Editing ESEA Season 22/Invite/Offseason

The '''ESEA Season 22 Offseason''' between [[ESEA Season 21|Season 21]] and [[ESEA Season 22|Season 22]] is taking place from the 22nd of April, 2016 to the 25th of May, 2016. It featured many roster changes and team folds, many more than seasons past.

[[File:indust at ESEA Season 18 LAN.jpg|thumb|''-bird noises'-'' former medic [[indust]].]]

'''-bird noises-''' were the first [[ESEA-I|ESEA-Invite]] team to make a roster change, dropping [[roamer]] [[Hellbent]] two weeks prior to the end of the [[ESEA Season 21/Invite#Playoffs|ESEA-Invite Season 21 playoffs]].<ref name="-bird noises- removes Hellbent">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/32848/ -bird noises- removes Hellbent]</ref> During the month long offseason the team trialled various different replacements for Hellbent before finally settling on [[ESEA-I|Invite]] veteran [[boomer]],<ref name="boomer joins -bird noises-, Linkuser out">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33341/ boomer joins -bird noises-, Linkuser out]</ref> who was last seen in [[ESEA-I Season 15]]. Team captain [[Vand]] spoke of the underlying concerns of boomer's lengthy downtime in a [[TeamFortressTV]] interview, stating that boomer has "a great attitude towards teamwork and the game itself that is very similar to the rest of -bird noises-", and "[his attitude] was one of the most important things for us to consider while we were searching for new additions to the team".<ref name="boomer joins -bird noises-, Linkuser out">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33341/ boomer joins -bird noises-, Linkuser out]</ref>

The addition of boomer also came the withdrawal of [[Linkuser]],<ref name="boomer joins -bird noises-, Linkuser out">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33341/ boomer joins -bird noises-, Linkuser out]</ref> who stepped in as [[scout]] for -bird noises- during the latter parts of the [[ESEA Season 21/Invite#Group_stage|Season 21 group stage]].<ref name="Linkuser replaces train on -bird noises-">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/31747/ Linkuser replaces train on -bird noises-]</ref> Linkuser opted to step down to focus on his real-life commitments, yet only five days later on May 4th [[corsa]] was brought in to replace him.<ref name="corsa to -bird noises-">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33404/ corsa to -bird noises-]</ref>

-bird noises'- long time medic [[indust]] was replaced by [[Nursey]] on May 17th, three days after the disbanding of [[Luca Goers]] of which Nursey captained, due to time commitments and a shift of the team's playstyle that both conflicted with indust.<ref name="Nursey joins -bird noises-">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33716/ Nursey joins -bird noises-]</ref> However, Nursey's addition was short lived as she later joined [[RONIN gg]] two days before the start of Season 22 to replace RONIN gg's former medic [[phorofor]].<ref name="Ronin cuts phorofor, poaches Nursey">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33898/ Ronin cuts phorofor, poaches Nursey]</ref> Vand expressed his frustrations regarding the transfer and how close it was to the beginning of the season, saying that "the manner in which this was all handled and the timing of it relative to the start of matches is really, really lame for the team that is now down a medic and is scrambling to solve that."<ref name="Vand's comment on Nursey leaving the team">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33886?page=5#149 Vand's comment on Nursey leaving the team]</ref>

| {{Player link|ca|Hellbent}}

'''Elÿsian Fields''', formerly known as '''The Bugs''', parted ways with four players during the Season 21-Season 22 offseason. Scout [[newspeak]], soldiers [[goldfish_]] and [[Cole]] as well as demoman [[mausy]] were all dropped from the team's active roster in late April,<ref name="The Bugs shuffle up roster, rename to Elysian Fields">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33290/ The Bugs shuffle up roster, rename to Elysian Fields]</ref> leaving only core players [[mu]] and [[Digi_]] left. Be that as it may, the team was swift to replace their losses; bringing in [[FARNSWORTH]], [[topshot]], and, four days later, [[kuestif]].<ref name="Elÿsian Fields roster history">[https://play.esea.net/teams/111717?tab=roster Elÿsian Fields roster history]</ref><ref name="Elysian Fields picks up kuestif">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33344/e Elysian Fields picks up kuestif]</ref>

Elÿsian Fields were still yet to bring in a second scout, however on May 6th the team's ESEA roster was emptied out.<ref name="Elÿsian Fields ESEA roster history">[https://play.esea.net/teams/111717?tab=roster Elÿsian Fields ESEA roster history]</ref> Elÿsian Fields made the announcement they had disbanded on May 8th, with captain mu stating that the team broke up due to a struggle to find another scout, poor performance in [[Glossary#Scrim|scrims]] and an ill-guaranteed spot in the Invite division.<ref name="Elysian Fields disbands">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33488/ Elysian Fields disbands]</ref>

[[File:blaze at i55.jpg|thumb|Season 22 will feature the return of legendary roamer [[blaze]] for team ''[[froyotech]]''.]]

'''froyotech''', reigning champions from the [[ESEA Season 21/Invite|previous season]], gained considerable attention when they announced that six-season long scout [[clockwork]] would be retiring once again from serious Team Fortress 2 competition in favour of Overwatch.<ref name="clockwork retires, blaze returns to froyotech">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33414/ clockwork retires, blaze returns to froyotech]</ref> Having retired initially at the end of [[ESEA Season 20]] for the same reasons, he was replaced by his teammate of the same season, [[blaze]].<ref name="clockwork retires, blaze returns to froyotech">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33414/ clockwork retires, blaze returns to froyotech]</ref> The addition of blaze to the froyotech squad reacquires another member of their original two time world championship team. The provisional lineup for the team is to shift erstwhile roamer [[paddie]] to scout to succeed clockwork and make way for blaze.

| {{Player link|ca|blaze}}

'''FROYO BLACK''' is an [https://play.esea.net/teams/132877 active-listed ESEA roster] consisting of numerous retired Invite champions, primarily from the cores of [[High Rollers Gaming]] and the first rendition of froyotech. There have been no announcements from the team regarding their intentions for Season 22, but statements from [[b4nny]] and [[clockwork]] (the latter of whom is listed on the FROYO BLACK roster) suggest that FROYO BLACK aims to be a "no-scrim" team for ESEA-Invite, with a current roster of [[shade]], [[hassassin]], [[bl4nk]], [[tagg]], [[clockwork]] and [[cyzer]].<ref name="FROYO BLACK ESEA roster">[https://play.esea.net/teams/132877 FROYO BLACK ESEA roster]</ref> The team also plans to utilise [[alfa-]] and [[grape]] as backups for the season.<ref name="FROYO BLACK ESEA roster">[https://play.esea.net/teams/132877 FROYO BLACK ESEA roster]</ref>

| {{Player link|us|bl4nk}}

| May 21st

'''Luca Goers''' was a team made up of the remnants of the initial EVL Gaming team along with newcomers [[icTus]] on scout and [[bl4nk]] on pocket.<ref name="Luca Goers ESEA team page">[https://play.esea.net/teams/92727 Luca Goers ESEA team page]</ref> Both icTus and bl4nk are noted for their frequent PUG play, with bl4nk having also played across a multitude of previous ESEA-Invite teams such as [[WOOOPS]], [[The Mad Men]], and most recently backing up for [[Street Hoops eSports]].<ref name="bl4nk ESEA team history">[https://play.esea.net/users/441379?tab=history bl4nk ESEA team history]</ref>

Despite his intended inclusion in the team for the full season, slemnish chose to depart Luca Goers on May 12th.<ref name="Luca Goers ESEA roster history">[https://play.esea.net/teams/92727?tab=roster Luca Goers ESEA roster history]</ref> The roster made the decision to fully disband on May 14th, with [[Aeonic]] (formerly ''Uncharted'') replacing them in the Season 22 Invite Division.<ref name="Luca Goers disbands, Aeonic receives spot">[http://www.teamfortress.tv/33617/ Luca Goers disbands, Aeonic receives spot]</ref>