After their performance in EMEA, one thing is certain: Fnatic is one of the best VALORANT teams in the world. The long-standing organisation boosted their already strong roster with two big transfers in May and it worked unexpectedly well. Fnatic were clearly the best team in EMEA and they proved it by finishing the tournament as the winners.
Those two transfers were French Enzo and Turkish Alfajer. Fnatic managed to dominate their opponents since the start of the EMEA Stage 2 Challengers, winning their group 5-0 and destroying everyone from the upper bracket in the playoffs as well. Let's have a look at Fnatic's journey and what they could bring to the table in Denmark.
Fnatic’s VALORANT history
Fnatic was not one of the first teams to join VALORANT, but they were there pretty early. Fnatic was one of the teams that participated in VCT 2021 Stage 1, but their first success came in 2021 Stage 2. After a good performance in Stage 2 Challengers, Fnatic represented EMEA at Masters Reykjavík, where they finished second after getting defeated by Sentinels in the final.
For Masters Berlin, Fnatic could not maintain this good form and the next international tournament we saw them at was Champions 2021. Even though FNC made it past the group stage, KRÜ Esports ended their journey with a surprising victory. It was not a bad year for Fnatic, but they still decided to make some changes.
With a third place finish at EMEA, Fnatic made it to 2022 Masters Reykjavík, where they had a disappointing result. This led to two more changes: Alfajer and Enzo being recruited to the team. These two transfers made Fnatic a champion rather than a challenger.
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Fnatic at EMEA Challengers
Fnatic's EMEA Challengers group consisted of Acend, FunPlus Phoenix, G2 Esports, OG LDN UTD and FOKUS. They started with a commanding win against FPX and managed to defeat all their opponents one after the other. In the last match of the group stage, Fnatic defeated its long-time rival G2 Esports.
After a 5-0 run, Fnatic started the playoffs with an advantage. Their rival was FPX, who defeated Team Liquid in the quarter-finals. Another 2-1 secured Fnatic a ticket to the semi-finals, with the only map loss being an incredibly close one. In the semi-finals they faced Guild Esports, but although both maps were very close, Fnatic managed to beat them again.
Fnatic's final step was the grand final against FunPlus Phoenix, the third series between the two. Alfajer's 25-22 Raze led Fnatic to an overtime win, 15-13, on Split. The next map was Icebox, Fnatic's choice. On this map, Fnatic defeated FPX 13-5, while Alfajer continued his stellar performance on Killjoy 24-10.
They went to FPX's choice, Haven, again and there was another overtime. Alfajer reached the 30-kill mark while Fnatic defeated FPX for the second time, 15-13, to close out the series 3-0. With this result, Fnatic became EMEA Champions and secured their ticket to Masters Copenhagen.
Individiual performances from Fnatic
From the moment he joined the team, Turkish Alfajer became Fnatic's leader in doing damage and carrying the team. Alfajer came from Turkish Surreal Esports, who failed to qualify for EMEA, and surprised everyone with his confident play. According to thespike.gg, Alfajer is the best player in the EMEA Challengers with his rating of 1.34. He had an average combat rating of 271.6, 1.44 K/D and played three different agents.
Another incredible player from Fnatic was Derke. Just behind Alfajer, Derke's rating was 1.28, the closest being Leo with 1.20. Derke was very close to Alfajer in terms of average combat score with his 259.9 on two different agents. His K/D rating was even higher than Alfajer's at 1.46.
Every now and then Enzo and Boaster also took the lead, but overall Alfajer and Derke were Fnatic's biggest strengths. They will take this squad to Copenhagen to repeat such a good performance. Considering their undefeated performance throughout the EMEA, Fnatic could be unstoppable at Masters Copenhagen as well.
