The name may be unfamiliar, but the players of Stevie Wonder’s Aim School have been playing with and against each other for many a season in ETF2L's high divisions. Finally united, they are once more taking on Europe's top division.

In Season 38’s Division 1 finals yak’s Vibrams beat varnu and troy’s nunya, but when both teams entered Premiership the following season it was nunya that came out on top. Season 40 then saw varnu join yak on Vibrams, but they were knocked out in qualifiers by The League Of Shadows, featuring none other than troy and iusti. This team would go on to make it to playoffs, before being eliminated in fourth place by Projet [FR] Super Try Hard.

While Charlie was never on these rosters they also played in Prem in S38 and 39, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, before abruptly leaving Prem in S40 to reform CLARTED in Division 1, who made it all the way to finals before being put in second place by Foreskings. Similarly, after yak and varnu were eliminated from S40’s Prem qualifiers they dropped down to Division 2 to while away the time.

Meanwhile, Faust was elsewhere.

For three long seasons Faust played for Not The Fellowship, grinding their way up from Division 2 playoffs in S38 to Division 1 playoffs. Along the way, they took CLARTED to a Golden Cap (though with Faust roaming) and took a full six points off eventual winners Foreskings, which was enough to bring Faust to Stevie Wonder’s attention. They will have a full-time job on their hands with the heal-dependent combo of yak and Charlie, but with two seasons in Division 1 under their belt should be more than able to cope.

The most striking statistic of this team is the raw damage dealt by yak and Charlie in their previous seasons in Prem. In that time yak became one of Europe’s most murderous Demos, with more kills and damage than almost every other, though with this comes a similarly high number of deaths so against the high quality of this season’s teams it remains to be seen how their aggression will fare. Charlie, likewise, takes more heals than most other Pocket Soldiers but converts this into more damage than almost any of them, and pairs this with a surprising taste for the occasional spy play.

This is complemented by Flank Scout iusti’s supportive play, capturing more points with less heals than almost any other scout, and while varnu’s statistics were not overly impressive on their last showing in Prem they have since switched to Pocket Scout, so should naturally find more frags with the crumbs of healing allowed to them. With the aggression and damage from yak and Charlie the server should be a true scout’s paradise, and with Medic Faust frantically healing and Roamer troy making plays on the flank, this team should be an exciting one to watch.

We caught up with troy to find out how schooling is going:

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: You’ve played against each other for several seasons, how did you end up on the same team?

why yes, it is true that me, yak and even varnu to some extent have been rivals, enemies even at that! we wanted each other dead, nothing more would be more satisfying than the end of that guy, absolute hated that guys guts!, ill tell you something for free i definitely did not want to be ever on a team with this douche but i wound up on his team, an ally of the man i held so much hatred against, and why you have asked and ill get to that bit now in a moment. yak sent me a love letter when we matched on plenty of fish and inside was a link i typed into my google browser(micrograph edge) and it contained the etf2l roster of the team that yak pulled together last minute with some guys looking for a team, and my oh my, i had one reaction, this is sweet. i immediately impressed when i seen charlie and iusti since i have been involved with a them for a couple of jobs during the past few years so those guys are pretty awesome and we have lots of symmetry together, ive played with varnu in the past and my opinion on the little goober, [REDACTED] and then apparently faust just gave yak a tenner or something to be on the team so why not.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Statistically you have one of the most aggressive combos in Prem, is this deliberate or just their natural playstyles?

yes it is very true the players in my heal combination of players on the team the demoman medic and other 2 are definitely on the more aggressive side of things youve got that right! boy oh boy the things those guys get up to, id be lying if i said i had any idea what is going on but i dont because and little guy are just hiding out on the flank as war is commencing. playing with these guys is quite terrifying and im very scared to play more.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Looking at this Premiership division, what would a good season look like for you?

a good season for us would definitely be good yeah, thanks

We also got to speak to Demo yak about the potential changes to their class:

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: As a Demo player, how do you feel about the Iron Bomber change?

GOOD. game was better when it was med unlocks only + gunboats

Here to teach Prem a thing or two, Stevie Wonder's Aim School are:

• Pocket Scout: varnu
• Flank Scout: iusti
• Roamer: troy
• Pocket: Charlie
• Demoman: yak
• Medic: Faust