Season 37 was originally set to take place in 2021, but after facing community backlash over such a delay, ETF2L have instead opted to fit a season before this hellish year comes to a close. As with every season, this one comes with its changes, big and small.

Prize money is making its return to the Premiership division! A thousand Euros will be up for grabs, with first place taking 500 € home, while the runners-up will pocket 300 € and the third place grabbing the 200 € remaining. Every player in the top 3 will thus also earn the priceless opportunity of calling themselves a “TF2 pro”.

Medics across Europe are also gearing up for the bustiest season since the Burly Beast got added to the game. That’s right, the Solemn Vow is getting added to the whitelist, hoping to finally dethrone the Ubersaw as the only Medic melee weapon.

The map pool is left unchanged from last season at first glance, however keen eyes will notice that a historic map has been left out. cp_process_final, one of the staples of 6v6 TF2 will be replaced by cp_process_f5, a community effort to smooth out the old classic. This new version boasts over a hundred changes, but the vast majority of them are not visible. Be sure to check out the more tucked-in chairs in spawn though.

Some changes will be however, more noticeable. Initially seen in Season 36 for bug fixes, plugins are now back in full force as four more are being introduced, this time focusing on altering gameplay. The plugins introduced are:

• Removal of Medic Attach Speed – Medics no longer run at the speed of their heal target.
• Winger Jump Bonus only applies when fully deployed – Similarly to the Atomizer, the jump bonus from the Winger will only apply when fully deployed.
• Gunboats Always Apply – Gunboats currently do not apply the damage resistance when shooting enemies. With this plugin enabled they do.
• Projectiles Ignore Teammates – Projectiles consistently pass through teammates.

While those changes are in theory not set in stone as the feedback at the end of the season will decide their fate, they’ve already sparked a lot of debate, and anyone who is interested in the overall “metagame” will surely find this season interesting to follow. You can see more details on the plugins, and how to add them to your server on twiikuu's GitHub repository.

The sign-ups are already open, and will be until the 11th of October for Premiership teams, and the 15th for lower divs. Premiership pre-season Qualifiers will take place from the 12th to the 17th of October, with the main season taking place from the 18th of October to the 6th of December and playoffs spanning from the 6th to the 20th of December.