Two-time champions of Premiership. Third place at i69. Podium finishes in many more seasons and cups. tf2easy have returned with their eyes on the prize, and with the longest-standing roster at the top level they are surely one of the favourites.

The team have been around in one form or another since Season 37, where they took second place despite replacing their soldier duo mid-season and entering playoffs in the very first round of the gauntlet. The next season, though, was far less complicated: they knew their roster and out of 14 maps in the regular season, they won all but one, entering playoffs as first seed and finishing in first place. After this, tf2easy went on hiatus until S41, then featuring auto on Medic and Silentes on Pocket Soldier, where they would defeat everyone but Witness Gaming in the regular season. The Grand Finals were inevitably a rematch, and in impossibly close fashion tf2easy took it 3-0 to reclaim their crown.

Season 42 was not so simple. In their first week they were taken to the winlimit twice by Witness Gaming, before a shock upset the next week saw NOOBPANZER draw with them, leaving them 1-3 down and with it all to play for – and play they did. They went on to win every map in the main season, before in the semifinals dropping only one round against The League Of Shadows to set up a rematch against wG. This time, however, it was not to be and tf2easy were the ones handed defeat, albeit not one that they cared much about: LAN was around the corner.

They came into i69 expected to take third place and the group stage results backed this up: two losses in a row to froyotech and Witness Gaming, before victory over Div 1 playoffs team SVIFT. Come the next day, they were then pitted against wG, who knocked them into the lower bracket without conceding a single round, and after eliminating Boomers and SVIFT they came up against wG again. Here, tf2easy took Granary 3-2 before wG tied Process up 1-3 and repeated that scoreline on the deciding Sunshine; a close loss, but one that meant they were eliminated from i69 and had to watch the finals from the sidelines.

Now, as tf2easy eye up the Autumn ‘22 season only one change has been made: legendary Medic seeds is out. This means auto is returning to the roster, with hopes of reprising that S41 run to glory where he proved himself a top-level player and when tf2easy last defeated perpetual bugbear Witness Gaming. With shake-ups to the roster and whitelist, and competition more intense than in several seasons, can tf2easy live up to their own standards? We caught up with Pocket Scout morale to find out.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: First of all, why the change from seeds to auto?

After the hectic end to the last cycle seeds decided he needed some time off, something that if anyone needs none of us would ever stand in the way of. Auto was available, and obviously most of us had played with him before in S41 so it was a no brainer really.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: In the past four months you’ve lost five close games to Witness Gaming, will this be the season you get a decisive win?

Better now than never

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: You’ve won so many trophies as a team, is it the case now that only first place would be enough?

It was only ever enough. But as a little aside, it’s also really important to me that no matter the circumstance, we’re playing the more entertaining tf2.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Will we CU@ ?

Of course, darling.

Here for nothing less than victory, tf2easy are:

• Pocket Scout: morale
• Flank Scout: Gazy
• Roamer: nubbi
• Pocket: Josh
• Demoman: Nas boii
• Medic: auto