Fnatic is a name in the esports world which has a large name for itself. It’s expanded into several different esports and games but its League of Legends presence is the strongest out of the many games they have teams in. One main reason is because League of Legends was the game which defined Fnatic and made it into the organization it is today. They won the Season One World Championship and from then on, went on to dominate the EU LCS.
To this day, they’re still able to do so and they’ve made several notorious changes from some of the biggest names in the EU LCS to some of the smallest names around the world. However, no matter what their circumstance, Fnatic has always been able to deliver. This year was no different. They managed to come out on top and alongside their European brethren, G2 Esports, made it to the EU LCS semifinals before transcending past G2 Esports and becoming the last European team standing as they beat Cloud9 and made it to the finals.
But their journey wasn’t an easy one and it’s definitely one that’s worth sharing. Each moment they made this year was one that was not only memorable for both the history of Fnatic but aso extremely valuable towards Fnatic as a brand. Let’s get started.
Fnatic had come off of a strong Spring Split as they managed to make it to the Mid-Season Invitational Finals before falling to the eventual champions, Royal Never Give Up. Because of this momentum, they were quickly able to transition this over into their play in the summer split and used it to secure their first few victories.
They finished the first two weeks with a 3-1 standing and quickly pushed that to a 7-3 record by week five. From there, they quickly cruised past the competition and despite facing off against tough teams such as G2 Esports—their main rival—and FC Schalke 04 who was having the best season they had ever experienced, they still managed to come out on top.
By the end of week nine, Fnatic stood at first place with a 13-6 record with Team Vitality standing second with a 14-6 record. Even though Team Vitality had more wins, the fact that Fnatic had more direct wins over Team Vitality eventually led to them taking the first place spot.
Their strong performances could largely be attributed to the works of Broxah whose jungling prowess gave them a large amount of strength to work with throughout the early, mid, and late game. They quickly used this to their advantage in the playoffs.
Fnatic is known for their strong performances in playoffs and this year, they didn’t disappoint. Most of the time, Fnatic’s strong performance can be attributed to the fact that their AD Carry, Rekkles, can play some of the best League of Legends when he’s under the pressure.
However, this year, it seemed as if he was carried a bit by both his mid laner and jungler, Caps and Broxah respectively. Because of their first place finish, Fnatic was given a bye into the semifinals and this meant that they were going to play the winner of Misfits and G2 Esports.
The popular pick was G2 Esports, considering that they had played a strong season and their bot lane and mid laner were looking stronger than ever. However, Misfits surprised the entire EU LCS by sweeping out G2 Esports to face Fnatic in the semifinals.
However, Fnatic didn’t want to face the same fate as G2 Esports did and they made sure that they didn’t. In the first game of the semifinal match, Broxah got to work. He quickly pressured out Misfits’ own jungler, Maxlore, to take over the early game and dictate what he could and couldn’t do. Using this own momentum, he transferred several kills and assists towards Rekkles who used these resources to quickly get ahead through side-lane farming and fighting in skirmishes. Then, around the twenty-fifth minute, Fnatic were able to clutch out a crucial team fight which secured them the win about three minutes later.
Unfortunately, Fnatic wasn’t able to hold on to the early momentum they gained from winning the first game of the best of five and this led to Misfits bouncing back. Thanks to an early game outplay by the Misfits AD Carry, Hans Sama, the game quickly went in favor of Misfits and from then on, they dictated what happened. Misfits easily used the early game lead to their advantage and closed the second game out in a near sub thirty minute game. Now, Fnatic no longer had the lead and the game count was tied one all for the semifinal match.
Both teams knew the importance of game three. Whoever won the third game would be one game away from securing a spot in the finals and they would also have the advantage to play a more aggressive game for game four. The stakes were extremely high and this meant that both teams went with comfort picks that they felt that they could play without risk of failure. However, Fnatic’s mid laner, Caps, pulled out one of the most surprising picks ever: Vayne mid.
He literally put everything on the line. If he played well and survived till the mid to late game, he would be an evident threat. If he failed to stay alive till the fifteen minute mark, Fnatic would surely lose. Despite all the criticism from his pick, Caps did not disappoint. The early game started off with Misfits picking off a few easy kills due to a misplay from FNC’s support Hylissang and a much too aggressive move from Caps in a small skirmish. By fifteen minutes, Misfits was up four kills, two towers, and about three thousand gold. The game was slowly starting to drift towards Misfits’ favor.
However, Fnatic wasn’t going to let them win easily. Fnatic quickly changed up their game plan and started moving as one unit. It wasn’t surprising to see three Fnatic members moving together to secure an objective and they began to start the team fights, not Misfits. This sudden aggressive move pulled the rug out from Misfits’ feet and quickly made the playing field even yet again for several minutes. The two teams went head-to-head until Misfits barely won a prolonged team fight to secure them not only three extra kills but a Baron Nashor buff.
Yet again, the game began to go in favor of Misfits and the team was on the edge of taking out Fnatic as they entered their base with a Baron Nashor buff sieging away. Fnatic had no choice but to fight and they did exactly that. At first, the fight went in favor of Misfits. Their AD Carry, Hans Sama, was the reason Misfits Gaming had been winning for such a large majority of the game and he was dictating shots left and right. He shoved back FNC Caps as well as FNC Rekkles but he slipped up at the last second.
Fnatic was split up and instead of going for the weaker members of Fnatic, Hans Sama went straight for Caps who had taken a significant amount of damage and was looking to escape from the fight. However, Caps managed to outplay Hans Sama on his Vayne pick and single-handedly turned the fight and the game around. From then on, Fnatic controlled the flow. They quickly took another Baron Nashor afterwards, won another team fight, and pushed down the mid lane to end it all. Despite the team being down for nearly three fourths of the entire match, FNC Caps’s crucial Vayne pick ended up clutching the match for Fnatic when they needed it the most and gave them a 2-1 lead over Misfits.
Misfits Gaming may have thrown away one of the largest leads in a match that could’ve given them the key to the EU LCS finals but they didn’t let that distract them in the next match. Yet again, both teams went head-to-head in the first twenty minutes with Hans Sama leading Misfits Gaming. However, due to the contribution Fnatic’s Caps managed to bring to the table, the player found more confidence in his play and put himself on a Leblanc pick. This Leblanc pick proved to be a wise choice and he ended up accumulating seven kills by twenty minutes while only having one death to compensate.
By the twenty-five minute mark, Fnatic’s Caps proved too much for Misfits Gaming and they were forced to retreat. Hans Sama couldn’t deal against the burst that Caps’ Leblanc brought and the other members of Misfits Gaming had little to contribute. This eventually led to Fnatic closing out the game and making it to the finals despite a close brush with defeat in game three.
Fnatic versus FC Schalke 04 faced a similar trend as to that of Fnatic’s semifinal match. Fnatic was going to face off against a rogue team that had extremely strong results over the past few weeks and now, they were looking better than ever.
The FC Schalke 04 roster had notable names such as their jungler, Amazing, who was a former Word Championship finalist as well as a Team SoloMid jungler back in the day. They also had Vivicsacsi, a top laner who had put up strong stats throughout his split. Even though Rekkles managed to secure Kai’sa, one of his notable pocket picks, the game started out shaky for Fnatic. Fnatic’s top laner, Bwipo, was killed twice in the early game while Broxah fell behind Amazing when it came to power-farming and gank potential.
Unlike Misfits Gaming, Schalke 04 were able to hold onto the momentum they had accumulated from the early game and used it to shift through the mid and late game effortlessly. Fnatic tried many things. They tried to grab picks throughout the mid game and even attempted a pincer maneuver that would have shut down at least three members of Schalke 04 had they played the fight wrong.
But in the first game of the EU LCS finals, Schalke 04 played flawlessly and shut down Fnatic in a well-contested near thirty minute match. Yet again, Fnatic were in the corner and they had to find their way out. With a significant boost of confidence from game one, Schalke 04 went with some more high-risk high-reward picks. S04’s jungler, Amazing, went with a Sejuani pick which could only work if the early game worked out for Schalke 04 and Nukeduck, the mid laner, chose Yasuo, a champion which could either make or break the game.
Despite choosing two picks that would’ve favored the game plan that Schalke 04 played in the first game, they weren’t able to mirror the same type of plays and moves that won them game one for the EU LCS finals.
Furthermore, Fnatic chose several champions which favored a safer playstyle. They had a power-farming Trundle in the jungle and a Shen support which could peel for Rekkles just in case he went too far inside a team fight.
Game two came down to the fact that Schalke 04 wasn’t able to use their risky picks to the fullest advantage possible and because of this, they ended up losing what little advantage they had against Fnatic. From about the fifteenth minute on, it was all Fnatic. Rekkles was finally able to make use of his pocket pick, Kai’sa, and their top laner, sOAZ, dominated on Sion. It was only a matter of time before Fnatic closed out the match and on the twenty-seventh minute, they did so.
In game three, Schalke 04 replicated their same playstyle over again with some different picks. They were still playing around a playstyle which emphasized early game kills. They put Nukeduck on Leblanc, Vivicsacsi on Gnar, and Upset on Ezreal. All three of these champions were champions that are essentially able to shove down a lane and oppress their opponents as much as possible. They were essentially trying to take down Caps, Rekkles, and sOAZ all at once because they were the three that performed the best in a team fight for Fnatic.
However, due to the jungling prowess of Broxah, his Trundle was yet again able to out-scale Amazing’s Sejuani and he made it his priority to ensure that Caps and Rekkles weren’t oppressed by the counter-picks. Till about the twenty-fifth minute, Broxah had a one hundred percent kill participation and he used this to make sure that they could secure a Baron Nashor at twenty seven minutes. After the Baron, it was end-game for Fnatic and they used the buff to push all the way down to Schalke 04’s base, ending game three in a brisk fashion. Schalke 04 yet again wasn’t able to prioritize the lanes that should have won and Broxah took advantage of that from the very start to make sure that they would win.
Game four saw Schalke 04 focusing down a composition that had a safer approach to the early game but still made sure that, if they were able to win it, they would have complete control over the rest of the match.
Fnatic countered with their own choice of champions which prioritized getting ot the mid game and winning from there. Even though Amazing did a good job of ganking down Schalke 04’s lanes to the point where they were up three kills to one, a crucial team fight switched the momentum. This kill made the mid game come sooner than expected and the likes of Caps’ Ryze and Rekkles’ Xayah quickly went to work. Their damage and utilization of their spells kept Fnatic in the game against Schalke 04 till their opponents finally slipped up.
After both teams were contesting for lane control in the mid lane, a surprise engage by Fnatic’s Hylissang and flawless kiting by Rekkles left Rekkles with a quadra kill and a free lane to push down. They used this to end the fourth and final game and secure themselves a trip to the 2018 World Championship.
Fnatic was placed in a tough group consisting of Chinese superstars, Invictus Gaming, and North American prospects, 100 Thieves. There was also a rogue team, G-Rex, from the Taiwanese region but they were not considered to be threats.
Even with tough competition, Fnatic was able to brave through all of it and their determination eventually left them with a 5-1 record. However, they had tied with Invictus Gaming. Both teams had taken down the other two teams—G-Rex and 100 Thieves—twice but faced losses to each other.
This sent the two teams to a tiebreaker to determine the one seed and miraculously, Fnatic came out on top. Invictus Gaming underestimated their European opponents and Fnatic used this to get a fast start and end the game as fast as possible, sending them straight to the Knockout Rounds where they would make history.
Fnatic didn’t get an easy first round. They were pitted against Edward Gaming, a Chinese team that had won the Mid-Season Invitational in 2015. Edward Gaming had several notable names such as Meiko, iBoy, and Scout. All three were considered to be one of the best in their respective roles.
Even if Fnatic made it past Edward Gaming, they would have to either face Cloud9 or Afreeca Freecs. They would either face the superstars of North America or they would go against one of the most talented teams in Korea right now. There was no easy way for them to make it far into the Knockout Rounds but Fnatic didn’t care. They were here to win and they were going to win any way they needed to.
Game one of the quarterfinals was no competition. EDG took it by large margins. It seemed as if they were playing an amateur team. Caps had one of the worst early games possible and Broxah and Rekkles were useless for the entire game. Meanwhile, EDG’s Scout had a field day, participating in seventeen kills while accumulating no deaths. The same was for iBoy who went 7/0/8 and held the Fnatic duo of Hylissang and Rekkles down. They played authentic Chinese League of Legends and it seemed like Fnatic wasn’t able to handle it.
However, such an easy first game got into the heads of EDG and they began to underestimate their opponents. Even though they acquired a four kill lead early into the second game, Fnatic’s Caps redeemed himself by outplaying a 1v3 situation and putting a kill on the board for FNC. From there, Fnatic was slowly able to pull itself back into the match. By the eighteenth minute, Caps was 3/0/5 and Broxah was 4/1/2. The same players who caused the first game to go towards EDG redeemed themselves and helped Fnatic win game two.
Game three was a slugfest. Both teams had carries but they also had liabilities. For the first twenty minutes, Edward Gaming were able to dictate everything that happened and they were on the edge of Fnatic’s base before FNC started to turn it around. After barely securing a Fire Drake, Fnatic was forced to turn on Edward Gaming who had closed them in. At first, EDG looked like they had won the fight and were going to close it out but Rekkles began to show why he was such a revered AD Carry.
He single-handedly turned the fight around, using his Sivir to kill three members of Edward Gaming before closing out the rest of the members. From there, Rekkles put Fnatic on his back and called all the shots.
They had more than one close encounter with defeat throughout the rest of the match but ultimately, Fnatic was able to win it all after they split up EDG in a team fight that let Rekkles deal out the damage he needed to in order to win.
In game four, Edward Gaming yet again took over the map. They were up seven kills to two fifteen minutes in. Their two star players, iBoy and Scout, were both winning their lanes in their own respective ways. Jensen wasn’t outputting the results he had shown on Leblanc versus Misfits, especially when it was mattering the most and because of this, he was down with two deaths and had lost the lane to Scout by a substantial amount.
However, the same thing happened to EDG yet again. They gained the lead but they weren’t able to hold it. Due to their lead, Edward Gaming had the possibility to pressure Fnatic into situations they wouldn’t like but for some reason, they didn’t. Instead, they laid dormant and let Fnatic come back. Eventually, Scout lost his pressure on Syndra and iBoy found it hard to produce results with his Kai’sa. Fnatic took this opportunity to fight for objectives such as Baron Nashor and Rift Herald.
By doing this, they forced EDG to fight and through enough of these skirmishes, Fnatic eventually came out as the champions. Edward Gaming may have won the early game but they were not successful in winning the mid and late game.
Cloud9 versus Fnatic could have either gone to a close five games or one of the teams could have swept the other with dominant fashion. This year, Fnatic came out on top. In each and every game they played, Fnatic destroyed Cloud9 in one lane or another.
This led to an easy 3-0 victory but both sides went home happy. Cloud9 made history as the first American team to make it to the semifinals of the World Championship and Fnatic became the first European team to ever make two World Championship finals.
Now, Fnatic is going to be competing against its toughest competition yet and a familiar face: Invictus Gaming. Do they have what it takes to win it all or will they crash in the finals? The future remains uncertain.
Fnatic’s odds weren’t very strong going into the tournament. Teams like KT Rolster and Royal Never Give Up were the obvious favorites. Even in Fnatic’s own group, they were considered to be second with Invictus Gaming taking the cake.
But, with several upsets along the way, Fnatic now has the chance to prove everyone wrong. They can win this match. I’m certain of it. Their odds are still medium to low and they’ll be facing a tough opponent but like the matches before, if they focus down on the fundamentals and make sure they stay in the match, it’s definitely winnable.
Fnatic is the dark horse of this year’s tournament. They always manage to make it far into the World Championship but they’ve always had the curse of failing to make it past the semifinals. Now, they’ve achieved this and at the highest level of competition too.
They had near brushes with defeat against teams such as Misfits Gaming, Schalke 04, and Edward Gaming. Now, they’re going to be facing their toughest competitor yet and a worthy opponent: Invictus Gaming.
They’ve lost to them before but they’ve also beaten this team. It’s going to be a bloodbath between the two teams but if Fnatic wins this entire thing, they’ll bring a legacy to Europe that has never been seen before.
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