As with every Team Fortress 2 tournament at Insomnia Gaming Festival, the event will comprise of an Invite group — which you can find the preview of here — as well as an Open group, with both feeding into a double-elimination playoffs bracket. In the Open group, dozens of rosters from across the world and across multiple divisions duke it out for a chance to play against some of the best teams in the world. But before their efforts come to fruition at the NEC, let's examine their rosters and the players themselves.
chundergoons: planck, Streep36, Mopahh, jlebs, Mac, 009EFF
Is this LANturtle? Is this just fantasy? Looking like one of the stronger teams of the Open group, chundergoons is a collaboration between L A N T U R T L E and L A N T U R T L E a t e a m, both of which are ETF2L teams. With the former reaching playoffs and the latter having a fairly okay performance in ETF2L Season 33, maybe the sum of both will be stronger than the individual teams alone. If you’re looking for a decent team to make their way through the Open group with ease, keep an eye on this team.
Dreamteam du ghetto: godmode, scar, Pitts, Lucky-sun, NURWHAL, gilga
It wouldn’t be a LAN without confusing mishmash teams. With some well-established higher tier players, such as godmode and scar, the team is perfectly balanced — as all things should be. With two middle-tier players, NURWHAL and gilga, and finally some potentially out-of-practice older players, will they finish bottom of the table or somewhere near the top 8 for a playoffs spot? Who knows? I don’t.
Duckboys: cyanic, Maxi, Dandere, kola, thpathm, Haunter
Based on the Mid team The Brexiteers, who had a quackingly mediocre season, Dandere has been lured in to go down with the country. As an established decent Mid team with some new experience flowing through their veins, Duckboys is shaping up to be a team that could scrape a spot in the playoffs if they wanted, the question is: Will it all go swimmingly? Then again, what better way to celebrate Brexit than to exit the group stage?
Famine Esports: Sivik, Lucky, Sprite, Louis, Amik, Silves
Although the players of Famine Esports are a bit starved for practice, after all none of them playing in ETF2L Season 33, that just means they’ll come back hungrier than ever before. With no one in the team lacking below Division 2 experience, they'll have no excuse for going hungry for frags when it’s their time to shine. If everything goes right for them, they might even live up to their ETF2L team profile:
Going for the lan open bracket 1st place :D
FeLAN Follies: Dying Tom, B4ro, Bv, Faust, Nhaaj, Stuffed
Dying Tom’s brainchild, formed after his Mid team by a similar name pussied out in the last ETF2L season. The team largely consists of Mid players, and didn’t PICK ME UP FOR SCOUT, TOM. With some decent Mid players and Nhaaj large and in charge, this team is looking to be slightly ahead of the mid-table competition, if they put their mind to it.
Gamers For The Win: tiia, nicco, I <3 Sheep, Ascend, dbuBBle, karlllllll, prawn
Gamers for the Win are a Div 2/Mid mix, featuring Splogoo masters and the tiny men, a team that took Div 2 by storm with zero points at the end of last season, supported by karl, Ascend, and Prawn. Looking to improve on their Div 2 results with a mixed up roster, they will probably play all their games completely sober, and not meme at all. Look to this team for some serious meta TF2 gameplay.
geoff: Toast, FizzyPug, cloudy, Vclox, Seal, CeeJaey
Smell that? It's the scent of Highlander players. geoff (aka Strong Opinions) + Vclox return to sixes after an anticlimactic Mid season. With a Premiership sniper, Medic, Engie, Pyro, and TWO Spies, this team should be off-class heaven. On the back of winning DenLAN’s Highlander tournament as Strong Opinions, this team is looking to probably Lowpander meme their way into playoffs. Godspeed, you magnificent bastards.
Lost and confused: wynran, Crazy3k, wiitabix, Diane Abbott, Buck824, Wolfy
This team is confusing, to say the least, and probably lost too. Consisting of an Open player, two Low players, a Mid player, a Premiership Highlander player, and someone with two games on ETF2L. It’ll result in some fun games to watch for sure, but their name may forebode things to come.
Mr McVities, LANstanding biscuiteers: Frenchie, DR3AM, Hotep, Blob, Whip, Beno
An amalgamation of Low and Mid who play under similar names are joining forces to aim for mediocre results this LAN. Whip, Blob, and Frenchie all played under Mr McVities, Grandstanding HobNobs in Mid last season. Whereas Beno, Hotep, and Beno played under Mr McVities, Grandstanding Digestives in Low. Watch out for this team, if you want, I guess. Or watch Whip and dempsey’s drinking competition: Friday 22:00 CEST.
Neura Play: Kater, NEURÔNIO!, EduKobaiashi, CyberDollynho, Luixin, Araripe, Dantt
Qué ota?
help tractor: Row, Mirra, dempsey, Ironhawk, TheMackey5, Sintyre
Rolling up representing Scotland, Iceland, Ireland, Germany, Denmark and “Spain”, the international squad, who was only the second worst team at DenLAN 2019, is sure to lend a hand. They’ve got Row and Mirra the dwarf on Scout, which is like bangin', ye? Then they’ve got Ironhawk on Pocket and she's just the dog's bollocks. Sintyre on Medic who's a BEAST. TheMackey5 on Demo, whos a MONSTER. And dempsey also plays.
Not Dead Doggo: Squirrel_bvc, Dan, Lux, gubbins, ceegee, sneakeh
This bunch of lively dogs is a known mainstay of Mid, having played in it for the last eight seasons now. They never managed to break into playoffs, but that is probably because of their fluctuating roster more than anything. A bright spot for them is the presence of Lux, who opted to play in Division 2 last season with LEGO, adding some high-level experience to the mix. Their bark may seem worse than their bite, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the old dogs learned a few tricks.
Quality Control: Fryskie, Munky (blank), Thaigrr, Mont, SmAsh
Well, it seems like the quality standards have dropped quite low this year; they can’t even balance teams properly! Quality Control is one of these teams looking to smash more pints than enemy gamers, and it is not their solid 31st place in Low that will help make others take them seriously. Munky the audiobook narrator is probably the stand-out player for them. Oh, and Thaigrr is also here in what I assume to be a clerical error.
Poopist: samiface, xo, twiikuu, jun0, b0nes, maggles
Poopist is built around the core of the equally subtly-named 8===D, a Mid team with notable community memebers samiface and twiikuu, as well as local ELO farmer jun0. They've reinforced their roster with b0nes and maggles, veterans among veterans with 441 ETF2L matches combined between the two of them. While it might not carry them onto the next stage, it should be plenty sufficient to teach a lesson to some whippersnappers.
Sora Elantro: domiq, wylenn, Mike Rotch, ondkaja, phong, Elyassu
This Ora Elektro sister team has played decently in Mid this season, reaching the playoffs of the division, albeit with a slightly different roster. Reinforced by the addition of Elyassu and most notably ondkaja, these ambitious gamers will be ready to make a name for themselves by reaching for the sky or at least the top eight. And if that fails, there’s always the B- tournament.
Spacemen: Callum, Pandahh, Kronis, koston, Hysteria, Rosstifer
Spacemen are another team that hopes to go high and play amongst the stars. But for that to happen, they would require some strong thrust from all of their members and ᵗʰᶦˢ ʳᵒᶜᵏᵉᵗ ᵃⁿᵃˡᵒᵍʸ ᶦˢ ᵗᵘʳⁿᶦⁿᵍ ʷᵃʸ ᵗᵒᵒ ˢᵉˣᵘᵃˡ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐʸ ˡᶦᵏᶦⁿᵍ. Anyway, Spacemen could be pull off quite a few upsets, with them reaching Division 2 playoffs with four of their current players back in Season 31, primarily due to being spearheaded by Callum and his top-level experience.
The Bus Crew: aidelos, Deox, Yohn, Marten, Aubriac, Warped
Wait wait wait, I thought this was the Open Swiss preview...? Well, The Bus Crew might have ran a bit late and thus will miss out on the Invite Group. Nevertheless, these public transportation warriors are still a force to be reckoned with, and in fact are probably the most fearsome team in the Open stage. With five of their six players having previous Premiership experience, the only thing not going for them is probably a lack of recent involvement as a fair few of their roster has sat out the last season. Still, with the engine power to plow through even Premiership teams, no one in the Open group should be more than a mere speed bump to them.
Subway Overload: Solar, Circular, regen, JWB, shadu, Aelkyr
Subway Overload are here to kick ass and chew sandwiches... and they're all out of sandwiches. A mix created for the event, Subway Overload features a roster full of talented up-and-comers like Aelkyr, The prodigious TFTV writer who did not write this preview on his train to LAN after begging other writers to do his job is only a small part of the vast array of talent available on this roster, and I swear they didn”t exile me, I CHOOSE to sit away from thEM OK?!???
Team Paroxysm: blazeeight, ruin, Pecklesteiner, OakenTree, BigZZZ, Anevex, Ferret
Straight from the pits of Low, here is BLU Passport in a new coat, donning a new Medic. After a not so successful season — collecting only five points excluding default wins — the team banded up with bronze Low medic Ferret, and decided to pull up into LAN, not fearing how they might place against the best EU teams, and maybe getting to spectate a game or two while passing by.
The Jens Weber Society: Nas boii, Basti, lsd, b3arodactyl, j_, Tamir
Tamir and the boiis show up to LAN looking high and fly, with North American Invite veteran and LAN champion b3arodactyl tagging along during his studies abroad. Tamir spearheaded the ETF2L Jens Weber Society and has finished at a respectable third place in Mid Season 32, and a playoff spot in Division 2 the season after. Although only Basti has played the previous season on the accomplished roster, lsd and j_ had taken up the Medic and Soldier roles respectively the season prior. Unfortunately we won’t see Prem veteran alba on this iteration of the team, and with two Medic mains on the roster, this might be a case of too many healers in the society.
THE OCEAN: HOI, Hannes, James, Austin, Proky, Swanny
With their ETF2L page leaving a lot of doubt, we can all guess this team will appear at LAN. Who knows what drifts ashore. A Swedish Hannes did, and he decided to tag along with five Brits to pound at LAN. Starring a mixture of Mid and top level players, theoretically the team could stand out in the open groups, but uncertainty and the ocean go hand-in-hand.
Xypher: DigyB, Fenrir, Acecle, Coyo, Lava, Mould
Xypher is neither messing nor mixing around, bringing forward their ETF2L team of Season 33 to the NEC. Having made playoffs in Division 2, the team buses into the LAN event and seems solid, having edged out much of the opposition online, and seem likely to repeat such feats on LAN. But whether the team will be cracked and decoded by the harder mixes offline has yet to be seen.
ZOMBOCOM: Snorry, Thomson, AWJ, Cryo, Thompson, krokit, JackWalms
Welcome to ZOMBOCOM. Featuring three Dutch people carpooling in from Low, this team is probably on the greener side. Looking like a mix of the low team ZomboCom and some other players, the players are likely looking for a fun time at a fun LAN, with possibly even some wins.