In the recent Unity Cup NOOBPANZER battled hard against some of the best players from both Europe and North America. After reshuffling and refuelling they are now turning their turrets to face the ETF2L Premiership elite, and have assembled an experienced battalion that belies their team name.
Commanders ggggggg (aka Joe) and AMP-T broke through into Prem together with nunya in Season 39. Having now both firmly established themselves in the division, they used the Unity Cup as a bootcamp to test out new roles. AMP-T is playing Roamer, having predominantly played a loose Pocket on his last few teams, while ggggggg is proving to be a Joe-of-all-trades by taking up Demoman for the first time in Prem.
YeeHaw is the highest profile member of the team, with the superstar Scout claiming Premiership titles with nerdRage in Season 36 and Witness Gaming in Season 40. His impressive consistency is showcased by making the top 3 placings in Prem in seven consecutive seasons (S34-40) and amassing four ETF2L awards in that time. While his ability to adapt to new surroundings will be tested once more, YeeHaw will be able to call in two allies from previous operations.
vani was a runner-up in Season 38 with FAINT Gaming and while having not played many officials in the past year, the veteran medic still retains great enthusiasm for the game: do not expect his fabulous mechanics to show too many signs of rust. Requiring a diligent Pocket Soldier, they added ronz who has a penchant for high impact playmaking, and was a key component of the Season 39 Ora Elektro team that also finished second. So along with ggggggg (S40's Ora Elektro) that means four members of the team have made Premiership Grand Finals.
Despite this formidable chassis, equipping the final armament required precision. It was 2300 military time on the eve of the Season 42 campaign when NOOBPANZER finally completed their roster, and in turn saved hemp from the prospect of yet another Division 1 season. While she had standout performances in recent trust the process and The Bus Crew line-ups that struggled in the top division, hemp will be hoping that this vehicle will be the one to drive her to the top of the scene.
To get some insight into the team’s prospects, we talked to ggggggg:
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: You are a new team without a previously established core of players, what was your process for building the team?
The core of me, YeeHaw and amp-t had just played the kaidus cup together and wanted to try to make something for the season and potentially more. Our roster ended up changing a lot during preseason so we just had to find people who were available and we were compatible with.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: You've played with a few different Scouts recently, why did you end up picking up hemp?
I’ve played with hemp in the past on some odd projects throughout the years and always rated her. Luckily an opportunity opened up and we jumped at the chance to pick her up especially since we were in desperate need of a player.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: You've played both Scout and Soldier in recent seasons, what has motivated you to switch over to Demoman?
Historically demo was always probably my main and best class and I’ve been trying to play it since coming back for season 39. I’ve lost all interest in scout and while I still enjoy soldier, I thought it was time to finally come back to my favourite class.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: What are your goals for the season and potentially for the Insomnia LAN coming up?
No specific goals in mind, just doing as well as possible throughout the season and improving together. Staying together would be nice too and insomnia is something we've discussed, but we'll just have to see what happens for now.
After trading points with top5rocket in Week 1 and facing a fallible tf2easy this week, NOOBPANZER have every reason to aim for playoffs this season. With their eyes on the prize, they are:
- Pocket Scout: YeeHaw
- Flank Scout: hemp
- Roamer: AMP-T
- Pocket: ronz
- Demoman: ggggggg
- Medic: vani