Jake “Boaster” Howlett ends five years as Fnatic’s in-game leader with two international titles, leaving only kaajak and Cloud behind.
Fnatic have officially said goodbye to Jake “Boaster” Howlett, the in-game leader who has led their VALORANT team since February 2021. The club announced his exit on X on Friday evening with a farewell video, and Boaster followed two minutes later with a long message to the fans.
“You have defined an era. Defined the game,” Fnatic wrote. Boaster’s own post began with “End of an era” and thanked the players who started the journey with him:
I feel blessed to have shared these years of my life with amazing teammates/staff who believed and trusted in me. With fans who supported us through good times and hard times. The original boys(sumnfc) who decided to join an unknown IGL with a dream.
He also thanked his partner Yinsu, who “believed I could do it sooooo much, she paid for rent until I got signed!”, and made it clear that he is not done: “The journey is not over but my time at fnatic is…”
In the 31-minute farewell video, Boaster admitted that “we kind of forgot how it feels to win a big boy trophy” since 2023, and did not hide why the story ends now: “This year, well that’s why I’m leaving, isn’t it?” He would still do it all again:
I would run it back again. And I don’t think I’d change anything either.
From SUMN FC to back-to-back trophies
Boaster arrived with the SUMN FC roster that Fnatic picked up on 3 February 2021. In their first year, the team reached the grand final of Masters Reykjavík, where Sentinels swept them 3-0.
The trophies came in 2023, the first year of the partnership league. Fnatic beat LOUD 3-2 in the LOCK//IN São Paulo final and swept Evil Geniuses 3-0 at Masters Tokyo in June. Three VCT EMEA titles followed, in Stage 1 and Stage 2 in 2024 and Stage 1 in 2025. Asked in the video which win meant the most, Boaster picked São Paulo: “It was the first ever win”, and the feeling was “mainly relief”.
| Date | Event | Placing | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 May 2021 | Masters Reykjavík | 2nd | 0-3 vs Sentinels |
| 4 Mar 2023 | LOCK//IN São Paulo | 1st | 3-2 vs LOUD |
| 28 May 2023 | VCT EMEA League | 2nd | 1-3 vs Team Liquid |
| 25 Jun 2023 | Masters Tokyo | 1st | 3-0 vs Evil Geniuses |
| 12 May 2024 | VCT EMEA Stage 1 | 1st | 3-2 vs Team Heretics |
| 20 Jul 2024 | VCT EMEA Stage 2 | 1st | 3-1 vs Team Vitality |
| 18 May 2025 | VCT EMEA Stage 1 | 1st | 3-0 vs Team Heretics |
| 22 Jun 2025 | Masters Toronto | 2nd | 1-3 vs Paper Rex |
| 13 Jul 2025 | Esports World Cup | 2nd | 2-3 vs Team Heretics |
| 5 Oct 2025 | VALORANT Champions Paris | 2nd | 2-3 vs NRG |
The 2025 season was his busiest: three international grand finals in four months, all lost, the last one 2-3 against NRG for the world title. Boaster led Fnatic to all five Champions events from 2021 to 2025, and VALORANT Esports EMEA noted in September 2025 that he was the only player to reach the playoffs at every one of them.
The Paris final still hurts. “Toronto, yes, we’re sad that we didn’t win, but champs was the biggest sadness for me. And I still can’t really get over the sadness I feel from it,” he said in the video.
A quiet final year
2026 went the other way. Fnatic finished fourth at EMEA Kickoff, fifth to sixth in Stage 1 and went out in the Stage 2 Play-Ins after a 0-2 loss to Joblife. They also missed the Esports World Cup in the EMEA qualifier, and played no international event all year.
Fnatic moved Boaster to the inactive roster on 8 September with permission to talk to other teams, and he has not played for them since. He was still at the big events, though: he played the show match at Masters London in June for Team Chaos and co-streamed Champions Shanghai in October.
Gentle Mates next, reportedly
Boaster has not said where he will play in 2027, but he made his goal clear in the video: “I think if I’ve learned anything from this year, it’s that I still have what it takes. I just need to work harder than everyone else.”
On 30 October, Sheep Esports reported that he has a verbal agreement with Gentle Mates, who are building a new lineup around him and his former Fnatic teammate Alfajer, as we covered at the time. Neither Boaster nor Gentle Mates has confirmed the move.
Two players left at Fnatic
Boaster is the third player to leave this week. Austin “crashies” Roberts left on Wednesday, and Emir “Alfajer” Ali Beder followed on Thursday after four and a half years. Fnatic’s active roster is now down to two:
| Player | Name | Joined |
|---|---|---|
 kaajak | Kajetan Haremski | 31 Oct 2024 |
 Cloud | Kirill Nekhozhin | 17 Jun 2026 |
None of the five players who won Masters Tokyo in 2023 is left. Fnatic’s place in VCT EMEA is safe, as Riot confirmed them as a partner team for 2027 and 2028 on 21 October, but they need at least three new players, an in-game leader among them, and a head coach before Kickoff.
