With ETF2L Season 38 looming closer and closer, the admin team has announced they received no less than fourteen applications from teams desiring to compete in Premiership. Of these fourteen teams, five got admitted into Prem straight away, three got turned down and the remaining six will fight for the three Prem slots that are left in an interesting new format for qualifiers. The wannabe-Prem teams have been divided into two groups of three, with the winner of each group moving up to the top division and both second-place teams squaring up in a last chance match to obtain the ultimate slot. All of this is supposed to happen this week, so get ready for seven days of non-stop action, with big explosion noises and coast-to-coast games aplenty.

Unsure of who is playing on what team or just looking to throw your support behind a newer, less known team in order to become a TF2 hipster ? teamfortress.tv has compiled previews for each team in each group, with words from the leaders and roster breakdowns to help an informed viewing experience. Group B has players ranging from complete newcomers to the top flight to tried-and-true veterans and everything in between. (change this bit a little so that people think I work)

gamingclan.gg

It is good for the scene that so many orgs seem to be getting involved as of late, but as far as orgs go, gamingclan.gg seems to be a very mysterious one, only returning my request for comments with a cryptic “Buy this domain now for 149.99 !”. Regardless, the actual TF2 team is an interesting one, with a mixture of players from Alvin and the Britmunks, who placed 8th during Season 37 and people who recently played for Classic Dmixup but who have been around the same social circle for a while. With both up and comers and veteran players, gamingclan.gg could make a smashing entry into Prem.

While the previous season wasn’t kind on Alvin and The Britmunks as they finished in last place, it was useful for some of its members to showcase what they could do on the big stage. 3 of them have now re-united in order to prove that their presence last season was not a fluke. alv especially impressed and managed to do well against other scouts, despite playing 4 divisions below, in Low, the season before. Derpy Hooves and auto, on Demo and Medic respectively offered stability and survivability in an often chaotic environment and will be eager to do the same and more with this new roster. Jordy, Crayon and z0diack all played together during the latest Map Cup, where they went to the finals and took a map off nerdRage, but they have all played with one another at some point. Jordy was a key component of The Theorists roster that won D1 and competed in Prem in Seasons 31-32, and more recently won D1 again in Season 36 with FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES. Crayon already has experience of the top flight on both Medic and Scout, so coming back on Roamer makes sense if he’s going for the 100% clear. He already won Division 1 on Roamer (with Jordy in S36) so he’s no slouch either. z0diack is a bit newer than the other two but has been hailed as a talented up and comer after showings at i65 with #BIGBLOKELAN (Crayon was also there) and more recently last season with GlobalClan.EU.

We contacted fan-favorite Derpy Hooves to have him detail his opinion of his group and of playing with people he already played with :

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: So how do you feel about your chances after being placed in Group B ?

Derpy Hooves: We're going in with the high hopes when it comes to playing these games but things could turn out any way in our group. The other group got the easier teams

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Does having 3 former teammates from last season help with coordination ? Could it be an asset against teams in this group ?

I hadn't even noticed that I'm playing with 3 prev team mates as we have 0 synergy, we are gamingclan.gg.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Will we ever know the story behind your name ?

No comment regarding my name.

All gamers primed and ready, gamingclan.gg is :

• Scout: z0diack
• Scout: alv
• Roamer: Crayon
• Pocket: Jordy
• Demoman: Derpy Hooves
• Medic: auto

Virtus.Bro

Virtus.Bro are an interesting team, who first got known in Season 33, when they qualified to Prem in spite of playing in D2 the season before. While they ended up 7th that season, they showed a lot of resilience and creativity which showed their potential. They went back to D1 for the next two seasons, winning two bronze medals with two different rosters in the process before moving back up in Season 36. During that season, they managed to take at least a point off every opponent they faced bar SVIFT, but finished 7th again. Now, after a season break, they assemble once more, with some new faces as well as some core members, and look determined to break the 7th place curse.

The Scout tag-team of mystt and Lanzer was a strong part of Virtus.Bro last adventure in Premiership, with mystt’s reliability and his hatred of enemy bombing soldiers in the combo and Lanzer’s surprise flanks and off-class ability on the flank, the latter even picking up the “Best debut of the Season award”. The one constant in this team is dqz, who has been a part of every iteration of this team so far, and this time it will be on Medic, a class he never played before in Prem, but that he achieved two 3rd place finishes in D1 with so he’s not exactly a newbie either. tobs was also a part of the virtuous brothers in Season 36, and he will be moving from Pocket to Roamer this season, a role he previously occupied in the early days of The Bus Crew.

AlienSmiley and silves are rounding up the combo on Demoman and Pocket Soldier respectively, and both are the only ones who did not show up on Virtus.Bro before. AlienSmiley has been a core member of The Team Formerly Know As Generation karnax, in which he mainly played Scout, but his switch to Demo in recent seasons helped them reach playoffs for the first time in Season 36. silves is the only player on the roster to not have played in Prem yet, but has a wealth of experience in the lower divisions (a second place finish in D1 is his most recent finish) and will be happy to be able show off his skills in the top level.

Lanzer gave us some high-profile answers to our question about their odds, previous team and their last minute rebrand :

TEAMFORTRESS.TV : So what do you make of opposing teams ? Do you think you have a realistic shot at going through ?

Lanzer : I think our chances are 100%, we either win and get to play prem or we lose and get to sandbag in d1 with Lanzer Demoman and ruin everyones fun - we cant lose to other teams only to ourselves cus we're fkn emos. All the teams are bad including us we're basically qualifying for last place next season its great bro gl everyone

TEAMFORTRESS.TV : As someone who alredy played on this team in the past, how do you feel about this new roster ? How does it compare to previous iterations ?

Lanzer : silves is good, alien is an english speaking kouna, kars turned into a weeb and left tf2 cause he's very emo and we grieve his loss each day.

This roster is a a very very very slight upgrade from last time we played we simply lost our chaos factor kouna with the loch n load theory.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV : Could you explain to us what is the meaning of this last minute rebrand to "Goblin Clan" ? It is so last minute that it wasn't a thing when you started answering my questions 10 minutes ago.

Lanzer : We're going to take Global Clan out as an ORG and establish the Goblin Clan - we're aiming for global domination. Players under our banner are underpaid and forced to play like creatures

TEAMFORTRESS.TV : Any closing words ?

Lanzer : We will never scrim charlie

• Scout: mystt
• Scout: Lanzer
• Roamer: tobs
• Pocket: silves
• Demoman: AlienSmiley
• Medic: dqz

Ora Elektro

A name that should ring familiar to most readers, Ora Elektro is making a comeback after taking Season 37 off. After their third place finish during Season 36, it might be a bit surprising to some to see them having to fight for a spot in Premiership, but half of this version of the team is unproven on their classes in Prem. Still, Ora are hopeful that between most of their players playing together for a long time, and the hunger to prove themselves of the new guys, they got a recipe for success, and they could very well be right.

Nevo and Azunis have been working together on the Ora's flank since Season 27, and they don’t seem keen to stop anytime soon as they reprieve their roles of Flank Scout and Roamer. They are also both potent off-classers, with Nevo able to play about everything and Azunis playing enough Spy that he topped the rankings of “melee kills per game” above every spoon fanatic there was in Season 36. Eemes and Amarok as well, and while both of them are still on the combo, Amarok is now on Pocket Scout. While you can expect Eemes to dish out damage and calls with great efficiency as usual, Ama’s attempt on the speedy Bostonian is less guaranteed of being a certain hit, although it is not the first time that he rocks up to Prem in a new class, having already played Demoman (quite well even) on L’En Avant de Guingamp back in Season 32. On Pocket Soldier and Medic will be ronz and juxta, two complete newcomers to Prem. The two of them actually go a little while back together, having won Mid together two seasons ago. ronz is probably the more well-known of the pair, having won Division 2 last season (knocking out juxta’s team in the process) and more importantly having quite a decent showing during the most recent Locked Down and Loaded tournament, finishing in fourth place with a variant of Virtus.Bro created for this cup only. juxta is more of an unknown quantity, having played more Scout than Medic in recent seasons, but maybe the good movement that comes from Scout combined with the advice of more experienced members will help him reach a new level, he could even call it juxtaposing, if you will.

Nevo went in-depth on his opposition, his belief in giving new players a shot and communications:

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: So what do you make of the teams in the qualifiers ?

Nevo: Other teams seem to be a mix of old & new. I’m glad to see old faces such as Bus Crew return. Seeing as many as 14 prem signups in 2021 is wonderful for the game though, and hopefully we can make it through the playoffs and compete in what looks to be one of the most exciting prem seasons.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Ora Elektro is making a lot of changes that seem quite bold, moving a player to a class he never played in Prem AND getting two newcomers in the same season. What was your reasoning behind all these decisions ?

Nevo: Ama has proven with Guingamp his capacity to offclass and adapt. He has been a staple in the Ora roster for quite some time now, and has been grinding Scout for the past month. His experience on both Demoman & Soldier at the top level translates well on pocket Scout, and there is no doubt in my mind he will be a force to be reckoned with during the qualifiers and the season.

Recruiting juxta and ronz may come as a surprise pick to some, but it feels like the right decision for our team. The dedication and talent they both show tells me they will be around prem for quite some time. My team is also familiar with picking up people that are “unproven”, as we did with shock (and Yeehaw to an extent) in season 34, and we feel comfortable building synergy & vastly improving during the season.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: With 5 of your 6 players being French and Eemes able to understand French well (he was even on your team during the latest NTF2CL), would you comm in French ?

Nevo: We communicate in English. Picking up juxta and ronz has nothing to do with the fact that they are French, other than it was easier for us to notice that they are up and comers. I personally believe that communicating in French can be inefficient, and English allows for much more concise calls. English is also a good way to keep attitude in check because swearing & complaining does not come as naturally in your second language.

• Scout: Ama
• Scout: Nevo
• Roamer: Azunis
• Pocket: ronz
• Demoman: Eemes
• Medic: juxta