The Story Behind Fnatic’s Awful Katowice Major Performance
It’s been a couple of days already since Fnatic got eliminated from the Katowice Major. It was, by far, the biggest surprise of the Challengers Stage, seeing another EU team out of the equation right off the bat. The first one was Mousesports, who failed to qualify for the Challengers Stage via the EU regional Minor tournament. But Mousesports failing to qualify is already old news, and there’s no point in talking about it anymore.
That said, today we’ll be focusing on the disappointing Swedish side and the factors that contributed to their elimination. In other words, what could’ve caused such a terrible Katowice Major Fnatic performance?
Well, let’s see!
Katowice Major Fnatic Performance | Underwhelming at Best
Let’s face it, a team such as Fnatic shouldn’t be losing against the likes of ViCi and Winstrike, especially not during a Major in a Swiss System format. Sure, they’ve managed to pull themselves back together against Grayhound, but that is not really a notable achievement considering they went 0-3.
Throughout all four of their Challengers Stage matches, Fnatic’s performance was underwhelming, to say the least. What’s the biggest reason behind such an awful Katowice Major Fnatic performance? Well, I for one think they’ve just greatly underestimated their opposition. I could be wrong though, but let me try to elaborate my thoughts real fast:
Underestimation at Its Finest?
Going into their first match, Fnatic players looked like they were fuming with confidence. They were laughing, making jokes, and looking outright confident in their ability to secure a spot in the Legends Stage. Unfortunately for them, everything fell apart after they went 0-4 at the very start of the match, only to finish even worse (9-16 final score) against Vici Gaming in their first Challengers Stage match. The pressure was on for their second match against Winstrike Gaming, but KRIMZ, JW, and the boys failed to deliver once again. Both of these matches were plagued by needless aggression, clumsy retakes, and subpar trades, rendering their teamplay inferior against both of these, dare I say, tier-B teams.
Their match against Grayhound portrayed a glimpse of hope for the Swedes. However, now that I think of it, Fnatic’s win wasn’t a product of them playing good but rather Grayhound playing exceptionally bad. Of course, this was later confirmed in Fnatic’s final match against G2. They went on to a decisive win on Mirage only to squander it all and suffer one of their worst defeats in recent months, resulting in elimination. Have they underestimated their opponents and paid the price? In my opinion, yes, they have.
Upcoming Roster Changes?
Can such a terrible Katowice Major Fnatic performance result in roster alterations in the foreseeable future? Well, it could, but I believe it’s highly unlikely. Actually, let me rephrase that. An organization-driven roster alteration seems unlikely at this point, but an individual, player-initiated move could be more likely.
There are several reasons behind this. First, JW and KRIMZ signed new three-year contract extensions with Fnatic just ahead of the Challengers Stage, meaning they won’t be going out anytime soon. Second, Twist and Brollan have been a part of this roster for just a couple of months, so chasing them away seems highly unlikely. Not to mention the fact Brollan is just 16 years old and is already making waves and gathering precious experience on the grandest of stages. Lastly, Xizt, Fnatic’s current IGL, even though not playing amazingly well recently, should be safe from the banhammer since the IGL market seems pretty scarce these days. However, if Fnatic’s upper management demands a change after their awful Katowice Major performance, Xizt seems like the most likely contestant to see the exit door.
In my opinion, I highly doubt we’ll see any roster changes for Fnatic. Their team is still quite “fresh” and will need more time to develop proper executions and strategies if they want a shot at doing themselves justice at the upcoming StarSeries Major. It will take a lot of hard work, but knowing the talent and dedication of the players onboard, this Swedish side can rest assured that better things are yet to come!
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