[QUOTE]Once upon a time, at a simpler time of the game... where there was no store, no trading, no item qualities, no crates and keys, and basically almost nothing that earned the game the name of "war-themed hat simulator"... all melees were created equal, limited to one class and all used as last resorts (well, for the most part).

Then the Mann-Conomy update came, and brought with it the beginning of the modern era. One of the key things that floated in with the flood... a melee that was not created equal, one that would rule over the others. It was known as the Frying Pan.

For eternities it would hold allure among awed fans of TF2. Several times Valve did attempt to unseat it and bring some equity among the greater melees, but each time the Frying Pan continued to prove popular.

Until almost two and a half years later. Then came the fifth (or seventh, if you're really counting those others) iteration of the many-class melee. It was known as the Ham Shank, and it would attract many people. It began posing a threat to the Frying Pan.

Encouraged by the success of the Ham Shanks, the other melees would declare their quest to unseat the Frying Pan, and they all now battle for the privilege of being called the premier greater melee of TF2.

Which fabled melee will you take up and advance the cause of? Which one will win the battle? Let's find out.[/QUOTE]

Hey, I'm thesupremecommander, and I'm proud to present to you a fun competitive cup: the [B]MASSIVE MELEE MASHUP[/B]!

This cup won't be like traditional cups... there are only five teams in this competition, the champions of each melee:

- [B]PANZERSCHRECK[/B] [I](Frying Pan)[/I]
- [B]HALE'S HIPPIES[/B] [I](Conscientious Objector)[/I]
- [B]MOUNT CRUSHMORE[/B] [I](Freedom Staff)[/I]
- [B]HEADROLLERS[/B] [I](Bat Outta Hell)[/I]
- [B]BREAK A LEG[/B] [I](Ham Shank)[/I]

And they're akin to all-star teams, so you can't really just let people sign up in what may be the most critical battle we may ever see! No, we must have... [I]trials[/I].

Accordingly, this competition has three stages:
- the [B]Trial by Fire[/B] - all-day event(s) where you can show off your melee skills and prove your superiority against other people in MGE and PUG matches
- the [B]Induction[/B] - a community voting stage where the players to represent each melee team are selected by your vote
- the [B]Showdown[/B] - a round-robin tournament in which one team will prove themselves worthy of being named defenders of the crown melee

This competition will be run during the summer. We will hold the (possibly only first?) Trial of Fire as a marathon event occurring on the weekend of May 25th and 26th (timeframe unknown, depends on support) in order to give all worthy participants a chance to show off their skills.

Interested in participating? Interested in helping to make sure this is a successful event? Please join the [URL=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/massivemeleemashup]Massive Melee Mashup Steam group[/URL] for more details and announcements as events happen.