Following impressive performances in ETF2L Premiership Season 28 and 29 and finishing 2nd place in both seasons after two very close series in the grand finals of both seasons, Ascent.EU have changed up their roster in anticipation for Season 30 of ETF2L Premiership.
Keeping the Ascent name for a third consecutive time, Ascent.EU’s new roster shares more in common with the former traditional top5rocket and nerdRage rosters which played in Season 25, 26, and 27. As the team has progressively diversified its pool of players in the last 2 seasons to include the best talents it could find, Ascent.EU has returned to an all French roster for this iteration, only retaining Elacour and Ombrack from the previous season.
Ombrack returns to a fully-French roster once again (picture by Ness "uberchain" Delacroix and Jasmine "Jasbutts" Ho)
Ascent.EU’s new players have proven themselves in the past, having played for the team’s previous iterations and other Premiership teams in past seasons. Roaming Soldier Médico is notably making a comeback to Premiership after 4 seasons of absence; in Season 26, Médico, along with Corbac and Néo, were part of the nerdRage roster that reached 3rd place with some of the players departing the team after the end of the season. While the team narrowly lost in the Lower Bracket Finals, the full French team had been sailing smoothly until they encountered Arctic Foxes and Se7en. Soldier player Corbac would then stay with the team until the end of Season 28.
In ETF2L Season 28, Ascent.EU’s unexpected strong performance, notably also due to the absence of Se7en, eventually lead to a close loss against SVIFT in the Grand Finals. The team’s roster for that season incorporated three of the current Ascent.EU players with Corbac, Elacour, and Ombrack part of the team.
We got in touch with team captain Ombrack for a statement concerning the reform and the expectations about the next season:
On paper this new roster isn't as good as the one we had last season, but this is a situation we all agreed on before reforming. Maybe the goals won't be as high as they used to be, but so far the team has been looking strong. Some of us still need to shake off the rust, but the atmosphere has been really good and this is pretty much what matters the most. The goal is now to have fun while playing some good and entertaining TF2. Playing with all my friends and calling in French is a delight, and I'm sure that in the end, we might be able to perform beyond people's expectation. But there is no set goal, no "must achieve" list, apart from having a good time.
As these players have fought together in the past for numerous seasons in Premiership and High, their potential cannot be underestimated. Even without a clear goal, Ascent.EU might prove once again to be the rising underdog in the higher tier of Premiership.
With the shuffle, Ascent.EU’s new roster is:
- Scout: Néo
- Scout: Opti
- Roamer: Médico
- Pocket: Corbac
- Demoman: Elacour
- Medic: Ombrack