In the coming days, the 27th Season of ESEA’s Team Fortress 2 Invite division will begin, featuring the nine best teams in North America. As it’s (sort of) been for the past 25 seasons, the Invite division will feature a double-sided round-robin, with each team fighting one another twice throughout the three-month regular season, with the top four teams proceeding the playoffs.

With numerous roster shuffles and the upcoming Esports Arena Rewind II coming in February, the Invite season is looking to be one of the most competitive seasons in recent years.

froyotech’s roster for Season 27

B4nny’s superstar team, froyotech, are without a doubt a favorite candidate coming into the 27th season. Coming off of their sixth straight Invite win and their tenth Invite win in total, froyotech have proven themselves to be the North American powerhouse, being unmatched by practically any team. Nowhere is this more evident than the success of their previous season, attaining a +67 round difference in a perfect Regular Season and only losing four rounds across six maps in their perfect Playoffs run.

But with the end of season came the departure of their Pocket Soldier, sighguy. In his place came yomps from Ascent, with b4nny moving to Pocket Soldier. Yomps is most well-known for his tenures alongside teammates Bdonski and rando, having played in Ascent, RONIN, and EVL Gaming. With the addition of yomps, froyotech look to house possibly their strongest roster yet and possibly yet another ESEA Invite title.

We caught up with the team’s captain and Pocket Soldier, b4nny, to give us their thoughts on the upcoming ESEA Season and the newest addition to their all-star roster.

Coming off of your tenth first place finish in Invite, what do you hope to accomplish with your team this season?

It should come as no surprise that our goal is to go for championship number eleven.

How do you feel about your new addition, yomps?

Yomps has been far and away the best player we’ve had to contend with the past few seasons so he is a welcome addition. I’m always excited to play with confident players who have high impact and self autonomy, and no player out there really encapsulates those qualities as well as he does. I expect great things from him this season.

Do you have any worries over the new rosters in Invite?

I think this season is shaping up quite well. Ascent yet again seems to be our our biggest rival, and especially now with the histories between our two rosters it should lead to some intense matches. I think the race for playoffs is getting more and more contentious as well with Velocity, SVIFT and 8K all seemingly evenly matched, and potentially some determined dark horse teams filling out the rest of the division. I’m looking forward to it.

Do you feel there may be any obstacles your team will face in the upcoming season?

The biggest obstacles we will face will be the the early adjustment period with our new roster and roles. We are practicing hard for Rewind LAN and S27 simultaneously so we’ll hopefully iron out most of the kinks soon enough. After that, it’s mostly going to be a matter of keeping shade off Kritzkrieg.

In their first week of Regular Season, froyotech will face off against black swan and myanimelist on Badlands.

Ascent’s roster for Season 27

Ascent come into Season 27 with a season of disarray and discord behind them. In the previous season, Ascent were met with internal obstacles with the departure of roster-veteran rando, corsa, and Ma3laa from the active roster. In their places came paddie, showstopper, and sandblast respectively, to varying degrees of success.

Despite retaining a second place seed going into Playoffs, Ascent just barely managed to brush past SVIFT NA, winning the Upper Round 2–1. Going up against their adversary of froyotech next in the Upper Bracket Finals, Ascent were crushed by the frozen creamery powerhouse in a 2–0 loss, only managing to gain one round off of b4nny’s stalwart roster. Knocked into the Lower Bracket Finals, Ascent rematched against SVIFT NA. Despite their previous victories against SVIFT NA in the Regular Season and the Upper Round, Ascent were met with a devastating opposition, losing the Lower Bracket Finals 0–2 and going out in third place. It was the first time the roster had missed the ESEA Invite Grand Finals in nine straight seasons.

With the new season on the horizon, Ascent rebuilt their roster. With sandblast and showstopper off the team, as well as yomps’ departure for froyotech, Ascent picked up marmaloo from Velocity eSports, slemnish from SVIFT NA, and added corsa back to the active roster. With their bolstered roster and ESA Rewind II coming up, Ascent look to return to the Grand Finals once again and challenge froyotech’s regional dominance.

To give us some insight on the team’s outlook going into Season 27, we got in touch with Nursey, the team’s Medic, to give us their thoughts on the new roster changes and the upcoming season.

What’s your team’s goal this season?

Victory. Everyone on our roster has outstanding DM and a very solid understanding of the game. Once we find a way to mesh all our playstyles together first place won’t be too far of a possibility.

What are your thoughts on the new additions to Ascent for Season 27?

Marmaloo was the scariest roamer I’ve played against [last] season and I’m sure many can attest to how annoying and impactful his bombs are. Slemnish is an incredible scout, with almost no one matching in his 1v1 [capabilities]. These two incredible players are really going to help us go far. And of course, Corsa.

Do you think any of the new rosters for S27 might pose a threat to Ascent in the season?

I’ve no fear for any of the new blood or any team next ESEA season.

Do you think this season’s roster will be Ascent’s strongest ever roster?

It has the potential to be due to the mechanics of everyone being better than previous iterations. The only offset would be how new this roster, mostly our flank. The chemistry isn’t exactly perfect yet, but depending how hard we try I think that could be true.

Ascent will face off against Running with Scizors and Velocity eSports in their first week of Regular Season on Badlands.

black swan’s roster for Season 27

Embarking on their first season of Invite just a few months ago, black swan stand out as one of the youngest rosters to join the Invite brackets. While the team was unable to make a dent in matchups against teams in high Invite, black swan were able to prove a formidable opponent in the middle of Invite, taking rounds off of Faint Gaming, going 1–1 with The Sparkle Gang and myanimelist, and stomping Cat Noises in the Regular Season.

With a season of experience in the resume now, black swan look to strike harder in the upcoming season. To help them on their plight are Jaaay and charis, who both played together last season in Open, making playoffs but forfeited their first series. Along with them abroad comes ninjax from Argentina. Ninjax, as a seasoned South American player, comes with high talent and skill, but at the cost of ping disadvantage. With a new roster of untapped talent, ether looks to challenge the playoffs contenders and expand their talent to the Invite level.

To discuss the new talent, we got in touch with the team’s Pocket Soldier, mirrorman, to discuss the upcoming season and the new players.

What’s your team’s goal this season?

Our goal is do to as good or better than last season.

What do you hope to improve on this season from the previous one?

My main goal for the team is to try and gain more cohesion when we push out of areas. A lot of the time I feel like we don’t know what exactly we should do or aren’t coordinated with our pushes.

What made your team pick up ninjax as a scout? Will the problems with ping and language affect your team’s performance much?

Ninjax did good in his tryout and he loves anime which is a huge plus for us. From the tryout his ping didn’t really affect him too much, although we still probably haven’t played with him enough to determine how big of an impact it will have. It’s a worry, but not that big of one

What do you think of your team adding Jaaay and charis?

Jaaay is really good and has been unknown by a lot of people for a while. As for charis, we thought he was a solid med who everyone on the team has known for a while.

Are there any other comments you’d like to give about your team?

jynx’s taste in anime is awful

black swan will face off against froyotech and TFCrew in their first week of the Regular Season on Badlands.

Running with Scizor’s roster for Season 27

The beloved team of Running with Scizors make their return to Invite, five seasons after going out in 6th place under the ChampGG.8K name. The team features the familiar 8K core, with Skye, EvilMrMuffinz, Rekuso, and the eponymous Scizor. Adding to the roster comes the team’s Analyst and Coach Deathy, who previously played with the roster as a Pocket Soldier.

With Deathy on Coach and Jarrett rostered with Velocity eSports, Running with Scizors picked up sandblast and sighguy. Sandblast is known for his long tenure of leadership with Faint Gaming and his short stint with Ascent in the previous ESEA season. Sighguy has risen into prominence in recent seasons, gaining a third-place finish with Nutting to Lose in S24 and a first-place victory with froyotech in S26, albeit with a disappointing 7th place loss with LunatiK eSports in S25.

With two six place finishes behind them and with a return in one of the most competitive seasons of Invite yet, 8K look to channel their IM magic again and cut into the Invite playoffs for their first time. To give us some insight on the team’s plans going into the season, we talked to EvilMrMuffinz to give us their thoughts on the team’s reformation and the upcoming season.

What were the primary motivations behind reforming 8K?

The team formed on a whim when rekuso asked us to play again, no real motivations. Rewind lan is/was not a motivation. It is very improbable to see us at lan, not entirely impossible though.

What are you goals in the upcoming season?

With our new pickups, i could see us playing strongly. we would like to assume a playoffs spot. However, this is speculation, having not played with our full six yet.

What will Deathy contribute as the self-assumed Coach of the team?

I expect nothing less than excellence from our coach Deathy. His time in overwatch may have improved his brain functioning and eyes for strategy.

What are your thoughts on the additions of sighguy and sandblast to the team?

I’m excited to play with sandblast and sighguy. Sandblast and I have had a season together on Faint and the commanding Pocket Scout is very fun to play with. And sighguy obviously is a great player with extraordinary dm.

Running with Scizors’ first matchups for Week 1 will be against myanimelist and Ascent on Badlands.

myanimelist’s roster for Season 27

Myanimelist begin Season 27 as yet another one of the few teams that made their Invite debut in Season 26. In the previous season, myanimelist made a surprising run, beating out Faint Gaming in the first week and strolling through the season into a sixth place finish, a decent standing for a team’s first season in the highly competitive division.

With the new season comes a new roster, but only with the difference of one player. With goldfish being cut from the team, myanimelist has brought on tojo to fill in as the team’s Roaming Soldier. In turn, trippa will be moving over to the role of Pocket Soldier. With a familiar roster to last season, myanimelist look to improve their core this season and go beyond the stumble of sixth place they experienced last year.

To get a look at the team’s thoughts treading into the new season, we interviewed the team’s Pocket Soldier, trippa, to give us their thoughts on the new Roaming Soldier and the new obstacles going forward.

What do you hope to accomplish with your team this season?

We obviously want a playoff spot this season, just like last season. I believe the competition is slightly weaker in comparison to last season, so with practice we should be able to have a good shot at playoffs.

What do you hope to improve or change this season compared to last season?

We cut goldfish from our team after last season because he prevented us to scrim. The roster move we made of switching me to Pocket and picking up tojo to Roamer should allow us to scrim much more often this season and hopefully get more teamplay and consistency, whereas last season we mostly relied on dm to carry us.

How do you think your current roster compared to your team’s roster at the beginning of last season?

Right now, I think our roster is weaker than last season’s roster, but I believe it has more room for improvement. I’m not as confident on Pocket yet as goldfish was last season, but I believe in a few weeks we will be stronger than we were last season.

Are there any challenges internally your team might face this coming season?

I doubt we will have any internal problems that will lead our team to go through roster troubles or hurt our play. Despite many of us having reputations as toxic players, we get along well together and we didn’t really have any problems with each other last season other than missing scrims.

Do you have any other comments you’d like to give?

we love anime VoHiYo KonCha TehePelo TPFufun

myanimelist face off against Running with Scizors and froyotech on Badlands for their first week in their second season of Invite.

Hooligans for Hire’s roster for Season 27

With multiple teams going into the next season as their second season of Invite, Hooligans for Hire look at this season as their Invite debut. While not as skilled as many of the teams going into the ever-competitive division of Invite, Hooligans for Hire look to take the season in with the determination of improving and proving themselves against the best. To give us some insight on the team’s motivations coming into the season, the team Demoman, Shylo, was able to give us their thoughts on the team’s dive into Invite.

I think we’re the only team that has the drive to be something more than low invite. The hard truth is most of the sandbagging teams, while more invite ready than us, never want to be more than low invite and are happy cashing in the lower div checks. Give this team, full of players with an insane drive to improve a season, and see where they’ll go. I know that at least three of us have reviewed almost every single scrim up to this point and people that tune into my stream know that we always talk about how we could improve everything. Why that last push or hold failed, why it succeeded; it’s an entire team of the correct mindset to become something more than low invite. And that’s why I’m excited. Maybe not for this season, but for something a bit more down the line.

The primary core of Hooligans for Hire, comprising of faust, link, Phantom, and Reflecto, competed last season in the Open division (post-merge), where they made it to the Quarter-Finals of playoffs before losing to Velocity Black 0–2. With the additions of Shylo, a Demoman who has also achieved Open Playoffs, and Fabulous, a player with not just former Invite experience with fishy fishes, but also won ESEA Season 26’s Open division, Hooligans for Hire stand out as one of the most enthusiastic teams going into Season 27.

We caught up with Hooligans For Hire’s team leader, Reflecto, to give us their thoughts on the upcoming challenges the team will face in the fierce division.

What’s your team’s goal this season?

When I was making this team, our intention was to grow as much as we could as a team and get ready for Invite Season 28. Even though we were given the opportunity to move up to Invite in Season 28, our goal is the same. We want to improve and learn as much as possible to improve and we also want to not come in last.

Do you feel confident your team can make an impact against the other Invite teams?

Yes, I think that we have a very good chance of beating the other low Invite teams and hopefully, after growing as players, we will be able to compete with the bubble teams.

Which team would you say is the strongest or biggest worry for your team?

froyo they’re the best team

Are there any internal obstacles that might affect your team in their first season of Invite?

I think the biggest issue we might have is staying on our path to improvement. I picked my players for this season because we are all hungry, we all want to improve as players. Some of us have more to improve than others and I just hope we don’t forget that our goal is about all of us getting better, that we help each other as much as possible, and we remain open to criticism throughout the season. But everyone has a good attitude and I don’t think theres anyway the team dies, so I don’t have to fears about that.

Hooligans for Hire will face off against Velocity eSports for their first week in the Invite division.

TFCrew’s roster for Season 27

With a new namesake and sponsorship, TFCrew enter their second season of Invite after debuting in Season 26. In the previous season of Invite, The Sparkle Gang narrowly avoided a ninth place finish, beating black swan in the third week of Regular Season and going out in eighth place, with only two map victories out of sixteen.

Going into another run through the Invite season, TFCrew have retained their core lineup, with the exception of etney, who had to step down due to personal reasons. In their place, The Sparkle Gang have enlisted the aid of KTB, who will make his Invite debut with the team this season. KTB has been notable for his time playing in ESEA, having been playing in its TF2 divisions since Season 10. In his time, KTB has managed to achieve Intermediate playoffs on three separate occasions. With this season, KTB and TFCrew eye to improve themselves and their team and snagging victories against the top of Invite.

With the upcoming season on the horizon, TFCrew were able to give their thoughts as whole about the upcoming challenges in the new season.

What’s your team’s goal this season?

To stick together, have fun, snatch a few underdog wins, and improve enough to make our sponsor proud (#TFCrew!!) and ensure that split_ doesn’t have an aneurysm.

As the team’s second season in Invite, what does your team hope to improve?

The way the team has traditionally functioned involved Stochast1c and split_ making the majority of decisions. This season we’re trying to wean ourselves off of micro calls and learn to make smart calls and plays independently.

Are there any obstacles your team will have to overcome this season?

June yelling about minimum damage splash rockets, Spamfest convincing Stochast1c that Engineer to push last isn’t a joke, split_ scaring away KTB with his dad fetish, and smitty’s hatred of anime.

In Week 1 of the Regular Season, TFCrew will face off against froyotech and black swan on Badlands.

Velocity eSports’ roster for Season 27

With a playoffs debut in Season 26, Velocity eSports have solidified their roster as one of the strongest in North America. Going into their third season of Invite action, Velocity eSports look to go deeper into the Invite bracket and achieve 195 km/h. But with the next season comes the loss of their Roaming Soldier marmaloo, who was traded with Ascent for showstopper. With their new Roaming Soldier, Velocity eSports look forward to go beyond the fourth place finish of seasons past.

Along with that comes ESA Rewind II, which Velocity eSports were invited to the Closed Qualifier of. In the Closed Qualifier, Velocity eSports were unable to speed through the bracket, experiencing friction in matchups against SVIFT NA and Ascent, and ultimately going out in third and being forced to go through Rewind II’s Open Qualifier. With strong losses to both Ascent and SVIFT NA, the question is whether Velocity eSports will be able to break its fourth place grip in the upcoming ESEA Season.

For a look into the roster’s upcoming season, we briefly interviewed Jarrett for their thoughts on the new challenges in the season.

What goals does your team have this season?

Our teams goal this season is to get another go at a playoff run for the opportunity to do better than last time.

Why did your team choose to pick up showstopper for the upcoming season?

We picked up show because we liked him and he was willing to commit to playing/improving with us.

Are there any possible obstacles your team could face this season?

The biggest obstacles our team could face this season are probably inter-team, such as synergy on certain maps, ect. As long as we work to overcome those types of issues, I don’t think S27 will be any harder than S26.

Ascent and Hooligans for Hire stand as Velocity eSports’ first opponents for Week 1 of the ESEA Regular Season.

SVIFT NA’s roster for Season 27

SVIFT NA have struck the Invite division as one of the strongest teams in the North American region, achieving the unthinkable by deny Ascent their Grand Finals appearance in a spectacular 2–0 fashion. But with the roster reformed, it’s unknown whether SVIFT NA will be able to achieve the same feats the roster of yesteryear were able to demonstrate.

While the team has retained its scout highfive, the roster itself has been completely overhauling to the point of it being closer to Gnomercy than last season’s SVIFT NA. In place of slemnish, garbuglio, marmaduke, delpo, and phorfor arrive botmode, aim, laz, yight, and zilly.

Along with the upcoming season of ESEA, SVIFT NA have also qualified for the ESA Rewind II LAN event. While the team was able to sweep through the likes of Velocity eSports, the new roster was unable to demolish Ascent in the same fashion that the team was known for in the Lower Bracket Final of the ESEA Season prior. With eyes on LAN and another Grand Finals appearance, SVIFT NA have propped themselves up as a strong playoffs contender.

To give us some insight on the new roster, we interviewed team Scout, highfive, to give us their thoughts on the upcoming season.

What do you hope to accomplish this season with your team?

get better and be ready for lan

How do you think your team will compare with your newly formed roster?

we’ve got work to do but i’m confident in our skill, it may be a whole new roster but we’ve all been around a while, we’ll be ready.

How much of a threat are the other newly formed Invite rosters to your team?

whatever

Are there any possible obstacles your team could face in the next season?

circa is on demo please help us

We later interviewed aim, the team’s Pocket Soldier, for his thoughts on the new SVIFT NA roster and the upcoming challenges in the new season.

What do you hope to accomplish this season with your team?

When we formed the team, it was with the intent of playing at LAN. Although that is within a month, we hope to place well. Towards the end of the season we hope to be able to contest with the titans of NA: froyotech and Ascent.

How do you think your team will compare with your newly formed roster?

I think this roster is great and has potential. Yight appears to be improving quickly on demoman but only time will tell. Laz is a really good player who deserves recognition. Other than that I think we can go tic-for-tat if everyone is on their A-game.

How much of a threat are the other newly formed Invite rosters to your team?

When it comes to other teams and the great NA roster shuffle of everyone trying to grab players at the last second, I think we could pick to our hearts desire and couldn’t choose a better roster than this. In other words, we aren’t that focused on the new teams as a threat; we’re focusing on LAN and near the end of the season.

Are there any possible obstacles your team could face in the next season?

Obstacles that we could foresee in the future of next season is if any of our players get poached. With lan being over after this season; a couple of players, I feel wouldn’t hesitate to jump ship and cause some top teams to shuffle around for players.

Do you have any more comments about your team?

We hope to have a great season and get some new fans.

SVIFT NA will begin the ESEA Season against TFCrew on Badlands.