS) on 2Fort, Dustbowl, and Balloon Race V1. Back in the days when the Sticky Jumper could launch you with all eight bombs, too, so playing Disruption Demo was so fun. I know Demo can still make his way around most of the map with just two stickies, and V2 and V3 had better balance, but man, that oldschool V1 jank was so fun.

[@bluarrow4505]

I honestly like playing Jailbreak every now and then just to see how good I can sneak away as an inmate and try and kill all the guards as Sniper, tho I can only really play 2-3 rounds at best because of how long the rounds are. Besides that, the game mode is pretty boring. Also, Slender Fortress should’ve definitely been on this list. It’s definitely one of my favorite game modes to play when I’m in the mood for community game modes that are much different than normal TF2

[@muik6516]

@PoisonForMyWords epic 96 likes now so im not going to ruin it

[@Paranoid_Vigilante]

i wish the hidden gamemode was still alive they died sadly ;(

[@ashtonkuypers4501]

@@Paranoid_Vigilante what is that

[@Paranoid_Vigilante]

@@ashtonkuypers4501 someone is a spy who is invisible with 500 hp and has to kill everyone but he will be revealed if touched,attacking,or shot spy and pyro classes are banned

[@thedominion4626]

As an experienced jailbreak user, there are a LOT of power-tripping guards. I was once on a server where an e-couple reported you if you didn’t do what they wanted, even if they didn’t say it. I immediately blacklisted that server, as I immediately noticed: 1. It’s an E-Couple, I tend to bully the shit out of those fuckers. 2. The admins were simping. 99% of the server was telling them to KICK THE BASTARDS, and yet they didn’t. Even though the other guards were rooting for them to be kicked. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk about how Jailbreak admins are up there with stereotypical Reddit Mods and Discord Admins, and how E-Couples who don’t know each other IRL should burn in the 467435th layer of hell.

[@hoofly1323]

Medic VS Engie is kind of its own mode, so that's probably why you see it a lot more.

[@TrueForm]

Psychology student here, the stuff you said about jailbreak mode actually makes sense. There's a similar experiment in real life known as the Zimbardo experiment, which basically put university students in two roles - prisoner and guard. As the experiment went on, guards humiliated the prisoners - making them wake up at ungodly hours, speaking down to them, and referring to them by number instead of name, etc. The conditions given were actually so bad the experiment had to be stopped only a couple days in. It broke multiple of rules of psychology experiments, one of which is 'Cause no harm' basically. Prisoners suffered from panic attacks, weren't fed much, and basically had a really shit time. To be honest in the end the experiment didn't even really produce any useful data as it suffered from researcher bias as Zimbardo (the person the experiment was named after) also made himself a guard, which is what you're never supposed to do. I'm fairly sure the sample population was too small as well. From what I remember, the experiment was supposed to judge how much people conformed to a specific role when given one (Would people act like prisoners/guards if told so) which it proved pretty handily.

[@SydneySininen]

Now I'm imagining a mixed up Zimbardo experiment with Saw traps and law students

[@mariustan9275]

I thought that was the Stanford Prison experiment

[@mewmew8932]

@@mariustan9275 they're the same thing

[@mariustan9275]

@@mewmew8932 The Stanford Prison experiment I heard about had other effects and the guy in charge wasn't actually a guard either. The guards there were abusing their "power" and the prisoners did have all sorts of mental stuff happen to their psyche as it went on.

[@mastergame1311]

I remember playing on a jailbreak sever a long time ago in Counter-Strike: Source and I used to enjoy it immensely. I think it is the sense of community and non-traditional fun that derives from different minigames and varied maps that kept me interested. Also, it is an extremely nostalgic thing for me to play these maps again, even offline. I get it why someone wouldn't like it, though.

[@allither6310]

my same experience lol

[@marceline8427]

For me it was gmod, which is where the gamemode truly shines. Maps had the freedom to get crazy with physics and plant all sorts of subexperiences that meant a decent community could find all sorts of stuff to do for the times when just playing guard v prisoner got old. The thing that stands out if the conditions are right is the anticipation you get while playing. Biding your time, working on your plans, finding the *perfect* moment to slip away and take control. I definitely think it requires some will to get into, but if you're truly open to it the game can do wonderful things.

[@trollface808crashout]

6:48 its called orbiting, and you can do it at higher speeds, but it screws up at really fast speeds

[@porkeyminch8044]

I suck at orbiting so it always amazes me when people can orbit rockets at like 200+ mph.

[@Catnapjwiffiejwkdkflsk]

Anyone remember Slender Fortress? I remember it being super popular in 2014-2017 until it started gradually declining in players. It's still up and I enjoy it a lot, though it has gotten a bit worse over the years in turns of updates and how the overall map and boss pack voting system works. Still think it deserves a mention here, I've spent half my playtime in those servers and I got 2000+ hours on tf2.

[@gavynbrandt]

God I love Slender Fortress I got some pro killstreak melees just because of it

[@schmeatgaming853]

Thankfully Disc.FF's Slender Fortress server is still up and running. With frequent players too. There are still Glubbable servers that are still up but most of them are dead. Other than the 1st EU Server which i used to play in a lot, but not anymore since i barely see any people play there now (most likely because of different timeline. I'm from the Philippines) and because i don't have enough storage space to download all the maps, bosses, materials, and other assets.

[@UsingGorillaLogic]

Your jailbreak summary was literally me. I never understood the appeal.

[@Holenpense]

Sorta jb casual here(Been playing it for like half a year),I’d say the best part about jb isn’t jb itself but the human interaction. Because in jb it’s not always fighting and shooting you get more chances to socialise with other tf2 players(or get bullied because you’re a kid) and meet some new friends,when there’s no one you know playing in the jb server it’s just absolute suffering

[@Junya01]

@@Holenpense but can't you find that exact same social interaction on Deathmatch servers, trade servers, Saxton Hale, etc etc? And all of them don't have screaming kiddies with piss poor mics or discord modsTM trying to sweatily threaten you with virtual death

[@Holenpense]

@@Junya01 Deathmatch servers are too busy to communicate because you are constantly trying to kill each other and not to be killed,same with Vsh,dr,trade servers,zombie fortress,scream fortress,mge etc. All of them are based on shooting the opponent while JB’s rounds are based on communication,with shooting being the second important

[@Holenpense]

@@Junya01 Also no,I’ve seen more salty 8 year olds screaming in their mic in goddamn Hightower no cart servers than jb,the worse you can get is a idiotic kid who thinks he’s funny

[@Junya01]

@@Holenpense you and I have very different experiences with those community modes then. If you can't talk and kill peeps at the same time, then you're not playing the game in a relaxed state. Talking and having conversations in Deathmatch is pretty common cuz dying doesn't matter, you just respawn and move on And no, u can't convince me JB players are not shite - it's a toxic gamemode for edgy teens who crave power and kids who don't have other friends to play with. U try to play with a girl friend on vc and half the server loses their shit, simping for attention or anti-simping to seem cool. It's been like that for literally every single JB server I've joined on tf2 for both Aus and Singapore

[@LucyTheBox]

My favorite mode was a variation on saxton hale: the hidden I liked that the hidden couldn't take everyone head on, but had great ambish potantial.

[@icetide9411]

Another game mode that can be very chaotic is 100% Crits. Sniper is painful, but it can be pretty stupid and fun with things like Demoknight or crossbow medic

[@gabrielbarron7667]

Is pyro enabled cause if so

[@sheez7734]

I suggest using spy with enforcer. If you are disguised, you are one shot killing every class

[@icetide9411]

@@sheez7734 you one shot light classes, and that's it

[@sheez7734]

@@icetide9411 it was hyperbolic, but yeah

[@TheBepis1309]

Battlemedic ftw

[@R4ND0MCR4P123R4ND0MN3SS]

Didn't even include Tower Defense on this tier list. I recommend looking into it more. Just realized didn't have Uber Upgrades either.

[@witherman4406]

Are there any TD servers still avaible?

[@R4ND0MCR4P123R4ND0MN3SS]

@@witherman4406 Ye, I have a couple favorited that I go back to.

[@vinsmoke2865]

I fucking love Uber Upgrades moreso the mvm version more than pvp but if you have any UU Mvm servers on your favorites for US can you share them? I tried finding ones i used to go to but they either don't exist or just have high latency

[@R4ND0MCR4P123R4ND0MN3SS]

@@vinsmoke2865 Sorry, I don't have any favorited. :3

[@Nairue]

@@vinsmoke2865 I only have 1 mvm uu server in my favorites that sometimes has people playing on it: 74.136.72.39:27015

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

Damn, no mention of the parkour fortress (pf_ maps) community. Granted, they died a few years ago, but they were some of the most chill, cool servers out there. It was a Mirror’s Edge mod/plugin where you could parkour as any class on various well-designed and cool-looking maps. There were even time trials if you were good. Just super relaxing and more accessible than say jump maps.

[@l_ukers]

Actually they are reviving the project, there’s some beta servers out now

[@Stefanonimo]

I've played probably 800-1000 hours of deathrun and I was one of the players in the server I used to play that was a bhopper and one of the last players to die. I've met a lot of friends there and keeps a special place in my loving memories of TF2.

[@russianmanus4018]

I don't have that much hours in deathrun but I still have the same opinion since some people are super chill

[@OutlawedPoet]

I still play deathrun 24/7 and ive been playing the same server for hundreds of hours. the maps are so much fun to play and the dopamine rush you get when you finish a challenging map is great. the minigames at the end in most maps are also a blast to experience. my only complaint with the mode is that playing as death is extremely boring

[@thechosenjuan8776]

yess I play total loads deathrun every day, it's such a nice shitpost of a gamemode. although I definitely avoid servers that allow bhop lol

[@bruschetta7711]

Never seen a more accurate Tier List of community gamemodes Here in Europe there is at least a couple of servers that run zombi (medic vs engi), always fun, a bit unbalanced sometimes, but as long as you play around teammates you don't die as fast

[@zitronensaaft3454]

i love zombie (not zombie fortress), such a fun mode too bad it is quite hard to find servers as it is eclipsed by zombie escape.

[@DrNGinfan1]

26:40 And, it's been added to official game modes. Well, eventually once they fix the Vscript.

[@ABAgamer_]

I don’t know if this one counts as a community gamemode, but I’ve had quite the experience with Slender. It’s one of those gamemodes that’s good to play every so often depending on how many players there are.

[@nathank3278]

Yes indeed

[@khoucacola]

One time I played a match of slender and everyone went medic. The monster knew where we were all the time.

[@ABAgamer_]

@@khoucacola The raw energy that is TF2 never fails to make me smile.

[@bruh7196]

To be honest there is nothing more scary than people who have fun playing jailbreak I really dont understand how someone could enjoy that mode

[@maceinfaceinc]

feel a similar way ab orange , 2fort or hightower if u play the game for more than like 3 months

[@ii0000]

dude its fun cuz mission is not following the order 6yo child gives you the real mission is not follow the orders and riot agains the commander and kill him but lots of people who is new to that gamemode doesn't know they had to kill the commander and follows the all orders and thats not how you play it... the mods name is jailBREAK ...

[@uberd3323]

The real fun of it is finding a way to sneak away from the group and escape/humble some 12 year old who got selected as warden.

[@raviravioli303]

@@ii0000 you're 12

[@ii0000]

@@raviravioli303 ok... i think we all surely know who is really 12 after that comment lmao

[@existential_narwal9257]

I loved playing zombie fortress, specifically the medic vs engineer version. Where medics are restricted to melee and have higher jumps, and where engineers can't build sentries. Engineers have a limited amount of time to set up before the zombies are released. During that time, engi's can either set up dispenser bases anywhere they want, or run away from everyone else and try to find a spot where they can hide. Setting up large bases with multiple engineers is your best bet at survival, as you can have one engineer shoot the zombie medics, while the other can repair dispensers. The more engineers you have, means the more obstacles(and dispensers) that medics need to destroy. The best places for bases are buildings or rooms with less than 2 entrances, or, if you have good aim, wide open spaces where medics cant sneak up on you and take cover as easily. Overall a fun gamemode if everyone is working together.

[@JohnYakooza]

Always love that game mode, it's both extremely unbalance and really balance at the same time

[@pischpilot]

Yup. I remember playing in muslek server back in the day and having lots of fun

[@kimgkomg]

"Deathmatch" is my favorite way to play tf2, but my biggest gripe with it is that every server tends to run maps which a. Have huge sniper sightlines which allow enemy snipers to camp your spawn from their spawn b. Have spawns that only have a single exit/allow enemies to just waltz in and kill you c. Have really cool areas of the map that are completely ignored because there aren't enough players to fill them d. Have grappling hooks enabled, which automatically turn any relaxing game into 5d chess e. Are one of three trade Minecraft maps The only server I play on which does not have any of these issues with it's map rotation is a degenerate furry server, so I have to constantly deal Gardevoir ass in my face while I'm trying to play

[@catchara1496]

As a furry, that sounds degenerate by my standards too, and that’s saying something

[@MattyMatthew-m4o]

I fail to see the issue with the Gardevoir ass

[@LeafMaltieze]

@@MattyMatthew-m4o Different tastes for different fetishes. Must be a tits kind of Mann. Or maybe the less common Legs Mann.

[@georgeheld1901]

When just starting tf2, randomizers helped me learn new weapons I didn’t have yet

[@Syntoxine]

I've had an idea for a new series recently, it would be named "Irregularities in Map Geometries", where you would choose a map and open it in hammer editor and find tiny ledges where you can stand where you would normally die, bizarre roofs where you can build and all others things that would only be seen in the editor ! I originally wanted to do this myself, but I do not know how to use hammer editor and couldn't find any good tutorials, and your editing style would be very fitting for one I think.

[@admiraltonydawning3847]

This sounds like something for shounic, tbh.

[@sandwichpony8071]

I’m pretty sure 2klikphillip does this except he only does it for counter strike

[@danic_c]

Good God do I miss Balloon Race. I have a lot of fun memories playing with my best friend on that map. There's several servers that run it but all of them are empty practically 24/7.

[@reaperz5677]

That VSH comment really aged like wine, huh?

[@APieceofT-BoneSteak]

One of the reasons deathrun appeals to me so much is outwitting the opponent. Making the hale miss, nabbing that schadenfreude spamming scout or catching a ton of people off guard gives me a sense of accomplishment. Also the maps themselves are some of the most creative things in tf2. Deathrun is just one of those modes where you have to play it a few times to really "get it".

[@PajamaPantsStudios]

Mge is a bit of a strange mess for me. I both love and hate it, because I definitely enjoy practicing as scout, but it’s not all good practice. A big part of scout is picking your battles, and knowing when to back off of a fight. In a strictly 1v1 setting, there’s no picking your fights and waiting for backup/waiting for them to be on their own/catching them off guard/etc, because they know you’re the only one they’re fighting, and you know they’re the only one fighting YOU. It completely avoids a huge part of game sense in tf2, so I just leave it be for the most part.

[@ii0000]

thats why you don't play scout in mge if your opponent is not scout than don't pick scout and play something like soldier, demoman cuz that classes can deal with 1v1 but not scout

[@PajamaPantsStudios]

@@ii0000 scout is a FANTASTIC 1v1 class, but scout gameplay is about creating those 1v1 situations. mge just hands them to you already, it takes away a lot of his required skills.

[@ii0000]

@@PajamaPantsStudios that was what im saying dude...

[@eclecticspaghetti]

I love the lime Scout as the image for MGE.

[@GoatMan-dl5ds]

I remember several years back when I first picked up the game I found a zombie server that allowed for you to play multiple classes.

[@mathclass2548]

Back in middle school I loved jail breaking I was expecting you to rate it highly, but you were so right about the 2 kinds of players. That shit was hilarious

[@tommykibbleton]

Deathrun is probably one of my most played community modes, behind VSH, and it has a weird appeal to me. Playing on new maps, learning older ones and getting better at surviving were some of my favourite aspects. Some of the maps people made for that mode can range from basic, to wacky, to absolute gems, it honestly was such fun seeing all the crazy maps for that mode and playing through them with people I made friends with on servers. Even though the Arena-style is a bit harsh, it never really bothered me personally, and I found it to be an incentive to get better and as punishment for being too reckless or careless, as harsh as it may be. It probably is a bit too much in all fairness, but part of me can't picture the mode without it.

[@sigmundfreud7903]

Surprised you didn’t mention zombie escape. It has its own interesting community and its wildly entertaining.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

I'm also surprised Zombie Escape wasn't mentioned since it's the only zombie mode with a playerbase nowadays. I never cared for it though, the zombies are unkillable on every server I've tried and I think that ruins the concept. Both teams are just running forward until someone wins.

[@schmeatgaming853]

@@QuintessentialWalrus there is Super Zombie Fortress. Which is pretty much a somewhat harder version of ZE because you have to Scavenge for Weapons and munitions. Though yes, most servers that are still up are dead. But there is Blackwonder's first US SZF server which still has a fair amount of people playing in, but the Server has been experiencing multiple downtimes the past few days.

[@RufusIsOverused]

At 4:50, you can see the exact moment when Great Blue had this video's monetization get turned off.

[@Radi0he4d1]

I've played stop that tank. It's pretty fun to become a huge robot. Zombie fortress, played that a lot. One of the map was the entire Dustbowl, and you had to cap all six points as red, as random blue classes tried to melee you. This was so long ago you could still taunt as spy and become invisible, which was super OP

[@SONICKING700]

A professor at Stanford did a jailbreak irl experiment once. We aren't allowed to do that anymore.

[@unclefudge4206]

After all these years, Orange still remains as my goto custom to play in . Does not matter if its normal or crits mode. There is something about the simplicity of the orange map that really gets me to play tf2 there.

[@jugglenaut1955]

Depending on the Saxton hale server, medics are able to revive their teammates once. Thought you'd might like that

[@Everik-ct6pg]

I wish Parkour Fortress was featured in this list, but apparently I'm the only one who knows it still exists.

[@bibisebi]

I spent so many hours on balloon race, so good

[@frostbite5081]

There was this one old VSH server, Degree Gaming, which was honestly the most fun I had on TF2 mostly due to how almost everyone knew each other and it was just this big group of friends just chilling and messing around.

[@vance2865]

You should try Zombie Escape, theres a few servers with active players in them and I personally think their more fun compared Zombie Fortress.

[@alexanderclegg4854]

Medic Vs engineer is different than class wars. Medics are stripped to melee but can respawn, engineers have guns but no sentries, and if they die they switch teams. It's kinda like a zombie thing

[@greybigfoot1722]

Balloon Race is a lot like my experience with Stop That Tank. One team usually stomps the other and once they have the advantage there’s no stopping the winning team’s momentum. Occasionally there’s close games but not too often. In the current year I don’t know if it would be easy to find a balanced server.

[@silverriff]

Surf is usually very fun but is absolutely awful when that one asshole who knows the map very well gets to that one secret path that leads to behind your spawn and builds a nest there.

[@chexgex2834]

Ya know, whilst I know it's been a while since this video's been made, I'd love a video of Blue discussing why VSH is 'so bad' now adays-especially as an outsider looking in.

[@Despacitoian]

What about Uberupgrades, which is kinda like MvM upgrades but able to be used in non mvm and also way more op. Basically every kill you get money and you can use that money to buy upgrades at any time(such as increased afterburn time, more movement speed, making heavy’s gun have a ring of fire even without the hulong heater, silent cloak and uncloak, resistance against certain types of damage like bullets, blast or fire and finally my favorite: Fire and Reload Speed Decrease to the point where you can make a sniper rifle act like a mini gun that instakills everything you point it at)

[@xanithdegroot5407]

I would love to see you do a Stop That Tank! video. Its incredibly fun, because its a normal Payload or PLR map (My favorite is the Hightower version) where the cart (a tank) pushes itself, and the defenders have to try and shoot it to make it stop. PLR version only makes shooting the tank stop it, however in the Payload versions the tank can be destroyed, which changes the mode from payload to a capture point system. The best part about the PLR version is that periodically, a player is chosen the become a random giant robot, turning you into one of the super form robots from MVM. In the normal Payload version, only one is spawned, and its when the tank is destroyed. They also spawn with a bomb which is required to capture points and win the game. Also, on occasion, if the enemy team has a sentry, someone on your team is offered to become a sentry buster, and it goes through a queue so everyone will get a chance if the game goes on long enough. You can choose to pass, or for one life become a sentry buster to go blow up the enemy engi nest. Other than that, its just normal TF2.

[@ThatOneIrishPerson]

The Saxton hale game mode (Freak fortress?) has some of my most fond times with Team fortress 2 that I still remember to this day. The need for teamwork to win just appealed to me. I can agree that the no respawn aspect can suck but it still has a special place in my heart. When i got into it, the servers I went on had several pages worth of bosses to choose from (Around 20 more or less) which kept it fresh. I do miss it to this day.

[@gladiatordragon9219]

Balloon Race (and Wacky Races, which is similar) is a very cool map held back by janky systems likely due to how the source engine handles it. It's really hard to properly do a lot due to how the two platforms move. Additionally, whoever wins the first point typically manages to carry that momentum to the end. That's not to say I don't like it. If you can get a really close game, it can get pretty tense. The core problem is that whichever team caps the first point gets a pretty notable head start, as their team often has more people alive and ready to begin pushing the balloon again. I'm not really a fan of Class Wars due to how I have a tendency of being just outright mauled by pure RNG without consent. Things like Scout vs Engie, almost anything vs Heavy, Sniper vs almost anything, you can just get destroyed due to class matchups. That's not to say there's nothing you can do, but it's really hard to love facing an entire team of your class' hard counter. Deathrun can be fun, but there's just so many little annoyances that pile up into an actively irritating cake. It's hard to play as Runner because playing aggressive often gets you killed. It's hard to play as Game Master because you'll have to catch some expert that's a mile ahead of the actual group, while also making sure that you keep that actual group in check. Since you're just one person, it's pretty darn hard. I can see how people can become experts, but those experts make it a lot less fun for non-experts. Dodgeball is fun, and pretty decent practice if you want to get better at reflecting things as Pyro. However, it suffers from similar problems from Deathrun: Experts make it near impossible to keep up, and you don't respawn (though that's not as bad as Deathrun, as Dodgeball is typically quicker). I haven't played Gun Game much, though I'm familiar with it. Not terrible. Pretty sure Redsun servers will run it as part as their gamemode madness servers, but I haven't been on that server in a bit. Jailbreak is... something. May be intriguing with a bunch of friends, but the very design of the mode is flawed. It's worse in the event that the blue team power trips, which happens all too often. Nobody *wants* to play Red, and Blu ends up overstaffed, making it impossible to stage a proper rebellion due to the sheer number of Blu making it impossible to sneak off to grab weapons. As for the mini-games the warden makes people do, I could just go to an actual server running one of them for better results. Also suffers from non-respawn, and this mode often has it worse than the other two, as games of Jailbreak can go for unbearably long, especially when you die because of some petty crap, like going to the red line at the start of the game, not the yellow one. *sigh* Jump is similar to Dodgeball in that I personally see it as practice for a major game mechanic. Always good to hop in to shake off some rust after a period of inactivity, but I can see how someone could get into speedrunning some of these. MGE could be considered among the "practice modes," but it's hard to get good practice in when you get absolutely dominated. If you can find individuals at a similar skill level, though, it can be a pretty fun time, but that scenario is highly improbable. Deathmatch-y maps are almost always a good time. I don't personally mesh with PropHunt, but I can see why others might like it. Randomizer is complete chaos, and it's beautiful. It suffers from the "random" factor occasionally messing you up, yes, but unlike class wars, you won't be locked into it for an entire round. Plus, bad loadouts typically cause you to die quicker, and good loadouts also make you a target. Pretty dynamic overall in how things shift. Smash Bros really should be more popular. It's a shame it's generally abandoned most of the time. I've put a bunch of hours into Surf. It's pretty fun. However, unlike Jump maps, this skill really isn't as good for normal gameplay. Combat Surf is a real good time if you get a good map. Stop That Tank is Payload with extra steps, but they're not terrible steps. Essentially, it's Payload. However, the Payload, at least initially, is a tank and moves on its own. The Red team needs to break the tank before it gets too far. However, once the tank goes down, the Bomb spawns in, carried by a player-controlled Giant. Once the Giant goes down, the Blu team then has to carry the bomb itself and deliver it to the final point. To compensate for the benefits given to the Blu team, though, the Red team gets benefits too. Most notably, MvM's revival system is applied, and Red Medics possess a level 1 Shield. If there were more servers, or more popular servers for this, it would be exceptional. TF2Ware is fun to hop into. It's a nice distraction from normal gameplay. It's what Jailbreak likely wants to be. Versus Saxon Hale suffers from a bunch of previous problems, due to a large supply of veterans as well as respawn restrictions. "Boss" modes, where players control the Boss, are always tricky to balance because of these veterans. That said, it's not a bad time. Not my go-to, but it's pretty great. Multiplier Mode (X10) is pretty nuts. I don't think I need to say more than that. There's a crap ton of Zombie gamemodes, but the two I have experience with are Super Zombie Fortress (SZF), and Medic vs Engie "Zombie mode." SZF is a really cool mode. Essentially, as always, you have Red and Blu. Red are the humans, Blu are the Zombies. Zombies have access to Heavy, Scout, and Spy, Red has access to everything else. At the start of the game, Red begins in a bunker. They begin locked to melee, but they can pick up weapons by melee-ing them, and the starting bunker has many choices in it, though they are mostly secondaries or weak primaries. However, as they go through, they can find stronger weapons like flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and other such weaponry. Red's job, in this scenario, is to escape and/or accomplish a goal of some sort (sometimes involving a boss fight either midway or at the end). The job of Blu, predictably, is to kill them all before they can do that. Blu will also get particularly powerful individuals as well as periods where they're buffed as the game goes on. Definitely would recommend. Comparatively, Medic vs Engie Zombies is very simple. Engies cannot build sentries, but can build teleporters and dispensers. Medics are locked to melee, and have to kill all the Engies. Pretty simple stuff, really.

[@Cool_Hand_Luke]

Balloon Race with the pre-nerf Sticky Jumper was so much dumb fun, there weren't many huge maps where you could just blast off into the stratosphere

[@I0NE007]

One memory I will take with me to my grave: Playing CP_Orange and dominating someone with VIP bonuses. But after they ragequit, the server shuts down within a minute of the person leaving. However, I was testing out "how good can I play this color-based shooter if I turn on greyscale mode?" So I was recording this and noticed "Oh... that wasn't a normal VIP. That was the Sever Owner." I curbstomped the server owner, who was using health, speed, jump bonuses while I couldn't tell who I was actually looking at. And Curbstomped this person so hard they ragequit the game and temporarily shutdown the server! Anyways, yeah, general instant respawn Deathmatch servers are basically the best way to play the game. P.S. If I knew how to mod, I would definitely want a mode where any class could equip any weapon (just spawn as a scout with flamethrower, quickfix, and Disciplinary Action) instead of relying on random respawn.

[@ii0000]

dude if any class could equip any weapon that would be pretty fucked up and broken there is a reason why randomizer is random :)

[@I0NE007]

@@ii0000 X10 has a few overly powerful setups compared to other options, so I don't see what the problem is with this method of play. Plus, if everyone chooses the same set up: it's just a bunch of equally viable characters. Ergo, balanced. So, again, I don't see the problem with allowing this system (if possible).

[@emilylefebvre5132]

Death run is a ton of fun in small tight knit friend groups. I used to be an admin on a TF2 server, and during it's twilight years, it was fun to hop on death run since you only really need three people max to have a good time, though the larger the group the more frustrating it is.

[@Houndouur]

I always *mildly* enjoyed jailbreak although i only played it like once every few months, I thought the point wasn't really to follow the instructions it's to find a sneaky way to frag some guard/run away. although i'm sure there's some weird people in that who just want to rp being a discord mod

[@zfilms4858]

As of the Summer of 2023, VS Saxton Hale is now an offical TF2 Gamemode!

[@turner148]

There are different zombie fortress servers, and being very specific, there's two versions of Zombie Fortress, there's Super Zombie Fortress where survivors have to find weapons as they work together to escape a cp map, and there's Zombie Fortress which very different, notably perks and different map variety. If you wanna try Zombie Fortress, the one with perks to be exact, I suggest looking up Zombie Hell, which is probably the only standing Zombie Fortress server that is still standing. Heck, I'd love to see that server actually get revived.

[@blad3z782]

Oh man, i used to play Super Zombie Fortress alot. I’m sad that there aren’t any szf servers anymore or at least in europe. I wish the public version of the plugin wasn’t dead so i could host it.

[@munklock6098]

there's another different zombie fortress called zombie escape

[@allither6310]

i love jailbreak, and also somehow agree with every point in this video. derailing the game is a blast and the goofy bits you can pull as a prisoner on the guards is hilarious.

[@michaellatner975]

One server that is decently odd, but enjoyable, is called Boss vs Boss, it's a server kept up by Fire Friendly, and the whole gimmick is that everyone is a hale, fighting other hales, in a team deathmatch.

[@fishum6483]

Minecraft trade map deathmatch servers were my cup of tea, to the point that I almost applied to be a Moderator on one of them, so many friendships I made and then never saw again, like the social version of a Buddhist wiping away his mandala. I miss those days

[@tanky8962]

i used to play tf2 deathrun full time so i get ya. i think the problem is more on the map designs, i enjoy playing parkour-oriented deathrun maps cuz they give me a sense of accomplishment

[@porkeyminch8044]

Wow I'm amazed to finally see somebody mention the Dodgeball game mode. I have several hundred hours in it. The biggest problem with it is that all the servers nowadays only have 1 rocket, when they used to have 3 or even 5. Having only 1 rocket really drags out the rounds in my experience and you don't need nearly as much spatial awareness and strategy, instead it's mostly based on reaction times. Solo'ing an entire 12 player team on 3-5 rocket dodgeball is probably the most satisfying feeling I've had in TF2, and I've done it several times back when those servers were still a thing.

[@hejgustavful]

When I heard of the Zombies gamemode I thought it was something like normal TF2 but one team could only use melee and had double health and I've always found that concept much more interesting than what it actually is.

[@zitronensaaft3454]

try zombie survival mode, it is in my opinion a lot more fun that zombie fortess.

[@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413]

Thats what it is though, unless youre talking about medic vs engineer

[@SerinitySack]

There’s like three different versions of Zombie Fortress if I remember correctly. There’s the original Zombie Fortress, Zombie Fortress Perks, and then Super Zombie Fortress. I never played the original, but I have played Perks and Super. Perks was pretty unique in that both the survivors and zombies had perks they could choose from which gave them different traits and abilities. It made for some very interesting and unique gameplay. Super is literally just left 4 dead in tf2.

[@MechaMario64]

Vsh and freak fortress specifically is still my favourite mode. It's my orange.

[@Alphard72]

A game mode where you can eat an entire bowl of cereal between runs? That's like my two favorite things

[@IIGrayfoxII]

One of the reasons you circle strafe in Dodgeball is you can stagger the rockets that home around you. and when you reflect them the enemy has to do two quick air blasts or hit them with multiple rockets so they dont live if hit.

[@mag_vii]

Out of the not played enough, i'd really like to see what you can make out of zombie fortress. It is literally infection from Halo/COD.

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

I feel like ever since I joined in 2020, community servers seem to have been decreasing in volume. I can’t find servers for most modes at this point

[@Danodan94]

I'd like to see a video of you playing Slender Fortress. Look for it, have a great time. You left it off the list, so you owe it to yourself to give it a few rounds. (More serious note, it's fine that you left a few things off this list, there's a lot of community gamemodes to keep track of. Also, please play Slender Fortress.)

[@elithris]

I've played a few fun VSH servers, having an MvM style respawn system works super well

[@GrokeytheHunter]

Ask and you shall receive! The reason I myself enjoy jail real is to play it less what people do now and more like a Jailbreak. If you’re a prisoner every thought is about getting to the weapon stash and breaking from the group. Doing this is nearly impossible with good wardens but there are lots of moments where there are too many prisoners for them to track. You want to use these chances to break away and grab a gun. After you either rejoin the group like nothings wrong or start gunning down every officer in sight. Meanwhile as a warden I find it fun to leave lord and lord of opportunity’s for this situation. The most fun to have in the game is when people break rules, so having obedient slaves makes it boring.

[@miguelzajechewoszcz283]

Does anyone still remember parkour fortress? It was always a good time just seeing 24 scouts wallrun across the map, and that custom hold the flag gamemode where you could pick up weapons off the ground before it was a thing on official server, that shit was awesome.

[@blad3z782]

Hell yea man, i still occasionally go play parkour fortress to kill time, really cool gamemode.

[@bensadfleck9972]

the current parkour fortress server seems to be doing a great job, they've been adding new maps :>

[@virtual2288]

*cries in custom mvm* There's a wholeass community for making missions incl me and it doesn't get recognized by the ultimate authority of community servers.

[@thechosenjuan8776]

you know what, you're fuckin right im gonna load up some shitpost mvm today because I just now remembered how good it is

[@IIGrayfoxII]

With deathrun good maps have things called "Motivators" which are moving deathwalls which force you to hurry up.

[@ironicrgAlt]

Where’s slender fortress ?

[@UNKNOWN_CAT-xl2hd]

I once played a class wars game of engineer vs. sniper I was on the engi team and we spawn camped the entire game until they surrendered

[@M4x_P0w3r]

The only thing I can say against TF2x10 is that there are some weapons that are blatantly overpowered and steamroll servers such as Kunai Spies

[@ii0000]

nope... if you know the meta's and the ways to counter specific op loadouts its basicly a strategy game, if someone plays kunai spy than you gotta switch to its counter thats the thing cuz of every loadout has its own counters nothing is unbeatable and everything is pretty much balanced in its own way

[@M4x_P0w3r]

@@ii0000 But in regular tf2, you don't need to switch to specific counters even if a player is doing very well with a class or loadout

[@ii0000]

@@M4x_P0w3r thats why some people loves tf2x10 and some others don't, so basicly tf2x10 is not tf2 cuz of that you gotta play tf2x10 like a some other game not tf2, there is some golden rules to this gamemode and thats knowing items(and meta), knowing how to counter them and when you see some dude you can't counter... just run for your life cuz that guy gonna probably kill you in minutes so run for your life

[@SqwimpyTF]

The funnest thing ever is Surf Zombie Escape as you have to Surf to escape the zombies or you just have to Surf in some sections but it's the funnest thing ever but I've never played ever again other than that one game.

[@patnewbie2177]

One mode I really miss is Engineer Fortress on Nemu's Stomping Ground

[@readingsoddsandends5626]

Classic zombie fortress was the best of the best custom game modes for me. I miss it. There is only the new zombie game mode which pales in comparison. You could pick subclasses on top of your classes which added alot of depth and there were many interesting combos you could do as a zombie or a survivor.

[@daveplus5563]

Totally do a video on zombie survival or zombie escayeah it is one of the most fun game modes around and I've played it probably the most out of any of the 2 game mode also you were partially thinking of medical riches engineer or etiquette riches engineer which is another game mode entirely but it's also a zombie game mode The main difference is that medic 1st is engineered there's class restrictions when in normal time begin modes usually at most there's only class restrictions for zombies and most of the time you can play whatever you want as humans Is the main difference between zombie escape and zombie survival is that in zombie escaped the The zombies have a lot more health and the humans are trying to escape the Minto escape the map and in zombie survival they're trying to survive long enough it's also known as Zombie mod Overall it is a very fun game mode but right now the more popular one is medical versus engineer because of its KZbin popularity

[@OutlawedPoet]

ive played a tiny bit of zombie escape in cs source before and it seems like a deathrun sort of thing. what even is it?

[@daveplus5563]

@@OutlawedPoet it is somewhat the same type of thing

[@kUHASZ]

I've played jailbreak a little, it's mostly frustrating, but once I've managed to get to the server with nice people and that is one of my best memories from my all 800 hours of tf2.

[@zoz998]

Randomizer and Surf were some of the most fun experiences I've had with TF2. With Surf maps always being big with lots of secrets and areas that you can only reach if you're good enough to surf across the course and not fall into the "Jail" area where most people end up in a chaotic death match to return to spawn to start surfing again. I played the most on surf_utopia As for randomizer, I haven't been playing it a lot on TF2 usually because it gets a bit repetitive after a while once you've used all the weapons and gotten accustomed to them. However, in Team Fortress Classic, there is a hugely active randomizer server that although there is a handful of weapons; their stats and your health are also completely random which causes bizarre cases where you are a sniper with fists as your melee weapon with extended reach, a scout with a minigun that shoots huntsman arrows, or an engineer with a dynamite pack that gives you overheal when you are in the explosion radius. It is so much more fun than regular TF2 randomizer and I highly recommend people go try it out. To see examples of it, I recommend going to JuffoWup and watching some of their recent videos on it.

[@narrowgauge0727]

stop that tank, zombie fortress, slender fortress, tower defense, and old school deathrun ((where class picking is part of the strategy)), and vs saxton hale/freak fortress were always fun for me. I miss those modes regularly being active.

[@schar1024]

Yeah i think Deathrun got it's problem mostly from the missing timer. There is basically no set incentive for the read team to walk through the hallways. Some maps solve this by having a deathwall sneaking from the red spawn through the halls, and give this game mode kinda a autoscroller feature, but yeah not all maps do this. So it's up to the host, which maps are on the list, and maybe also the moderator, who keeps the game running. I honestly had a great time, playing such maps. But i can understand why newcomers might've a problem with it, since not many hosts care to have a moderator in or got a lot of crap maps in the cycle. Sidenote to VSH is, that there was also the mod FreakFortress2 which was essential the same, but had more bosses. Sadly the creator of the mod didn't updated it anymore and with the new patches the new bosses kinda broke. It was great, since they had different abilities and different speech database and also different battlemusic going. This often was a "pop-culture" feast. Surf is great, but some maps offer as bonus for completing the map a place where you could shoot at the enemies spawn point without the danger of getting hit. If a moderator isn't occasionally wipe the server, it becomes a extremely frustrating experience. Also i remember some maps with hidden furry p**n, so this is also a downside (or maybe a upside, based on your personal oppinion). Jailbreak sucks, honestly. It's basically putting a team in the disadvantage, that they aren't equipped with weapons. while the others are and then tells in a written text "pwease play like this". I really can recommend the Zombie Mod btw. The more filled the server is, the better the game mode is. The balance is like the most, based on the maps you play on. So don't be frustrated if the zombies never win or always win. Some maps often offer more advantages for the one of other team. Like as Zombies there are "hidden ladders" which you can use only as zombies, but regular player can't. So you can flank them from a side they didn't expected. Some maps offer a checkpoint, which the "living" team has to capture, this creates a L4D feeling when running through the course.

[@thatoneguywhoworksatjoespl9701]

I think this tier list is super accurate from the specific perspective of a long time player. The base game has some wear on it when you try to play it with no changes for 4 years. Now the fresh variety provided by the interesting settings of different gamemodes like Deathmatch or Randomizer kind of refresh the interest in the game by giving the player the ability to do… whatever! I’ve found most new players tend to avoid community servers, simply because the base game starts off pretty fun! Of course this is generalized and such but that’s been my experience with it.

[@robotminerva6638]

Surprised that parkour.tf isn't on the list! Used to be on Slag servers that died but they were remade and are pretty damn fun :).

[@asticlol]

zombie infection is just really frigging fun because there's no concept of respawn timers and you can just keep throwing yourself at the enemy and it ends up being fun anyway

[@youraveragefloridaboy519]

Jailbreak is mega nostalgic to me. Even with its problems I love it. My first ever steam friend showed me this morning, taught me the rules, and showed me all the secrets on every map.

[@dannycunil5989]

I love stop that tank. It's so fun and expecially stop that tank payload race, and both sides get to use giant robots

[@lidiloth3371]

the deathmatch fuck around type of servers is literally the reason why i have the friends i have today.

[@racer927]

Combat Surf makes me wonder how a Tribes Fortress 2 gamemode would work. Pretty much you hold jump to "ski" and you will gain momentum going down slopes and all classes get a form of jetpack with a regenerating fuel supply. Maps are *very* large and feature hilly terrain to let you ski to build up a lot of speed and I wonder how it would work with Team Fortress 2's classes versus Tribes' more modular Light, Medium, and Heavy armor classes. The only thing I can think of that would be TF2's Spinfusor equivalent would be the Detonator but it's been so long since I've played.

[@2010platinumstar]

The most replayed feature is the best change KZbin has made in a while.

[@jacksonfogo2]

out of all my tons of hours in TF2, half of them are on deathrun and to be fair, you're right, deathrun is painful until you've memorized everything in the map, making it painful to whoever is still watching still, really love the gamemode, but yeah, fair point

[@finalflash3635]

VSH was my all time favorite for sure. I put so many hours into the Lowlife Division servers and I eventually became an admin there. It saddens me that the community we formed there was lost to time but I love each and every memory I had playing there.

[@GaidaBG]

there is a community that has most of the gamemodes you mentioned called redsun,there was also a comment talking about it but it got mysteriously deleted

[@PupdudePwns]

1:42 Wacky Races is also basically this game mode, but Wacky Races themed.

[@z1u512]

Jailbreak is literally the Stanford prison experiment

[@Pikana]

You to that Medic during the Surf discussion: "So I see you've chosen death"

[@404User-Not-Found]

I played a Tower Defense gamemode once Everyone is set as Engi and it's basically MvM upgrades on steroids. You have to beat increasingly difficult rounds while buffing your sentry/sentries. You can also shoot the enemies (which are MvM robots that don't attack back) Played it once with 3 friends and it was really really fun

[@xavibun]

Freak Fortress is my favorite community gamemode, I play it more than vanilla TF2.