Posted on by bleghfarec

The Favourites

Thalash

Thalash Stark

Stark Drackk

Drackk kaptain

kaptain kaidus

kaidus Raymon

From the ashes of Crowns Esports Club, Se7en have been driven to continue the dominance that the Crowns name once beared. Featuring the core of the formerly mentioned Crowns Esports Club, Se7en are a force to be reckoned with.

Se7en first saw their arrival at Esports Arena’s Rewind Invitational, where they showed a strong presence, but only second to froyotech. Froyotech would go on to win both the Upper Bracket Finals and Grand Finals against Se7en, with the Grand Finals being fiercely fought by Se7en, but froyotech barely edging out a 3-2 victory. While they might had come only in second, Se7en still showed that they were still a dominant European powerhouse that could rival the best that North America and Australia had to offer.



Back home, Se7en regained traction, showing dominance in ETF2L Season 26 Premiership. The team would go undefeated in Regular Season, not even dipping a match into overtime. The same streak followed into Playoffs, where Se7en didn’t drop a single map, sweeping through Lowpander and Arctic Foxes to the Grand Finals, where Se7en once again swept through Arctic Foxes, taking the Grand Finals 3-0.

After Season 26, Se7en became more disjointed and disoriented upon the abrupt departure of alle and Puoskari, Stark and kaidus had to don their TF2 hats once again to fill in those shoes. But since, Se7en have struggled to find form. In ETF2L Season 27 Premiership, Se7en managed to squeeze through the upper bracket, taking down Lowpander and Arctic Foxes in a Se7en experienced a devastating 1-3 loss to Arctic Foxes in the Grand Finals, only finding a point coming from the upper bracket. This would be later followed up by a bitterly-fought 2-1 victory in the Essentials.TF One Night Cup #2, where SVIFT attempted to bring Badlands into Golden Cap, ultimately being shut down by Se7en every push.

But despite that, Se7en are an incredibly strong contender going into Insomnia 61. Se7en look to continue the legacy of Crowns Esports Club and become back-to-back Insomnia champions. But, standing in their way, another back-to-back Insomnia champion looks to keep that title for himself.

astt

astt SVMZI

SVMZI Silentes

Silentes b4nny

b4nny alle

alle Raptor

While there may be no North American teams in the Insomnia 61 Invite Group this year, NA has sent its third best to continue his domination of the I-Series. But while b4nny may be one of the most prominent players on SVIFT, he is by no means the biggest name on the team. Featuring legendary players astt, SVMZI, Silentes, and Premiership champion Raptor, SVIFT have assembled an all-star line-up that have been able to rival even that of Se7en’s.

But while some of SVIFT’s players have not competed at the highest level for some time, their talent has shone through in Essentials.TF’s One Night Cups and they’ve demonstrated that they’re one of the most formidable opponents and one of the favourites coming into Insomnia 61. But only time will tell if this team will prevail in its mix fashion or fall to the fate of Permination.

Mr.Epic

Mr.Epic Funs

Funs Muuki

Muuki uubers

uubers Hildreth

Hildreth Crayon

The infamous Lowpander have managed to stand up against the odds, from being the laughing stock of EU TF2, to being one of the most terrifying teams to face in ETF2L Premiership. Accompanied by the ever notorious Muuki, Lowpander have adopted an unorthodox play style, involving a “flex” that off-classes at unconventional times. But while this would weaken a team on paper, the Scout duo of Mr. Epic and Funs are able to contest the best of Se7en and Arctic Foxes. And all lead by the veteran Hildreth, Lowpander are one of the strongest teams going into Insomnia 61 with some of the highest upset potential this LAN.

The Underdogs

sorex

sorex credu

credu Samski

Samski PolygoN

PolygoN Elacour

Elacour Babs

Formerly known as unexpected, Ascent.EU have lived up to their former name in ETF2L Season 27 Premiership, being the only team that was able to take a map off of Se7en in Regular Season. While they did not make it into playoffs, their inane ability to take maps off even the best teams in Premiership has made them a team with upset potential. With Elacour of top5rocket standing in for adysky, Ascent.EU stand as a wild card this tournament and are one to live up to the Ascent name.

POT80

POT80 scrab

scrab AMS

AMS T0m

T0m Smirre

Smirre Serotone

After AMS’ brief dip into Overwatch and the dissolution of ChampGG.K!, Smirre formed team, which would eventually rebrand into bazooka esports and eventually ANTIC. But despite the strong line of talent, including Puoskari, ANTIC were unable to find their way into playoffs, landing in a comfortably 6th place in ETF2L Season 27 Premiership. With LEGO’s Pot80 standing in this I-Series, ANTIC look to make the most of their talented lineup and reach the peak of their skill to contend that they’re worthy enough to become one of the best teams in Europe.

Bloodis

Bloodis iatgink

iatgink Ignis

Ignis tobs

tobs phea

phea Menty

Also known as Loli Squad, Weebtunnel Tactics, are an unknown underdog this I-Series. After failing to qualify for Premiership twice in a row, Weebtunnel Tactics plan to make their mark this I-Series. After placing 2nd in ETF2L Season 26 High and 1st in ETF2L Season 27 High, Bloodis and his crew will go up against Premiership teams for the first time and prove themselves against Europe’s best.

alba

alba Evans

Evans Chris__

Chris__ Papi

Papi Scyper

Scyper condawg

NUNYA has struggled to gain a foothold in ETF2L Premiership for some time. Despite managing to qualify for the division two seasons in a row, they’ve always been crushed by the higher teams in the tier. Placing 7th in Season 26 Premiership and only managing to get 1 point from top5rocket in Season 27 Premiership, NUNYA have been unable to keep themselves stable in the ever competitive tier of Premiership. But with the addition of alba, Evans, and Chris, NUNYA look to go out with a bang and take revenge upon the teams that knocked them down in the Regular Season. While they might not have the most impressive record, NUNYA looks to turn heads and bring the best upsets it can to this Invite Group and gain back all the points they had lost in ETF2L.

Mayh

Mayh aidelos

aidelos Shoosh

Shoosh Callum

Callum Eemes

Eemes Marten

No Input is a LAN team featuring the core of the ETF2L High team mkcat. Under the banner of mkcat, the team managed to get to third place in the ETF2L High Tier, falling to the frenchies in the semi-finals, where they fought neck in neck, until eventually the frenchies took the scoreline 2-1 to proceed to the Grand Finals. With their success, Eemes set to attend i61 with the core players of his team and to continue their success in High against even those in Premiership. After beating Deox Fan Club in a convincing fashion in the Insomnia61 Invite Qualifier, No Input cement themselves as the last team in the Insomnia61 Invite Group. While they may only be in High, No Input have their chance to deal an unexpected blow to those that dare underestimate them.