Being in an RMR group with FaZe and NAVI, not many people would have expected fnatic to be one of the teams to end up advancing from European RMR A with a 3-0 record.

The international roster, who finished with a top 8 placing at the previous Major, IEM Rio, qualified after wins against Viperio, 1WIN, and B8. While none of these teams are of the tier one nature they are used to facing, and while they did avoid having to face either of FaZe and NAVI, these results do still show that the team is more than capable of handling high pressure scenarios. Given other results in the same RMR, this is very telling for their ability to recreate a run similar to the one they had in Brazil.

Youth and experience

A team that does things by committee, it ends up being their greatest strength. Coach Jamie “keita” Hall told BLAST.tv “I think we have a really capable team of five players that can all pop off each map at any given time. I think roeJ has a lot of the star positions, quote unquote, with a lot of responsibility on CT side, but he is also a bit different from the natural star where he likes to run in first and that can downplay him a little bit.”

But that doesn’t mean that fnatic don’t see areas for growth. They may have had success in the Major circuit, but they still lack the consistency to make them a real top team, and a more impactful AWPer could be the key to that. keita later added “However, we have sort of been looking at given nicoodoz a bit more freedom to allow us to have a bit more X factor.”

Photo: Michael Konkol

Figuring out how to unlock nicoodoz is the next great task for the roster, but it’s one keita thinks they’ve already got the answer for. “If we're noticing positions that maybe they're searching a certain position a lot, instead of naturally going to the fix, which could be using riflers or shutting that area down or taking that area, sort of enabling Nico and saying, 'hey, can we bring you over?' I think that's what we're trying to do now to help him.” he told BLAST.tv.

When it comes to the Major, that X factor is something that could help them go far. Although they won’t be at the Major due to their heartbreaking Last Chance Qualifier loss, Cloud9 having sh1ro in their team has consistently been their X factor. The same too can be said for FaZe with broky, NAVI with s1mple, Vitality with ZywOo and G2 with m0NESY. If nicoodoz can step up to become that X factor star for fnatic, the sky’s the limit for this roster.

Of course, another player that will need to step up is mezii. An exceptional fragger considering his role, mezii is still inexperienced when it comes to his main position in the team as their In-game Leader.

Although the team has had some impressive results outside of IEM Rio, that remains their highest placing at a tier one event. When asked about mezii as an IGL, keita said “he's having to get more used to him being the guy that everyone looks to, and to have to speak up on his vision sometimes when he has a strong feeling and gain the trust of the guys. So I think those small leadership things are just things that have started to evolve with him and he's starting to learn, but the in-game stuff has been pretty natural for him.”

Photo: Michael Konkol

That being said, the team isn’t without experience. roeJ may be 29, but he’s somewhat of a late bloomer, KRIMZ on the other hand, not many players have as much experience in CS:GO as he does. A player who made his first Major appearance in CS:GO’s first Major, he’s one of only four players to also be making an appearance at the final CS:GO Major.

“One of Freddie's biggest positive attributes that he sort of applies to his team that's not very specific in game, but he's a very calm player. I'm not sure if that's experience or if that's just his personality, but I think it's something that serves us well because we are a team that can get quite pumped up and quite loud and, in a way, sometimes get a bit panicked. He's quite good at calming the team down. I think his experience also shows not just for the team, but it helps the team in another way in that he's a very good clutch player. He's very calming in clutches, and makes really good decisions in clutches, which of course, helps us when he's put in those positions. He's winning clutches. So I think they're the two main factors that his experience helps the team perfect.” keita told BLAST.tv when asked about KRIMZ’s importance to the team.

fnatic might not be a true contender to win the BLAST.tv Paris Major, at least not one the experts would pick out, but they have all the pieces to do serious damage at the event. A lot will have happened by the time they enter the ring on May 13th for the opening of the Legends Stage, the organisation has already won three Majors in CS:GO, maybe they’ll round out the games history by adding their name to a fourth.