Never Tried Competitive?

Is it really worth the trouble?

There're still people playing the game after 8+ years of its initial release, and that's because the gameplay of NS surpasses other games by far. It is versatile (fps, rts, melee), tactically demanding and socially entertaining game that has brought fun for many years. We wouldn't be running the league, if the game wasn't so damn good. To get a good feeling about NS, check out some cool movies in the movie section.

1. Getting Started

If you are new to Natrual Selection, check this out. You can contact any staff member by email to get instructions if you got questions or you can drop a question on the forums.

2. Requirements

• Steam
• Half-Life (purchaseable via Steam)
• Natural Selection
• Voice Communication Software (Teamspeak3)

3. Get in contact with the competitive community

First you might want to join our Steam Community and start adding friends from competitive gamers. Recently, most people use the website PM's, forums and Steam Friends to communicate with each other.

However IRC has been the traditional way of communicating so join our channel (#ENSL on Quakenet) if you hang around IRC. If you are new to IRC, check this guide to get things rolling. This is not necessary though.

Best idea is to join a pick-up game (gathers) and others will hook you up. All you need is a web browser, NS and the voice communication software (currently Teamspeak3).

4. Voice Communication is the standard

We're currently using mainly Teamspeak 3.

Server: ensl.org Port: 9987 (default)

Some others use Ventrilo 2.1 and Ventrilo 3. For those teams, you get & install the Ventrilo Mix package. Here's a link to a step-by-step guide to install Ventrilo. 

5. Enter the competitive world

There are many ways to enjoy competitive NS. Suit your needs!

• Play pick-up games (recommended for beginners)
• Watch live games in your browser (that might be shoutcasted too)
• Watch live games in ENSL HLTV
• Watch previous games from demos
• Watch NS frag movies
• Play practice clan wars in... 
  • a mix of random people (recommended for beginners)
  • an existing team (recommended next step)
  • your own team and join the ENSL Contests