While known to many as the powerhouse of Europe, Se7en's roster has not been without difficulties, with their lineup undergoing some minor turbulence in the recent months.
But as ETF2L Season 31 inches closer, Se7en has announced the roster for the upcoming season of competitive, as well as events beyond. The reformed roster sees the return of Raymon and kaptain, who had previously left the team after their third-place finish at Rewind II. With the return of the famed Raymon to the roster, Starkie has moved off of the Medic class, instead returning to the Soldier class as the team's Roamer.
Raymon makes his return to Se7en (picture by Ness "uberchain" Delacroix and Jasmine "Jasbutts" Ho)
Before the two previously-tenured players returned to Se7en, AMS and adysky had parted ways with the team following the conclusion of Insomnia63. According to kaidus, the team knew about the players' departures prior to the LAN event, and thus eyed kaptain and Raymon for the next iteration of their roster. "The point is basically we never intended to cut anyone," kaidus told us. "We just made a lineup based on the information that was available to us."
During our time with kaidus, he also told us about how the new roster formed and what his goals for the team are in the coming months.
We came up with the idea for this line up off the back of i63 when we believed AMS and adysky had to quit. I guess the LAN reignited a lot of people's interest in TF2 — for the first time in a long time, it felt like there were so many players I would have loved to play with, but bringing back kaptain and Raymon — as well as switching Stark to a combat class — was the best choice for us in the end.
Copenhagen Games is our main goal and motivation, but it's a long way off still, so we are going to be taking things slow and just play a few nights a week for now and hopefully avoid burning out. As always, we will try to win every competition we play in, and I'm sure we will up the intensity as time goes on. Episode III isn't something that people are able to commit to at this point, although I personally would like to go so it's possible we will see a different roster for that event.
We also spoke to Raymon, who returns to TF2 after a six-month break, about his return to Se7en and his hopes for the team going forward.
I initially took a break from TF2 to focus on academics as well as work. My passion towards the game has never died down, it was just temporarily suspended. At this point, I have more time to commit to playing again, and after watching i63, my desire to compete is as fresh as ever. Coming back to the game, my goals are to reclaim the skill I'm known for, win ETF2L, and become a world champion again.
Rewinding their roster back, Se7en's lineup is now:
- Scout: Thaigrr
- Scout: Thalash
- Roamer: Starkie
- Pocket: kaptain
- Demoman: kaidus
- Medic: Raymon