The main tournament of the year, Valorant Champions 2024, will showcase a competition among the 16 strongest teams from each region, with every viewer having their own favorites to support. This year, the tournament will feature a diverse array of clubs; some participants were predicted favorites and easily made it to the event, while other teams are dark horses, surprising everyone with how far they’ve come. Among all 16 participants, the team drawing the most attention is undoubtedly the top team from the European region, Fnatic. The team did not perform well in several major tournaments during the current season but ultimately qualified for the championship. Today, we will analyze the current state of “The Orange,” recall their achievements last year, and speculate whether Fnatic can finally achieve what they failed to do in 2023 and win the long-awaited championship title.
Team achievements in the last season
Before discussing the current year, it’s worth recalling what the team achieved in 2023. The last season started for Fnatic with participation in the LOCK//IN São Paulo tournament, which featured 32 teams. Despite strong competition, the team faced no resistance and emerged victorious, defeating the Brazilian top team LOUD in the grand final with a score of 3-2. Interestingly, Fnatic did not lose a single map throughout the tournament until the grand final, which directly speaks to their high level of play. Following the tournament in Brazil, the regular season of VCT 2023: EMEA League began, where the team secured second place. This earned them a direct invitation to VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo, where the team once again performed incredibly well. Throughout the playoff stage, Fnatic lost only one map in the upper bracket final against Evil Geniuses, whom they later easily defeated in the grand final with a score of 3-0. Thus, the team won two major international tournaments in 2023 and headed to the world championship with these victories. Unfortunately, the team failed to replicate their achievements and win the Valorant Champions 2023. Although they performed excellently in the group stage, not losing a single map, problems arose once they reached the playoffs. In their first match, they lost 0-2 to LOUD and were relegated to the lower bracket. Despite progressing well through it, they met LOUD again in the lower bracket semifinals, where Fnatic’s journey ended with a 1-2 loss, finishing fourth at Valorant Champions 2023 and earning $130,000 in prize money.
Current season performance for Fnatic
With the title of two international tournament champions and a fourth-place finish at the world championship, Fnatic started competing in the current season but failed to replicate last year's success. The team placed 3-4 in the VCT 2024: EMEA Kickoff qualifiers, missing out on the first major tournament of the year, Masters Madrid. Later, the team won the first stage of VCT 2024: EMEA Stage 1, which qualified them for the second major international tournament, Masters Shanghai, but again did not replicate their previous year’s success, finishing 7-8 out of 12 participants. Despite this, Fnatic won the second stage of VCT 2024: EMEA Stage 2, earning a spot in the upcoming world championship, which starts in a few days.
Key roster changes in Fnatic
Although it might seem that the team’s performance in 2024 can be attributed to roster changes, this is not entirely accurate. There were few changes, some of which may have even been beneficial. At the beginning of the year, the team parted ways with their performance coach Youenn, who was replaced by EsportsRyan, only for him to leave six months later and be succeeded by Psych_chek. The main roster change occurred when player Leo "Leo" Jannesson moved to the inactive roster due to health issues and was replaced by Dutch-Turkish player Emirhan "hiro" Kat. Despite predictions of a strong decline due to Emirhan's tier-2 Challengers experience and lack of top-tier competition, Fnatic did not lose their strength, even improving. With the substitute player, the team won the second stage of VCT 2024: EMEA Stage 2, where hiro performed excellently and often topped the post-match charts. It is still unclear if he will continue with the team, as he was initially signed for one tournament, and there is no information about Leo "Leo" Jannesson's return. Additionally, the team recently signed Domagoj "Doma" Fancev as a substitute and Martin "Anderzz" Schelasin as a strategic coach. Thus, while changes occurred, most did not affect the main roster, so Fnatic is ready for the upcoming championship.
Fnatic's chances of winning the Championship
From everything discussed above, it is clear that Fnatic is one of the strongest teams not only in the EMEA region but globally. Despite some issues during the current season, the “Orange” remain one of the tournament favorites. Although the opinion might seem biased as the author is a fan of the organization, it’s undeniable that the European team is powerful. The author believes the team will surely advance through the group stage and is the main favorite in Group A. It is too early to judge the playoff stage as the teams progressing to the next stage are still unknown.
Conclusion
After reading our material, you have learned about Fnatic’s history over the past two years, roster changes, and major achievements of the European team. Keep following our portal for more information about other participants of Valorant Champions 2024.
Comments