SVIFT are returning to Premiership with a brand new roster full of young blood.

SVIFT is a name that’s well known by TF2 players worldwide. Not only have they sponsored top teams in both Europe and North America, they have supported teams from all around the globe. After the dissolution of the SVIFT roster that went on to become tf2easy, danny took the name of SVIFT back to Division 1 for season 41. The team has gone through many changes since then to make the jump up to Premiership, and danny is the only original team member left. Now with a roster of players who are facing a Premiership season for the first time, SVIFT have it all to play for.

SVIFT sealed their Premiership slot last season when they won Division 1. Since then, they’ve lost Warped and mak and replaced the two with some fresh faces: EDK and ympo join the SVIFT roster for the Winter Showdown 2023. EDK and ympo are both new exciting prospects in the Premiership sphere. EDK first started playing in ETF2L in 2019, making his way to the playoffs of the Fresh Meat cup before losing out to amp-t. Since then, he’s played a handful of seasons, slowly climbing up through Mid and hovering around High. EDK’s most recent claim to fame is coming 2nd in AMS’ MGE cup. EDK bested some top level players and made his way to the Grand Finals, where he put up a respectable showing against Silentes. Although he lacks some experience, he may very well be danny's secret weapon for conspiracy to organise a Kurdish takeover of ETF2L.

ympo has a similar story: after starting ETF2L in 2020 ympo has been hovering around Division 2 for a while. Most recently he came 2nd in Division 2 with the core of the roster that would go on to become Nati Noot (the team). If they can make Premiership, why can’t he? With ympo and EDK rounding out the roster for SVIFT, this season will be a real showcase of their practice and cohesion as a team. Without the seasons and seasons of Premiership experience that’s come to be expected from the top teams in Europe, SVIFT could easily be a dark horse favourite, or maybe they’re just all hot air.

Rounding out the rest of the roster are Scouts $neaky and pandemic. $neaky and Medic Gragery are the longest members of the current SVIFT roster, excluding danny. They joined the roster during its second season, Season 42, and have stayed for the ride since. $neaky did, however, play Season 41 alongside ympo in Division 2. Pandemic has the longest history in TF2 out of anyone on the team, making his ETF2L debut back in 2013. After a four year hiatus from 2018 to 2022, during which he played at the top level in ozfortress, pandemic returned for glory. After losing the Premiership Qualifiers match for Autumn Season 2022, he jumped ship to SVIFT and went on to win Division 1 with them. Not a bad comeback after four years away.

Last but not least: danny. danny is not a name that needs an introduction in many parts of European TF2. Known in the German community for his work on rebuilding the community, he helped to organise the BundesLAN (BundesLAN 2 coming soon) and was involved in the early planning process of the RCADIA Fortress LAN event. Outside of the German scene, danny has built up a reputation for himself as a strong and diligent player, with solid finishes in both online play and at LAN events. With the new SVIFT roster built up, danny will be hoping to bring back some glory to the German brand name that used to rest on the summit of competitive TF2.

We reached out to danny to ask some questions about the new SVIFT roster and his hopes for the upcoming season.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: How did you end up hearing about ympo and EDK as potential players to bring up to Premiership with the team? Was there a moment that convinced you they had the capacity to play at the top level?

I always knew EDK was a super skilled player mechanically, and that he already had some experience with some top teams on other classes, so it was just about learning the role for him and letting him settle on a class quickly.

Ympo was always on my radar (& sneakys) as a great demoman that lacked a bit of molding to really hit his potential. So far he's exceeded all of our expectations and is improving very quickly, so we're pretty happy with picking him up.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: How would you rate the competitiveness of the current Premiership table? Can we get a prediction on your placement at the end of the season?

I'm gonna be honest, it's going to be a really tough season for us. None of us have any premiership experience and we're up against some really good teams. Last season, we were beating some of the mid-low level Prem teams pretty consistently, but now even the mid level prem teams are a lot better, i think it speaks volumes about how competitive things will be. Our goal is to beat 1-2 teams and show that we can be competitive with as many teams as possible and learn as much as we can on the way, i'm hoping we can show that off and sneak our way into a 6th place finish, but we're taking it one game at a time and just trying to improve with each one.

TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Are there any players in Premiership this season that you feel are underrated and will surprise people once the games start?

All of the other teams have mostly very highly established players. I think EDK is really gonna surprise people on roamer, it's crazy to me how he's already so good at it. If I had to say someone from another team I'd probably say Brujman, that guy is really fucking good.

shoutout an meinen cousing eren aus ludwigsburg, stabilster bre aller zeiten, an ignis (wir heiraten bald in mallorca) und an money boy

Looking strong but tempering their expectations for the season, SVIFT are:

• Pocket Scout: pandemic
• Flank Scout: $neaky
• Roamer: EDK
• Pocket: danny
• Demoman: ympo
• Medic: Gragery