Our local Resident Sleepers have informed us that yet another highlander season is coming to an end.
The boys from Tourettes Chessclub have shown the rest of Europe that they’re still the champions in boardgames and the 9v9 format.
As is custom, we’ll host an award show to see who is the most popular videogamer from the season, so scroll down and vote for quintosh the player you think deserves it!

A reminder for the Premiership players, please make sure to fill in the highlander feedback form so that next season can be adjusted to your needs. Ask your leaders or contact kKaltUu if you have trouble finding the link.

All the VODs from Season 8’s matches are available here.

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prtyboiz are being put through the wringer when faced with yet another of the top teams early on this season. After a defeat against Se7en fresh in mind prtyboiz will need to change something up if they want to avoid a similar fate at the hands of nerdRage.tf2. The Tigers are going into this fixture after a comfortable win against LEGO where we saw Zebbosai playing a plethora of classes, so the real mystery is which setup they will be running tonight. Regardless of who plays what, one cannot underestimate a roster where everyone save for medic Bulle has received one or more End of the Season Awards. Will alle be able to outmanoeuvre demoman counterpart ryb and lead prtyboiz as they go into battle against the goliath that is nerdRage.tf2? Join .kr4tos, kaidus and DavidTheWin at 21:15 CEST to find out.

Starting off the Premiership games of the week we have Se7en fresh off a a victory going up against the resident Russians of prem 4-25. 4-25 secured both maps last week against Wonderland but it wasn’t as easy as one might have expected. However we did see atomic- on scout playing great across both maps, netting him the most points in the first week of fantasytf2. With 4-25 aiming to get at least fourth place it would be a huge boost if they manage to grab some points off their adversaries. But atomic- will be facing two powerhouse scouts in wltrs and Hafficool this time, will he continue his reign on the fantasytf2 ladder or will Se7en take another step towards the crown they’re aiming for? Tune in at 21:15 CEST with Twiggy, Samski, ondkaja & Jon

How time flies – it seems only yesterday that we were speculating on how Season 8 would pan out, just minutes ago that we were wondering who would make it into the playoffs, mere seconds since PremTech and Tourettes Chessclub duked it out in the Semi-Finals, and here we stand with the Grand Final looming over us. After dispatching BAITO‘s gang for the second time in as many weeks across three maps, ondkaja now needs to marshal his troops for a clash with Highpander©.

BlackOut TV will be bringing you the action live from 20:00 CEST on Sunday 24th May, with everyone’s favourite velvet-voiced hunk CeeJaey joined by nobody’s favourite Irishman Bulow on the caster’s couch. Last but not least, we have our very own Jon on camera & production duties.

The Teams

Highpander

It seems only fitting to start things off by taking a look at the top seed – Highpander© sat proudly atop the table at the end of Week 7, earning themselves a rest while the other two top teams had to work for a place in the final. After a disappointing third place finish in Season 7, Hildreth will be looking to take home the Gold this time and scupper Chessclub’s chances of retaining their Premiership title.

Highpander©

• Scout: Kissakala
• Soldier: zoob
• Pyro: Steve!
• Demoman: Hildreth
• Heavy: Polk
• Engineer: nijoonen
• Medic: Spreijer
• Sniper: phromelo
• Spy: Grenja

Season 8 Highpander©, on the whole, look a stronger team than we saw in Season 7. The move of Kissakala to Scout has proved to be inspired, with the Finn putting in big performances week after week and seeming far more comfortable than he ever was on Medic. Spreijer has stepped into the vacated slot with ease, combining with Hawaiian Heavy lifter Polk and Polish Pyromaniac Steve! to form a rock-solid combo for Hildreth to command.

zoob continues to be one of the best playmakers in Highlander, with a near unrivalled ability to produce the goods for his team exactly when he needs to. phromelo does a pretty good job of that, too – he remains the undisputed King of Highlander Snipers, and there have been no signs of a Season 7 style vanishing act when the pressure is on.

Engineer may not be the flashiest of classes, but nijoonen does a stellar job of supporting his team and DM’ing with his flank and has been a part of the team since its creation back in Season 5. Grenja has once again been one of the standout Spies in Prem, with a real knack for clutch Medic picks focussed around a more stealthy cloak-and-knife heavy style than we see from other Spies in the top division.

Tourettes Chessclub

Moving on to Tourettes Chessclub, the Season 7 champs have recovered from the loss of their leader and talisman Scissors to claw their way back into contention for the Season 8 title. Looking to be the first team since the legendary SNSD to win back to back Seasons, Chessclub found themselves in the unlikely position of underdogs in their Semi-Final clash with PremTech with many tipping them to crumble under the pressure and give up the ghost early. No such luck for BAITO – the usual suspects turned it on when it counted: inso and blub surpassing the 100-kill mark across the three maps, with BreakfasT_Jr not far behind. The brief slump that saw Chessclub drop three points to WASP on Sunshine seems to be well behind them, with the team firing on all cylinders and ready to give Highpander© a game they’ll never forget on Sunday.

Tourettes Chessclub

• Scout: Lazybear
• Soldier: ondkaja
• Pyro: Lex
• Demoman: blub
• Heavy: BreakfasT_Jr
• Engineer: cherryrendezvous
• Medic: roban
• Sniper: inso
• Spy: Khazul

Chessclub are once again borrowing Lex from Fair Enough, a player whose performances in Prem this Season have left him rated one of the best Pyros in Europe and a worthy adversary for Steve! when it comes to the end of Season awards show. After originally being brought in as an occasional sub, blub appears to have become Chessclub’s go-to Demoman – putting out big damage week after week and surprising us all with his smart take on Highlander play. BreakfasT_Jr is, as ever, top of the table when it comes to Heavies, and his own personal physician roban has had a run of fine games after his initial stutters and despite his hearty drop rate.

Lazybear‘s comeback was heavily hyped, and for good reason – the former itsallgood Scout has been on fire so far, barely missing a trick despite a Season on the sidelines (getting away from Bulow probably has something to do with it too). Joining him on the flank is ondkaja, impressing in his first term as President of the Chess Club after a landslide victory in the elections and going ham in every official so far. cherryrendezvous continues to add to his already sterling reputation with efficient and consistent performances on Engie in his second Season in Prem.

Recovering Spy main inso has done more than enough to convince us that his switch to Sniper is for real – boasting excellent Sniper vs Sniper stats and finding himself close to top fragging almost every game, he is one of the few players capable of contesting phromelo and is arguably more consistent than his Polish counterpart. Khazul missed out on the Semi-Final, but his playstyle is inarguably one of the most irritating for opponents to deal with and he will be playing a big part in this match by peppering the entire enemy team with Revolver and Ambassador shots, with the odd cheeky stab thrown in for good measure.

And finally…

The bets over at Saloon.tf tell us that Highpander© will be going into the game as favourites, and they certainly have reason to feel confident given their strong performance in the regular Season. Tourettes Chessclub won’t be going down without a fight, though – these are two exceptionally evenly-matched teams who will both be fired up, hyped and raring to go come Sunday night. You don’t want to miss this one, so remember – BlackOut TV at 20:00 CEST.

Match Overview
Tourettes Chessclub vs Highpander©
Grand Final (Premiership)
Sunday, May 24th 20:00 CEST

cp_steel

2 - 1

pl_badwater

1 - 2

koth_viaduct_pro7

3 - 0

OVERALL
Tourettes Chessclub [6:3] Highpander©

Oh, and one more thing…

No Highlander article would be complete without a look at how the punters’ favourite Stacked are doing – sadly I don’t actually know, but I can leave you with a quote from their Chief:

b33p: hl has been dead since itsallgood got a default after not readying up

Your move, Bulow.

Here we are a week already under way and all games played save for this one. So relax and let the week come to a close with some top level competition. Facing off this evening is returning Prem player HYS’ team The Last Resort a team last seen in Season 17 when it claimed the 2^nd place in Prem, but that was a whole other team. However this does not change the fact that The Last Resort is one of the top contenders this season. Joining HYS are two other silver medalists: amppis and Herr_P as pocket and scout. Their opposition for the night, Danger Dogs just moved up from High but is not without prior Prem experience themselves: both .kr4tos and sheepy dog's hand have played at the top, .kr4tos doing so just last season. Will Danger Dogs prove if they’ve got the fangs to back up their bark and who will come out on top in the rivalry between sheepy dog's hand and supposed deity NiCO god's hand? Tune in with Admirable, kaidus and DavidTheWin on the camera as we bid adieu to week 1.