The ETF2L Season 38 playoffs are upon us, and with the return of the double-elimination bracket more than doubling the number of games to play, and the Grand Final also turning back into a best-of-five series, a colossal amount of top level TF2 is about to be unleashed in front of your eyes. Do you wish to throw your support behind a team, but incurable conditions such as "a low attention span" or "being from North America" have prevented you from following the previous 7 weeks ? Worry not, as this article will tell you all you need to know about every team, and then more.
nerdRage
- Scout: moralexei
- Scout: Gazy
- Roamer: nubbi
- Pocket: Josh
- Demoman: Nas boii
- Medic: seeds
After finishing in second place to Ascent during last season’s Grand Finals while they were playing under the SVIFT banner, nerdRage seem to have put their newfound anger to good use. The angry gamers made sure the whole division felt their rage as they consistently produced dominant displays on their way to claim the top seed, dropping only one map in the whole of the regular season.
The team is made up of experienced Prem players, with all of them having already featured in Grand Finals, if not winning them outright. moralexei and Gazy have been an extremely fearsome scout combo so far, and their offclassing capability on Sniper and Pyro isn’t too shabby either. On the Soldier side, Josh and nubbi are united in their ability to wreck teams with their aggression, with the Irishman providing calls, and the Hungarian spoons. Nas “the highest sens in London” boii is a constant threat on Demoman, with clever traps and pipes, and seeds is a playoff expert, having never failed to reach them in all of his time in Premiership.
You should watch them if : you like superstar rosters who are the overall favorites, you enjoy market gardens, you want to prove to your friends that you have a good tolerance to motion sickness.
FAINT
- Scout: voxtec
- Scout: YeeHaw
- Roamer: Opti
- Pocket: Hugo
- Demoman: mak
- Medic: vani
Comfortably rising above the pack of teams fighting for 3rd and 4th, FAINT will be looking for an improvement in these playoffs, as they managed the feat of tying their games against every other team in the top 4. Do not take them lightly based on that fact ,however, they also have proven they can beat the best, being the only team to take points off nerdRage. Their experience from last season and recent cups is sure to come in handy against teams with less playoffs experience.
voxtec, vani and mak form the core of this team, a hard-to-kill unit around which revolves the rest of their teammates. vani has been playing this game longer than some people have been alive, and is consistently able to put his experience to good use. voxtec has also been playing the game longer than some people have been alive, only the people in question here probably still can’t read or stay awake too long. He has been able to use his youthful energy to perfect his aim ,however, and mak is ready to lead his team into the breach and pipe anyone who gets too close. Hugo and Opti will be playing Pocket and Roamer ,respectively, both of them frequently combining for devastating results or smart distractions. YeeHaw enjoys a lot of freedom as the Flank Scout, often slipping behind enemy lines where his excellent DM can shine.
You should watch them if : you enjoy watching teams that have really good coordination, you like the color purple, you like to see rosters sticking around for a long time, you enjoy the cutting edge casting of twitch.tv/dummtm
top5rocket
- Scout: Néo
- Scout: Cuby
- Roamer: dwo69
- Pocket: Corbac
- Demoman: Elacour
- Medic: mulaa
A common sight in Prem over the years, the (generally) all-French squad is back with a vengeance after a hiatus. They are featuring some very experienced players as well as newcomers, who’ll be hungry to prove themselves in playoffs. The French spationauts have shown some inconsistent results over the course of the season, but have looked very strong in their best moments and they will be looking to confirm their trajectory based on those instances.
This will be the first playoff appearance for both Cuby and dwo69, but their performances on the flank have been impressive, with Cuby making a seamless switch from Demoman to Flank Scout and dwo69 finally fulfilling his potential that he had demonstrated in previous seasons. Corbac and Néo will be filling in on Pocket Soldier and Scout respectively. Two talented veterans, they were never able to win a Premiership season despite their individual ability often being on display, and as such will be eager to try and leave their mark on the division for good. A key part of the nerdRage Season 36 winning squad, Elacour and mulaa have reunited, hoping to prove that they were the carries of that team.
You should watch them if : you like teams that are a bit chaotic and unpredictable, you find “hon hon hon baguette” jokes funny, you enjoy double airpipes.
GlobalClan.EU
- Scout: flick
- Scout: ixy
- Roamer: Matthes
- Pocket: Charlie
- Demoman: daga
- Medic: trum
A much greener team compared to everyone else in here, GlobalClan.EU have shown a lot of talent and determination at the start of the season and in previous cups, where their roster of up-and-comers caused a lot of difficulties to top teams thanks to their coordinated aggression and pushes. And while the end of the season was a rough stretch for them, the new playoff format could prove perfect for them to gain a footing.
Keen eyes might remember ixy and Matthes from Faint Gaming’s roster back in Season 32 and Copenhagen Games 2019, both of which they finished 4th in, making them the only players on GlobalClan.EU to have reached Prem playoffs before this season. They have been doing well this season, both of them a constant threat on the enemy Medic. trum and daga will be making playoffs in their first ever Prem season, daga was an unknown quantity before this season, but his monstrous DM has convinced everyone. trum is however still an unknown quantity, as he was brought up on this team very recently, but his tenure with 6th placed Garda Panteri has shown his solidity. flick and Charlie round up the roster as the only surviving members of the previous season, flick being an anti-air machine and Charlie an explosive maincaller.
You should watch them if : you like a good underdog story where a team grinds hard and takes everyone by surprise, you want to help spread #GlobalDomination, you want to support a true hipster team full of players your friends don’t know.