eeeComp isn't dying as a whole (maybe HL) but high level 6s is dying and the gangrenous foot that is ESEA-I is going to cause the entirety of the comp body to go into some serious shit if we can't find a way to save it.
From a pub -> Open level, players are about as active as ever. New players come and go as often as they ever did. The problem is a lack of interest or excitement in the top 10 or so teams
i dunno, i definitely think even the HL/pubbiest of places (r/tf2) is beginning to make posts like "HOLY HYPE WHAT AN AIRSHOT" that's like some sick airshot from an etf2l regular season game instead of what was a year ago just some random dude on a pub shooting a guy with a random crit rocket 3 feet off the ground.
and the viewership of high level tf2 has increased.
one of the things I think is awful is the fact that valve doesn't even direct players to actual competitive anywhere officially in the game (technically stream UI, but most people just close that or dont look at it), and without that redirection, comp TF2 isn't gonna grow much from the update, even if they didnt fuck up matchmaking