Epic Rap Battles of TF2

**Epic Rap Battles of TF2** is a series created by Le Tryhard Hunter, parodying the famed YouTube channel Epic Rap Battles of History, pitting two characters from Team Fortress 2 (and eventually TF2Tags) against each other in a rap battle.

## History

Le Tryhard Hunter created the first ERB set on July 17th, 2015, which was Spy vs. Engineer, with Sniper coming in at the end to diss them both. This quickly became a very successful tag, amassing a whopping 114 crits, making it Tryhard's highest-rated submission, which it would remain even until the Tagpocalypse. Taggers reacted extremely positively to this set, and Tryhard decided to make a sequel ten days later between Soldier and Demoman, which also saw great success, gaining 61 crits. Yahiamice would make his own ERB set on August 15th, however he would use Ulysses and Relk\_Cehi instead of TF2 characters. Tryhard's next battle was posted on August 19th, which was Scout vs. Heavy. Like the two previous battles, it too was well-received, gaining 28 crits.

After Scout vs. Heavy, Tryhard would not make another ERB set for quite some time. However, the hype around the series he created saw others contribute their own battles. Marmot posted Pyro vs. Heavy on October 20th, 2015. The same day, Digi posted Scout vs. Sniper. Three days later, PsychKlown would submit a parody battle between Gordon Freeman and Chell, the silent protagonists of Half Life and Portal, two other beloved Valve properties. These battles were well-received, but nowhere near to the extent of Tryhard's.

Tryhard would return to making rap battles on Halloween 2015, creating Pyro vs. The Horseless Headless Horsemann, which was a kind of self-parody given that the two only speak in incomprehensible noises. A week later, Marmot would make another Halloween-themed battle between Merasmus and the Bombinomicon. On December 2nd, Tryhard would post another battle between Sniper and Medic. Though gaining only 15 crits, the comments were abuzz with many praising the battle and clamoring for rap battles between Taggers. However, this would be the last rap battle for many months.

Reboot would eventually revive the series on June 3th, 2016, and would take control of it for two weeks until he put the series down. Though brief, he managed to put out five rap battles within that time, as well as introducing rap battles between Taggers. In chronological order, Reboot posted Merasmus vs. Saxton Hale, Walumancer vs. Lou E. Gee, Scout vs. Tracer, Makin' Bacon vs. TheGamingRemote, and finally Blast vs. Ulysses. All of these raps, barring Merasmus vs. Saxton Hale, were requested in the comments of these rap battles.

On October 14th, 2016, Walumancer famously (or infamously, depending on your position) created his set calling out Relk\_Cehi, declaring his disdain for him. Amongst the storm that was the community's reaction to this call out (which was mostly on Relk's side), Tryhard created a set stating that a rap battle between the two would never happen because Walumancer wouldn't even spit in Relk's direction. Makin' Bacon stated "I'm doing it anyways, bitch" and under an our later created the battle. Both Walumancer and Relk liked the battle.

Following this, Epic Rap Battles of TF2 seemingly ended, with no new battles being posted for over two years. However, in TF2Tags's final days, Tryhard posted one final battle. On January 15th, 2019, a day before the site's closure, TF2Tags vs. Dr. Dos's Credit Card was posted. It was a one-sided battle, with TF2Tags getting in a verse before realizing that no one was there to respond, before the battle was abruptly cut off, symbolizing what was about to occur within a few hours.

## Rap Battles

The following is a list of each rap battle, sorted by creator and in chronological order. Each link will take you to an archive of the tag, where the battles can be viewed.

### Le Tryhard Hunter's Rap Battles

Spy vs. EngineerSoldier vs. DemomanScout vs. HeavyPyro vs. Horseless Headless HorsemannSniper vs. MedicWalumancer vs. Relk\_Cehi (Would never happen)TF2Tags vs. Dr. Dos's Credit Card
### Marmot's Rap Battles

Pyro vs. HeavyMerasmus vs. The Bombinomicon
### Reboot's Rap Battles

Merasmus vs. Saxton HaleLou E. Gee vs. WalumancerScout vs. TracerMakin' Bacon vs. TheGamingRemoteBlast vs. Jesse
## Reception

Taggers loved the concept of Epic Rap Battles of TF2, and Le Tryhard Hunter's execution of the first few battles were met with heavy praise from most Taggers. Many, such as PsychKlown, M3Lucas, and CP, commented how the merc's raps were very in-character and could easily be read with their accents and voices in mind. Blast, Danjin, Makin' Bacon, Mr. Copycat, and Reboot gave enthusiastic praise and wanted to see more. Digi felt the first battle was so good that it could legitimately be made into an SFM rap battle, and encouraged Tryhard to contact Winglet or another SFM animator to see if they could get this done (Tryhard never did this).

Reboot's Rap Battles were received positively as well, putting a spin on Tryhard's formula by implementing Taggers and non-TF2 characters, which were battles people had been requesting to be done since the beginning. It also got well-received due to each of the battles being requested by members of the community, rather than being thought of by Reboot himself (barring Merasmus vs. Saxton Hale).

The other battles saw mixed but generally positive reception. None received more misses than crits, but were never as highly praised as either Tryhard's or Reboot's. Marmot admits to sucking at rapping, though her two battles were well-received. Digi's reception was lukewarm. PsychKlown got a couple laughs, which he was probably hoping for anyway. Makin's battle was received positively, and praised for making light of the drama of that time.