It's tough at the top in 2025, and the eight slots in ETF2L's Premiership division were more hotly contested than ever. Not every team came out of the chaotic offeason with the results to earn an instant invitation, and those without were thrown into the Qualifiers and forced to fight for their place. Three teams were relegated to Division 1. Three teams made it in.

sammakot

• alov
• snh
• silves
• Roticher
• Derpy Hooves
• Robert

Compared to many other Division 1 winners’ first seasons in Premiership, sammakot’s run in Season 48 was definitely competitive. Their calculated and methodical style proved tough to break through even for some of Europe’s top teams, which led to many close scorelines and a final tally of 12 points. This put them in 6th place, ahead of Pepis Pizza Party (now Venomcrest) and Danish Tyrant Regime.

The ensuing offseason, however, brought a fair amount of roster turmoil, starting with the loss of their most experienced player: Medic seeds. Black also vacated their spot as Roticher, fresh from their own Division 1 gold with S48’s loobie, stepped in to become silves’ new Soldier partner. kori was replaced by ex- GLOBAL YETI Scout alov, and finally Derpy Hooves called upon Finnish compatriot Robert to fill the now vacant Medic role in a jump up all the way from Division 2.

sammakot’s previous Premiership outing earned them a place in the upper bracket of the qualifiers, where they faced #BIGBLOKESZN. The series started in the worst possible way for sammakot, as they lost their own map pick of Metalworks 2-1 to the ex-SKEDDA core in a slow and tense affair. Process, though, was a different story: sammakot came out firing on all cylinders with great aggression and confidence, winning their opponent’s map choice 4-0 and taking the series to the decider of Sunshine. Here, they took an immediate 2-0 lead to force a tactical pause from the Blokes but although this team talk gave #BIGBLOKESZN control, sammakot’s defensive fortress held off numerous über advantage pushes to win them the map, the series and a place in Premiership S49. Particular credit for the win goes to the Scout combo of alov and snh, who were on fabulous form through all of the series and will be an exciting pair to watch in their upcoming season.

Danish Tyrant Regime

• flick
• amppis
• Nicky
• smile
• AlienSmiley
• juxta

Danish Tyrant Regime had a muted beginning. As a mix of Premiership and High-tier players, they started out in Season 47’s Division 1 with an almost perfectly balanced season: the only teams they didn’t tie 3-3 with were the two eventual Grand Finalists. They were no worse than their competitors, but were no better either, and finished the season in fifth place and outside playoffs.

For Season 48, Danish Tyrant Regime stepped up. With multiple roster changes, including moving smile to Scout to make room for Nicky on Soldier, they stepped straight into Premiership and into a brick wall. Their season wasn’t quite as bad as the results make it seem, tying with sammakot and taking both Garda Panteri and the now- Venomcrest roster to Golden Caps, but neither would go their way and the Tyrants ended the season at the very bottom of the division.

Enough? No. The Tyrants rebuilt: smile moved back to Soldier again as flick joined the roster, and the combo around founding Scout amppis was rebuilt with the arrival of Medic juxta and Demo AlienSmiley. Season 48’s last-place finish meant they had to battle through qualification, and this they did with aplomb. Opponents loobie won one round. Danish Tyrant Regime won nine. smile and AlienSmiley outdamaged every opponent. Scouts amppis and flick racked up 90 kills across the two maps – when he says he’s in his prime, he isn’t kidding. This was an authoritative victory from the entire team, and a warning to anyone who dares underestimate Danish Tyrant Regime.

Garda Panteri

• chris
• Gazy
• Josh
• Buud
• shappie
• Condawg

For over two years, Garda Panteri have been a staple of ETF2L Premiership, often acting as gatekeepers to the playoff positions. This season however, Garda are looking for a change, and they have undergone a complete roster overhaul. Captain Buud and dependable Demo sidekick shappie are the only players staying put, as all four other roles are filled with new arrivals. ÜBERFEST champion Gazy joins chris on scout, rapidly de-rusting after years away from top level play. Gazy’s ex- tf2easy teammate Josh returns to the Soldier spot that he frequented on Garda back in Season 45, and one of Prem’s most experienced yet least predictable players Condawg joins the gang on Medic.

Despite this wealth of experience, they had to fight through the qualifiers for their place in Premiership, beginning in the lower bracket. Their first obstacle was loobie, but the Div 1 champions proved to be little resistance for Garda. Although Gullywash was messy, Garda managed to take it 5-2 due to some clutch last holds, before they snowballed their momentum into Process for a comfortable 5-0 and a spot in the qualifier final.

Here, they faced far tougher opposition: #BIGBLOKESZN. This was a painfully tense series with highlight after highlight including an ambush from Medic Condawg to take down his counterpart piggles with the saw. On Gullywash, Garda found themselves at an early deficit before clawing the game back to a 3-2 win, despite a last ditch scramble by the Blokes to equalise right before the buzzer. Granary was a close back-and-forth which went all the way to a Golden Cap, but this time it was #BIGBLOKESZN who stepped up and sent the series to its deciding map: Metalworks. Here both teams shot out of the traps with aggressive intent, but it was Garda who found themselves 3-1 up at the halfway point of the map. The Blokes refused to go down without a fight, giving it all they could to mount a late comeback, but despite clawing one round back they failed to find the all important second, and Garda Panteri took the map 3-2 to become the eighth and final team in ETF2L’s 49th season of Premiership.

Danish Tyrant Regime contributed by JMaxchill