Better late than never....lot of this stuff may not be relevant as most was written on the weekend, so assume it is Sunday again please! I also apologise for the lack of formatting and pictures/videos in this article, I wanted to add more but ran out of the time.

It's been an interesting week in ETF2L Premiership and Division One, we've had discussions galore about the state of the European scene, my article last week on this website was certainly one chemical mixed in the concoction of beautiful internet drama. The resulting days after, we saw a new team form with some old faces (really old faces), Epsilon finally decide on their Demoman to the surprise of MILLIONS, as Fenneks picked up the scraps thrown out from the gluttonous European powerhouses. One player may have already fallen to the vicious Premiership axe whilst the pre-season period has been completed by lots of practise clan wars (scrimmages, for those uncivilized readers from the backwards countries) and the first Premiership side to pick up some silverware in the Turbine Cup powered by Tt eSports. Have I grabbed your attention like Rolf Harris grabbed the hearts and minds of children everywhere? I better rephrase that for the early morning edition....but READ ON for this season Premiership preview as we now have an 8 team Premiership plus new found hype to ride us across the finish line.

Epsilon eSports powered by Fragnet Networks #

*Raymon*	*Hys*	*Knoxx*	*Mike*	*KileR4funn*	*Bash*

The biggest name in Europe (by 5 characters and 3 top division titles) will be bringing back a new side, with intentions to not only continue their domination of European TF2 (losing only 1 season in the last 9 they have participated in) but also to once again fly the European flag above their heads at Insomnia 52 this summer. Having finally settled on their new Demoman in the face of former The Last Resort leader, Hys - Epsilon have looked good in their practises dispatching everyone bar a map draw to BFF and a loss to GG.WP, though they were missing Bash. Early signs show they are the team to beat, despite the fact they no longer have EU TF2's most coveted player, Stefen/Schocky and his countryman, the hugely successful roamer soldier, GeaR coming back to their roster, they have managed to adapt their team with KileR4funn coming in off a successful season with TLR on scout - a massive test for him individually, now expected to carry the weight of the whole European TF2 scene on his shoulders, can the nicest guy in TF2 prove himself as a worthy replacement to schocky? Early signs suggest yes, his pre-season performances are promising as he gets used to the Epsilon way and his new scout partner Bash. MGE Mike, the man Carlsberg based their advertising campaign off as "Probably the best Soldier in the world" has moved over to roamer to bring back his glory days in Infused plus season 14 on roaming soldier. Mike is not sloth with the Gunboats, but his style of player is different to that of GeaR's, playing a more aggressive style where he tries to more unpredictable and use his massive DM skills, rather than the positioning mastermind that was the German powerhouse. So far it has been effective, alongside Knoxx who has made his return to pocket soldier complete after two seasons of flirting with it on separate teams. Knoxx is a caller, a tactical genius matched by few and despite not having the DM skills Mike has, he has the brain to out-think his opponents and well....TF2's a team game anyway, and Knoxx is the ultimate teamplayer....plus he isn't bad at deathmatching either, just not...Mike level.

To complete this long wall of text about Epsilon we come to the new Demoman, Hys. The former TLR leader has been quite a controversial figure in terms of dividing opinion amongst his high level peers. On Fully charged, his attitude and personality in-game was criticised and there is an underlying opinion that he may simply just not be good enough for Epsilon. Well I can state, Hys is no Numlocked who was a superstar for Epsilon, bringing the ability to destroy everything in his path but Hys is certainly a smart player and his combination with Knoxx last season was part of the reason TLR were so successful. The fear for some Epsilon fanboys is the Hys/Knoxx calling combination clashing however the previous incarnation had the exact same issue with Numlocked and Knoxx but did not stop them being World Champions, so I don't see that as a huge problem. The only issue I can forsee is Hys being outperformed consistently by the likes of Kaidus and War and possibly Ryb. Although Hys had a great season last time around, the pressure will be on him to deliver, only time will tell if the man is up to it. Oh and I haven't mentioned Raymon, well he's a Medic and a good one, again not Knoxx level but good enough...considering least one Medic in Prem this season has never played a match before in 6v6, it isn't really a focus for me to compare but medics are defined more by how few mistakes they make rather than how big they go....Raymon hasn't made very many mistakes so far.

BFF #

*Mirelin*	*Kaidus*	*Zebbosai*	*Knuttson*	*Fl1p*	*Stark*

And now may I introduce the likely closest contenders to Epsilon - BFF (Best Friend's Forever it is rumoured to stand for). Let's see....Medic of the season? Check. Demoman of the Season? Check. Former Broder pocket and caller back in a top Premiership outfit? Check. Mirelin, Kaidus and Zebbosai mark three of the very best players on their respective classes not only in Europe but the world. We are all excited to see what will happen in the latest Mirelin + Zebbosai love affair, can we see the old flame rekindled once more as they make beautiful scenes of TF2 for our eyes to lust after? Or at the very least have Mirelin write another song about his Swedish comrade? Hard to say as Kaidus will no doubt be mediating as the third wheel in this relationship, the Demoman of the season has more accolades than any other European Demo and has brought back the BFF tag to form a team to build towards i52 as well as challenge Epsilon, I don't expect many Demoman will challenge Kaidus this season in terms of individual performance so it's up to Kaidus to perform in the big matches, especially on his strongest point - Mid fights to give their team to edge to challenge Epsilon.

Another romantic pairing on this team is the Knuttson / Zebbo soldier affair. Further complicating the relationship with Mirelin, Zebbosai will be eager to sync up with his Swedish buddy, Knuttson rather than stay with Mirelin all the time. No doubt heartbreaking for the Latvian but Knuttson seemed to be part of the package deal to get Zebbosai from the reigns of the folded Dotter side of last season. Knuttson's return to TF2 at the beginning of last season was condemned as a failure due to some lacklustre roaming performances but as in TF2, if someone performs poorly for a couple of weeks, people's minds can be made up quickly. Since then he has been putting in bigger and better performances, reminding me of his Quarantine days and he has been improving more steadily each game, anyone who is quick to defile the Swede should check some of his recent games out first.

Finishing off the BFF roster is the scout combo, Fl1p and Stark - not two of the first scouts that jump to mind when you mention "best European scouts" but fl1p has been highly rated since his breakthrough on Tee See Emm a couple seasons back, winning the best Premiership Debut in Season 16. Last season he was unfortunate with the demise of Mais La Moule so early but so far his performances for BFF have justified his new found status as one of European TF2's best scouts. Joining him will be former Reverto and AYO GURL (the worst named side in TF2 officially, never to be beaten again so long as Sideshow is no longer allowed to name teams) pocket soldier, he has played Scout before under the old Damage Control tag back in the day and was named Season 12's upcoming talent of the season on Scout. Despite being described by Mike as "cancerous" to play with, Stark's return to scout hasn't shown any signs of rustiness and has already been putting in the performances pre-season, together with Fl1p they attain a status of unproven players that may well be the next generation of superstars we're looking for in European TF2.

rockit #

*Admirable*	*WARHUHYEAH*	*Hocz*	*Qnx*	*Cookye and Sorex*	*Smzii*

The "hype" of the week is this new roster containing some older faces and newer talent to try and contend for the top European spot. Formed on the back of a desperate cry for players to return from Scout of the Season, Smzii, this side has raised many eyebrows with the big names it possesses for the coming season. I may as well cover the scouts first of all, as I mentioned Smzii will be one of them and after his successful season last season (out-hyping his partner in crime, Bash - quite a feat indeed) but the big story on the side is the return of scout legend Cookye, the former Broder and Power Gaming scout, who was accused of hacking multiple times and considered one the best scouts in the game, imagine how many awards he would have won if Schocky/Stefen never played this game? Cookye will no doubt be dusting off his mousepad as he tries to return to TF2, one night of pcws shows he may be a bit rusty to reach his former heights but he's only a player who can get better the more he plays. Though for half the season we're more likely to see the likes of fresh upcoming talent like the highly rated Sorex, moving from Division 1 side Hard Gaming and going big in Highlander for Stacked, many people see Sorex as one of the more highly rated upcomers in TF2, no doubt a season in rockit will add to that experience when he is given the chance to play versus the top Premiership outfits.

Another old timer swapping his walking stick for TF2 is former Power Gaming and TCM pocket soldier, Hocz who like Cookye has been around, won trophies but never won ETF2L. I have heard comments made that Hocz is unlikely to return to his former glory, his style of pocketing soldier is reflected to represent a by-gone era of European TF2 and for a guy who has done so much and been around a long time, Hocz is unlikely to put the sort of time into the game that could see him reach the same levels as Knoxx, Mike, Zebbosai on soldier. Experienced and still very good, but a product from a by-gone era? Remains to be seen, he needs to play the game more I think but fantastic to see him back in TF2 nonetheless. But someone who does play the game a lot and is one of the top rated Demo's in Europe at the moment is War, adding to the list of English demos keeping me from my Team England debut, WARHUHYEAH's name cannot be said without immediately listening to Edwin Starr afterwards but his reputation for his deathmatching skills ranks him up there with the big names, like fl1p he had an impressive season 16 and will be a big player for rockit this season. He is joined by another player who has made big strides as soldier, Qnx who is one of the most highly rated roaming soldiers in Europe and his performances for SOLAR and Team Norway have been particularly admired - I can see this being the breakthrough season for Qnx, given the chance for his talents to flourish he may be the difference between success and failure on this team.

Finally last and by far not the least, the Medic of the team - Admirable. What can be said about Admirable's return to 6v6 Medic, the legendary caster and community contributor and the easiest player on this list I "suckered" into playing by my will and fake tears, discussing Prem's status - All part of my masterplan to make Admirable drop uber to me later in the season and complete my sardonic fantasies. He's also a very gifted medic, confident, reassuring and able to lead and call for teams - If Admirable can be the calm, soothing voice of reason for rockit, they may have a chance so long as his tactical knowledge of 6v6 is on par with his Highlander prowess.

Fenneks eSports powered by SimRai.com #

*Skeej*	*Ryb*	*Klar*	*KillAri*	*gf18*	*Wltrs*

Demoted from my list as "3rd" best to "4th" best, Fenneks are the only returning team to from Prem last season with 2 new players on their roster, replacing Sickless with legendary Swedish Demoman, Ryb and Sheepy's departure from the team opened the door to bring in another ex-Premiership winner and legend, Wltrs. Now to be fair, predicting them as 4th could be seen as quite harsh because this roster has some potential and their pre-season has seen them sparring with the likes of BFF and Rockit already so the only way is up for them. It seems Fenneks should be the natural contenders for the 4th playoff spot with Epsilon, BFF and Rockit back in as they have been steadily improving. Led by Skeej, a Medic known for his surfing and uhm, emotion charged main calling this side has been built around a sort of "two roaming soldier" style, with KillAri estimated to spend more time airborne than a plate after a Greek wedding and his fellow soldier, Klar being the type to get aggressive as well, leaving the Demoman eating them heals and killing everything. Least that is how it was last season with Sickless, the Russian DM machine was criticised by some peers for "baiting his team" whilst others simply noted his lack of commitment to the cause (show up to them pcws yo') but whatever the real reason is, Ryb isn't the sort of Demoman who does that soak up heals style, he has a more "Americanised" positioning based game. It's hard to say whether this will suit Fenneks or not however the pre-season pcws show promise with map draws versus BFF and Rockit, but the likes of GG.WP will be looking to jump past them for that 4th playoff spot.

I think for Fenneks their main strength is their scouts, last season Sheepy and gf18 represented two of the deadliest deathmatching scouts in the league, but with the allure of being on a Division 2 waiting list team full of "MGE stars" too much to keep Sheepy, Skeej and co have picked up the pieces from the folded Dotter side with Wltrs. Now Wltrs has won championships with Epsilon in the past and made some huge players, bringing a reputation as consistently being one of Europe's most deadly scouts, but the veteran scout has never quite reached the same level of hype as the likes of Schocky, Cookye, Bybben and so, despite his success in the game - but his experience and winning mentality can only really help his scout partner, gf18 (rumoured to be in his last TF2 season) reach the dazzling heights of success. The Belgium turned British flag weaving superstar scout had a sensational season for Fenneks last time out and has been known to go big with the sniper rifle upon occasion. If there is one thing I would not doubt of Fenneks is that their scouts can compete with the best when they're both on form, with Ryb in the backfield playing off that two bombing soldier style, the most pressure will be on Skeej to keep his team together amid the chaos and turn them into genuine playoff contenders with a cheeky eye on the Grand Final.

GGWP.Pro #

*Whiteglow*	*Gdk*	*Forsak3n*	*Shadowburn*	*msh or reko???*	*Atomic*

Pre-season can be a turbulent time for teams, no different for GGWP.Pro who upon their successful promotion campaign last season as Division One champions, they have had some roster issues with their infamous russian meatshot machine, msh. Resembling something out of A Streetcar Named Desire, msh has left the roster, been replaced then rejoined as it appears the cries of "HEY WHITEGLOOOOOW" could not be resisted by the legendary Russian medic. The reasons and motivations about msh remain a mystery to me so far, perhaps the Russian scouts style of being extremely aggressive and dying a lot or maybe just his attitude is a motivating factor behind some of these decisions as of late. Either way, the anticipated return of Reko, who many readers will know as the co-star of this epic frag video with his buddy Redddz may be on hold for the time being. Whilst a lot of the drama for this team is focused on one side of the scout combo, Atomic has quietly settled into his new role as UnHuman's replacement in the scout partnership and surprised many with his performances, as he has never been seen as true Premiership quality on his former class as Soldier, he has come into scout and played pretty well so far in the pre-season, certainly better than his meatshotting W+M1 fragging partner.

A top quality, stable scout pairing may be lacking for GGWP.Pro (despite some good performances, such as a map win versus Epsilon) but their Soldier pairing of Forsak3n and Shadowburn is highly rated by many. Forsak3n has of course enjoyed previous success in Russian teams like Last Man Standing as well as being part of the bronze placed TSE side of 2 seasons prior, but now seen as a senior figure in the Russian scene, the man now living in the UK will be bringing some experience from his days on Byte's team, adopting a more traditional style of TF2 opposed to the stereotypical go-Kritzkreig-style we all know and love Whiteglow and Gdk for. Despite this, it isn't Forsak3n who steals the headlines in the community rather the frag clip loving, pogo-jumping roamer sensation Shadowburn whom many have been tipping him as the best thing to come out of Russia since Mikhail Khodorkovsky (oh snap political jab), but no doubt Shadowburn is one of those players expected to make Prem come alive this season, hopefully for his sake the pressure of expectation isn't too much. Finally completing the roster, I may have touched on Gdk, the Kritzkreig machine who has shared numerous successful partnerships with Whiteglow in his time and is certainly amongst the best Demoman in Europe let alone Russia. But he has never truly managed to hit the heights due to his insistence of being in all-Russian speaking teams, perhaps an issue with language but so far for GGWP.Pro it has been working out, if only they can sort their scout combination out then finally we can see gdk start to go big in Prem.

4-25 #

*Dikker*	*Death*	*Shyyou/Anak*	*Comedown* or *Lippy*	*kensi	*sid*

Another "Russian" team in Prem, the first time in ETF2L history we see two seperate sides flying the Ruskie flag, although this team seems to be more of a former Soviet state combination, with Belarus, Ukraine and the motherland represented in this hard-working, long standing side. The Division One runners-up could not edge out their comrades GGWP.Pro last season, but overcame LEGO in a tense (though stalemate-filled, described by head-admin Permzilla as "The most Boring Game ever") playoff match to earn their Premiership spot and it seems they have more or less kept the same roster that took them there. These guys are known for their combination of longevity, being the longest lasting team together in Prem this season as well as having a pocket soldier that none of us know his real name...is it Anak? Or Shyyou? Or some combination of weird Russian symbols (котики)...who knows, the guy isn't even Russian apparently, he's from Belarus. I don't know too much about him to be honest, playing against him in the past I can define him as "decent", however the real standout players for this 4-25 roster are (like with most teams) in the Scout and Demo department. Death has been around for a while now but lately his performances have warranted him to be one of those underrated Demo's in European TF2, consistently dealing damage and generally having very good positioning (and a TF2 brain), the Ukrainian is one to look out for in the coming months as he has his first taste of Premiership TF2. But it is his countryman, Kensi we all have our eye on, the Ukrainian Scout is one of those really talented players, especially with the sniper rifle making him a handful to deal with for most other teams and pre-season performances justify his measurement of "Good gamer" on the hype scale, but like with everyone else on this 4-25 roster, he is making his Premiership debut so the higher level of competition could stunt his recent level of good performances.

Now onto the rest of 4-25, with these guys since I do not know too much about them as of late, I found it quite hard to point to who their main players might be. However despite missing a few games lately, Comedown seems to be the roaming soldier of choice for 4-25 - Less well known than his countryman, Shadowburn and less prolific for his MGE reputation than Empty, this man must feel like a bit of an unknown for many unfamiliar with Russian TF2 and despite playing versus him (with his love of aliases) I still don't 100% know what he is capable of. He could burst into the scene and cause problems like roamers like to do, kill medics, demos, force ubers, control the flank, deal a lot of damage or he could "sideshow it up" and play like he is drunk (The InfoLAN vods cannot be erased young Joshua), it's hard to say at this stage. The same goes for Kensi's scout partner, normally Sid who has been a long time player in the competitive scene, seemingly his role in the team is the "support role" as Kensi shines, Sid keeps the cogs spinning, alongside another backup, Abra on scout. To complete the roster, we have surfin' bird Dikker on Medic, a solid and upcoming player who is known for his sick dodging skills and ability to escape danger. If it had been him in The Great Escape, not Steve McQueen you can guarantee he'd be sipping win on Lake Geneva. Overall 4-25 bring a solid roster in their third season together ready to prove themselves at the top level and having already picked up their first silverware of the season in the form of the Pre-season Turbine Cup, defeating C.Play in the Final. I think this team could be dark horses to push for that 4th place spot, depending on how other teams perform. It all comes down to the likes of Death, Anak and Kensi to prove their worth in Prem.

Saints #

*Ond Kaja*	*Smirre*	*Rag!*	*Caps*	*Dennia*	*Alba*

Another team reforming and being put straight into Prem, Saints are back and after failing to get the placement they wanted in Prem a few seasons back, they're here in Prem with arguably a weaker side than they had then. This team has a few seasons of history together and their last outing in Season 16 in Division One did not go very well as they struggled, famously blamed on them "losing motivation." Despite this they are back with least 4 of the same roster - Ond Kaja as Medic and (maybe the) caller brings with him a wealth of experience as Medic, certainly one of their more experienced and tactical minded players, but he will be healing a rag-tag soldier named...Rag! who is fairly unproven and Caps on roamer who they have played with a while. Smirre their Demoman is good, does big damage on mids and in team fights, overall one of their stronger players but most of the eyes are on the Scouts - Dennia and Alba. Now this pair are not proven in Prem, though Dennia has been well known in Highlander for his performances and use of unlocks, it's unknown was he can do meanwhile former Reverto scout Alba left the team before they got big, winning the Pete Best award but the dude is back in TF2 (great to see, one of the nicest guys in TF2) and jumps straight into Prem. A lot of commentators see Saints as one of the weak links in Prem with this scout pairing one of the weaker ones but we cannot really tell what they will do until we see them, though I would expect Saints to be fighting to avoid relegation.

Not much more to really say about them, I haven't seem them too much, my expectation is they will lose to the top half of the league and challenge the bottom half, certainly capable of turning in performances versus lower half, I think they can cause a few upsets, a lot of people will be expecting them to crumble but they will know how good they really are and might make a few heads turn.

Lazy Pandas #

*Steve*	*Hildreth*	*Zoob*	*Muuki*	*Lazybear*	*Tracker*

For my own team, I cannot really say anything as they are my team and naturally I want to praise all my teammates but be impartial. So to state a few facts, we're a new team with every player on our team starting their TF2 careers in Highlander (except me, but I am better known for it anyway) and all of our roster coming from top teams in the 9v9 scene. Forming for the first time this season, we have been together since halfway through Season 17 practising once or twice a week with a bit of a rookie 6v6 roster - Me and Zoob playing Prem before with Decerto/Furbo Pandas but Lazybear, Tracker, Muuki and Steve all playing Div 3 and below previously. So a huge jump for all of our team especially Steve who mains Pyro and has switched to Medic - A class he has never played an official match in either 6v6 or 9v9 (only a season as a Div 6 scout). Muuki is well known for his Medic killing ability and use of unlocks, Tracker was voted "Upcoming player of the season" in last season's Highlander as a sniper, Lazybear won 3 awards including MVP from Highlander last season whilst Steve won Pyro of the season. Those being some simple facts about us, with our team having a lot of Highlander pedigree however it means nothing in 6v6 when it's a different ball-game altogether.

I can't comment on our skill level, I expect we will be battling to avoid relegation with our lack of experience, especially as of writing this we have already lost 2 maps to 4-25... so the only thing left to do is share some quotes as I end this article.

Steve - "Is this Prem?" Muuki - "I'm using Conch team...I'm dead team" Zoob - "We fucked it up again."

FUN FACTS

• This season we see for the first time ever more players from Belarus with three (Tracker, Anak and Sid) than there are French TF2 players (fl1p and Knoxx).
• No fewer than 18 players this season will be making their Premiership debut this season.
• As with many other seasons, Sweden has the most players in Prem altogether with 10 expected to start for their team, followed by Russia with 8.