There were a lot of expectations and hype from the CS:GO community when Cloud9 announced the creation of their so-called ‘Colossus’ roster.

With Henry “HenryG” Greer and his pioneering way of running a team added with the signings of an experienced IGL Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, a superstar AWPer in Özgür “woxic” Eker and Patrick “es3tag” Hansen on the rifle, what could go wrong?  

Yeah, so why did this project end up being the failure it was?

That’s something es3tag has opened up about in a recent [link:{"url":"https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/ace-en-cs-go-podcast-episode-113-m-es3tag/id1520187852?i=1000591238396","isNewTab":true,"text":"podcast"}] called “Ace – a CS:GO podcast”, pointing towards several key factors including ego issues from a certain Turkish player.

- The project started a bit rocky because woxic did not perform very well on our team, es3tag said in the podcast. He had a playstyle where he always had to make the decisive peek that won us the round. For example, on Inferno where you jump past mid to spot an AWP and then you peek down there immediately. After all, he had been doing that for three years. And fair enough to him, he was a Top-20 player the year before using that peek. But everyone knew that now. But he kept doing it in Cloud9 and he kept getting punished for it. So, it's hard to play CS when you don't realize that what you're doing is so predictable.

- If we were going to play around the AWP, we needed someone we could lean on and not someone who is constantly dying and doing things solo. But there was just a cultural difference and language barrier that was difficult to overcome. Communication was not as good as it should be. We spent almost three months [working] on just that. (...) We had some problems from the start because when we worked really hard, we had some players who couldn't really realize their mistakes. And when we sat down and talked about it, they disagreed, even though there were five people saying that it was wrong. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"media-cloud9-bench-entire-roster","isNewTab":true}]

es3tag explains in the podcast that Cloud9 began to show promise and a better level around February and March, in a period where he was playing the AWP. The Dane recalls a particular victory against FURIA at ESL Pro League S13, which provided them with a bit of hope for the future. Nonetheless, it was too late as the organization pulled the plug on the roster a few days later.

- I think it ended too soon. I can kind of understand it, but then again, I can’t. If you have thrown in so much money, then you have to keep it for more than six months, come on. But it was also difficult for me to say yes to Cloud9 in the beginning, and it was solely because of the salary they offered that I chose to join.

A salary that was around $1.4 Million dollars over three years (approx. 9 Mio. DKK), was confirmed in the podcast. The salary was also a topic that es3tag touched on in the podcast.

- If there are such huge salary differences in the team, it may well create some discord. I felt that if I get paid so much more than someone else, I have to work twice as much. Some of the teams and players who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, don't understand this. They don't understand that there can be discord if you get paid so much more and then you don't work at all.

If you want to hear the entire episode with es3tag then follow one of these links (it's in Danish which means the abovementioned quotes are translated by us).  

[link:{"url":"https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Gzo55s3I08S1LLNIZnkPK","isNewTab":true,"text":"Spotify"}] 

[link:{"url":"https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/ace-en-cs-go-podcast-episode-113-m-es3tag/id1520187852?i=1000591238396","isNewTab":true,"text":"Apple podcast"}]

es3tag

woxic

ALEX

Cloud9

Alex "ALEX" McMeekin and Valentin "poizon" Vasilev have been moved to fnatic's inactive roster the organization informs on their official page. "ALEX" has been the IGL of the roster since August 2021, where he has led them to wins at Dreamhack Open 47, and REPUBLEAGUE Season 2. "poizon" has only been a part of the squad for a couple of months as a stand-in at ESL Pro League 15 and the qualifiers for the PGL Major and IEM Dallas.

Peppe "Peppzor" Borak will also be leaving the pro squad to return to the fnatic Rising academy roster. The young Swede also joined the roster as a stand-in around the same time as "poizon".

The British organization also announces that they are in the late stages of signing new players to the roster and that updates will be coming in the following weeks.

poizon

Peppzor

Fnatic

Eternal Fire remains alive at the PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR A following a 2-1 win over Fnatic this Tuesday. That means Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and the rest of Fnatic loses their chance of making it to the Belgium Major.

After having won the opening map, Özgür 'woxic' Eker and his Turkish teammates took the lead at the break on the second map 8-7. But Fnatic found momentum on their CT side on Inferno to put the match to Overpass.

For the third map straight the score was 8-7 at the break leaving no doubt, that a thriller ending was on the cards. For a while, it looked like Fnatic would eliminate their Turkish counterparts, but then Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç delivered a spectacular 1vs2 clutch to break the economy and the spirit of Fnatic. From here on there was only one team on the server. Eternal Fire is now 2-2 at the RMR event and will need to win another match to qualify tomorrow.

Eternal Fire – Fnatic 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR A 

16-12 (Dust2) | {cflag:SE} KRIMZ – 1.57 Rating / 29-16 K-D / 93.6 ADR

12-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:GB} ALEX - 1.32 Rating / 23-18 K-D / 98.1 ADR

16-13 (Overpass) | {cflag:TR} XANTARES - 1.46 Rating / 27-21 K-D / 98.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:TR} Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş - 1.31 Rating / 75-57 K-D / 89.2 ADR

KRIMZ

XANTARES

Eternal Fire

The highly-awaited playoff stage at ESL Pro League Season 15 has finally arrived. After 4 group stages and 60 Bo3 series, it's time to get serious with the knockout matches from the prominent event held in Düsseldorf. Fnatic and ENCE will kick things off today at 15:30 (CET). 

The first match of the day at EPL saw the flying 3-0 Movistar Riders take on the struggling 1-2 BIG. Sitting at the number four spot in Group C prior to the match, BIG desperately needed to win this win to keep their playoff dreams alive. But they would have to get through the flourishing Movistar Riders who had already taken down everyone who stood in their way, including big names such as Team Liquid and Players (Gambit).

The Movistar Riders chose to play Nuke as the first map, and they got off to a great 3-0 start on the T-side. The rest of the half was a bit of a disappointment for the Spanish squad, as they created a flurry of excellent situations for themselves but were unable to capitalize on a large number of them, giving BIG a halftime lead of 9-6.

The Germans extended their lead by winning three rounds straight out of the break but were heavily punished by “SunPayus”, who had a massive impact in the second half, as soon as he could purchase the AWP. This led the Spanish squad to map point, but BIG were able to take round 30 cleanly and send the match into overtime.

The close affair continued after regulation as the three overtimes were needed before the Riders were finally able to close it down and take their map pick at 25-23.

The action continued on Vertigo, BIG’s map pick, where the Riders got off to an extremely hot start on the CT-side, putting BIG completely on the backfoot. “dav1g”, in particular, was popping off, swatting the Germans away like flies. BIG surprisingly were able to bring it all the way back and went to the break with a tiny round deficit at 8-7.

The second half continued in the same close fashion as the first. BIG looked very good in situations, but the majority of rounds fell in favor of the Spanish squad who were just a couple of steps ahead.

The Movistar Riders stole away BIG’s map pick at 16-11, and are now 4-0 while the Germans take another loss and are now 1-3.

BIG – Movistar Riders 0-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group C)

23-25 (Nuke) | {cflag:ES} SunPayus – 1.49 Rating / 46-29 K-D / 94.0 ADR

11-16 (Vertigo) | {cflag:ES} alex – 1.50 Rating / 24-15 K-D / 97.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:ES} Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia – 1.42 Rating / 64-41 K-D / 88.7 ADR

SunPayus

Movistar Riders

The second match of the day saw the Brazilians of GODSENT take on the Spanish squad of Movistar Riders. GODSENT had added "HEN1" less than 24 hours before the match, while the Movistar Riders had played together for about seven months.

To kick off the action Movistar Riders chose to play Nuke, and they had a very good T-side to start the game. The Spanish players seemed to be a step ahead of their Brazilian opponents during the first fifteen rounds of play, but GODSENT never gave up and managed to give themselves a chance in the game with six rounds at halftime.

Despite the semi-close scoreline at the break, the game ended anything but that. Movistar Riders absolutely crushed the Brazilians in the second half of play and took the victory at 16-6.

The fighting continued on Ancient where the Spanish squad got off to a great start on their CT-side. They quickly went up 8-3, and “dav1g” had a great time with several multi-kill rounds. The half ended on a good note for the side of GODSENT, as they took three of the last four rounds before halftime.

GODSENT capitalized on their momentum from the end of the first half, as they won nine rounds in a row to start the second half. It wasn’t without any challenges though, as the Spaniards got bomb plants in six of those rounds. GODSENT won their map pick at 16-11.

To end the series the teams had to battle it out on the most played map in CS:GO: Mirage. Just like the previous two maps it was the Movistar Riders that were in the best position after 15 rounds. “alex” and “dav1g” went off the rails on the CT-side, and effectively shut down the offense of GODSENT, resulting in a 10-5 half.

The Spanish roster kept up the pace after switching sides, and they soon found themselves with seven map- and match points. The Movistar Riders squandered their first four chances to end it, but the fifth time was the charm, and they took Mirage 16-12.

GODSENT – Movistar Riders 1-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group C)

6-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:ES} DeathZz – 1.60 Rating / 22-7 K-D / 90.5 ADR

16-11 (Ancient) | {cflag:BR} latto – 1.40 Rating / 20-15 K-D / 101.4 ADR

12-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:ES} dav1g – 1.71 Rating / 33-16 K-D / 112.4 ADR

MVP: {cflag:ES} David "dav1g" Granado Bermudo – 1.42 Rating / 70-47 K-D / 92.5 ADR

DeathZz

latto

dav1g

GODSENT

Fnatic's in-game leader and captain, Alex "ALEX" McMeekin, has been on a tough task the past month with the Swedish-based making fluent roster moves and fielding several stand-ins. Something that means ALEX has to step up big time and lead his troops by example - which was exactly what he did in yesterday's ESL Pro League matchup against Entropiq. 

Watch his outstanding 1v4 clutch on Vertigo right here. 

Fnatic ended up falling short against the strong Russians from Entropiq in a clear 2-0 defeat. However, they are still qualified for the playoff stage at EPL after getting three wins in Group A. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"entropiq-comfortably-outplayed-fnatic-secure-2-0-victory","isNewTab":true}] 

Entropiq

Last year in October, Fnatic cemented their status as an international team when they brought in the third British player in Owen “Smooya” Butterfield (on trial) to their roster. One of the key figures in the new British-Swedish project is the IGL Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, who has to integrate the two camps into one unit.

We got the chance to sit down with ALEX to talk about his strong arsenal of weapons on Fnatic and why he believes it demands success when having smooya on the AWP mixed with a forceful trio of KRIMZ, mezii, and the Swedish youngster Brollan.

- There is so much firepower and potential that I feel like we HAVE TO succeed. As long as we work hard and do everything we can, I think we will maybe not be the number 1 team, but I definitely think we can contend for titles – hopefully, sooner rather than later.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"official-fnatic-sign-alex-mezii","isNewTab":true}]

When asked about whether Fnatic could top or beat the new star-studded EU teams in Vitality, G2 and FaZe, ALEX answered very optimistic and confident.

- I believe we can. I think we are up there in terms of firepower and everything we have right now as a team. Unfortunately for us not being a BLAST partner, it makes it tougher to be high in the rankings and stuff. But we just have to make the most out of the tournaments we’re in, and if we do good, I think we can rival them for sure, ALEX said to Pley.

You can find the entire interview with ALEX in the video down below.

Brollan

mezii

smooya

Alex "ALEX" McMeekin and Fnatic didn't manage to defeat Astralis at Funspark ULTI Finals 2021 yesterday, resulting in a quick elimination at the $250.000 event. Despite the loss, the British in-game leader and captain secured himself this near-ACE (only just stolen by KRIMZ), after displaying an outstanding trigger discipline.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-survives-another-day-funspark-ulti-after-dramatic-match","isNewTab":true}]

Astralis

fnatic kept their tournament hopes alive after taking down the Germans from BIG 2-1 in the Lower semi-finals to secure a spot in the Lower final. Meanwhile, Gambit eliminated FaZe with a 2-1 result to advance to the Lower final where they will be taking upon ALEX’s men for the last chance to claim a spot in the playoffs.

fnatic – BIG (2-1) | IEM Winter Lower semi-final

The action started on fnatic’s pick of Inferno, where ALEX’s men got off to a strong start by taking an early 1-5 lead on the T side. However, the Germans immediately took control of the map after that, as they finished off the first half with a stellar 9-6 CT side lead. tabseN and his troops continued their good form by crushing fnatic on the T side and confidently closed their opponents map pick, 16-7.

On Mirage, fnatic grinded out rounds on the CT side and picked up a dominant 13-2 half, looking to quickly force the third map. But things didn’t go that easy, as the Germans lowered their deficit to only to rounds at 13-15, before ALEX’s men tied up the series 1-1.

fnatic wrapped up the series 2-1 on Nuke after closing out the map in overtime 17-19. KRIMZ played a massive role in the victory and finished on top of the scoreboard with a 1.31 Rating to help his team to survive at the event. 

Inferno (7-16) | {cflag:DE} tabseN – 1.41 Rating / 91.2 ADR / 22-14 K/D 

Mirage (16-13) | {cflag:GB} ALEX – 1.51 Rating / 111.4 ADR / 29-18 K/D

Nuke (17.19) | {cflag:GB} mezii - 1.18 / 84.3 ADR / 27-26 K/D 

MVP: {cflag:SE} KRIMZ  - 1.31 Rating / 91.4 ADR / 76-55 K/D

FaZe – Gambit (1-2) | IEM Winter Lower semi-final

Inferno (16-13) | {cflag:CA} Twistzz – 1.25 Rating / 76.4 ADR / 19-15 K/D 

Overpass (22-25) | {cflag:RU} Ax1Le - 1.35 Rating / 92.5 ADR / 38-30 K/D

Ancient (10-16) | {cflag:RU} - 1.47 Rating / 96.2 ADR / 25/14 K/D

MVP: {cflag:RU} Ax1Le - 1.24 Rating / 86.0 ADR / 76-64 K/D

tabseN

Twistzz

DreamHack November 2021 is slowly but surely nearing its end as only four teams are left competing for a spot in the Grand Final. The first Semi-Final of the event saw fnatic take on MAD Lions in an intense Bo3-series. Fnatic have been excellent throughout the entire event and were without any doubt the favorites going into their brawl against MAD Lions. Coming out from the group stage undefeated, the British and Swedish boys of fnatic seemed ready and eager to battle once again. And ready they were. With a great amount of confidence, they posted yet another impressive performance and managed to take down MAD Lions in just two maps. The 2-0 victory means that they advance to the Grand Final of DreamHack November 2021.

The first map was the choice of MAD Lions and saw the Bo3-series start on Ancient. To many people’s surprise, fnatic had left the option of Ancient on the table for the side of MAD Lions. Being fnatic’s first official and recorded game on the map it seemed a very risky map to leave open for MAD Lions to pick. It was also the more experienced team on Ancient, in MAD Lions, to start the strongest. Posting a strong T-sided half it was MAD Lions to secure a 9-6 lead going into the second half of Ancient. Once again fnatic had a rough start to the half but quickly managed to regain control. Due to a phenomenal performance from IGL “ALEX” the fnatic roster was able to claw themselves back and ultimately close out the first map of the series at the scoreline of 16-14.

The second map of the series was to be played on Inferno and was, of course, picked by fnatic. The map of Inferno is one of their strongest maps and if you’re facing a “Brollan” in form, going against fnatic on Inferno can be a daunting thought. Whilst fnatic were undoubtedly the stronger side on Inferno it was a close brawl all the way through. At the close scoreline of 8-7 going into the second half Inferno, it was difficult to separate to two sides and it seemed as if it could go both ways. The back-and-forth brawl continued until the late stages of Inferno where fnatic’s defense proved too difficult for the MAD Lions roster to tame. Ultimately it was the British and Swedish hybrid roster to take home Inferno and thereby also the Bo3-series at the scoreline of 16-12 

fnatic – MAD Lions (2-0) | DreamHack November 2021 (Semi-Finals)

ALEX {cflag:GB} – 1.21 Rating / 27-21 K-D / 86.1 ADR

smooya {cflag:GB} – 1.30 Rating / 23-16 K-D / 78.9 ADR

William “mezii” Merriman {cflag:GB} | 1.15 Rating / 43-37 K-D / 74.6 ADR

MAD Lions

dupreeh and company from Astralis have secured their third victory in Group B at IEM Fall EU after taking down their rivals 14-16 on Nuke.

Astralis and Heroic went head-to-head in the Danish Derby. The action started on Nuke, where Heroic got a good start by winning the first three rounds on the attacking side. But things changed when Astralis upgraded their gear as they won eight rounds in a row. They kept their lead for much of the first half, which ended up 10-5. In the second half, Astralis quickly extended their lead, stringing three rounds together to go up 13-5 on the scoreboard. Heroic was unable to keep a lid on Philip "⁠Lucky⁠" Ewald as Astralis kept on their lead in the half. When it seemed like Astralis were going to steal away their favorite map pick, cadiaN troops came back from the dead and were hoping for a comeback, but Astralis closed out the map 16-14 and avoided any overtimes.

14-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} dupreeh – 1.40 Rating / 28-16 K-D / 84.4 ADR

Sinners – Endpoint (16-9) | {cflag:CZ} NEOFRAG – 1.72 Rating / 25-17 K-D / 119.3 ADR

Complexity – Movistar Riders (14-16) | {cflag:ES} ALEX - 1.53 Rating / 29-15 K-D / 93.3 ADR

dupreeh

NEOFRAG

Heroic

SinnerS

Endpoint

compLexity Gaming

Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson has been a loyal and trusted member of the Fnatic organization since 2014, besides a short spell at GODSENT in 2016. Under the iconic Fnatic banner, the Swedish veteran has played under strong in-game leaders like Markus "pronax" Wallsten and Maikil "Golden" Kunda Selim, always in a fully Swedish roster.

Last month, Fnatic decided to go change their course completely by going international with the signing of the two Brits in Alex ‘ALEX’McMeekin and William ‘mezii’ Merriman.

In a press conference right before the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 14, KRIMZ touched on the new roster and how he feels about them going international.

- It was a bit weird in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it. It’s kind of a nice change to skip the whole Swedish thing and to play with players from other countries. Something, I think is important if we want to become a better team, and not just to have the same old Swedish style of Counter-Strike in running and gunning.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Copyright_-_Damian-Gatkiewicz_-_alex_twoteg","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Damian Gatkiewicz ESL","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike"}]

ALEX, the former Vitality and Cloud9 IGL, is the new sheriff in town at Fnatic

The longest-standing Fnatic member also revealed some of the differences between ALEX’s style of play and some of his former captains on the team, where he also explained his own role in the system.

- I think ALEX has a bit more structure than the previous IGL’s on the team. We still have freedom, but it feels like the rounds feel are more structured. I think ALEX is a more natural leader in a way. In most of the maps, I’ve picked up the secondary AWP, but in general, I just do whatever I want, KRIMZ said with a minor smile on his face.

Fnatic's next challenge will be against the strong North Americans from Liquid this Wednesday at 19.15 (CET). The two teams are going to fight for a semi-final spot at the prominent ESL Pro League Season 14, which offers a massive $175.000 1st prize.  

[slugORMA:{"slug":"fnatic-finishes-off-eg-still-secured-playoff","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"story-krimz-underrated-anchor-fnatic","isNewTab":true}]

Fnatic has been one of the positive surprises at this year's ESL Pro League. The new roster once again showed positive signs of their progress in the last-round matchup against Evil Geniuses.

The North Americans were already out of the tournament before tonight's match, while Fnatic needed a victory along with a NAVI victory in their match against FaZe to advance at ESL Pro League.

On Nuke everything looked according to the plan with a convincing 16-11 win. Englishman William 'mezii' Merriman topped the scoreboard with an impressive 26-11 K-D, which underlined the fact, that both he and Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin has found their place at Fnatic with ease.

Inferno did not shake the picture. It was still Fnatic in full control against a half-dead EG roster, that in brief moments showed the undeniable talent, that their roster possesses. EG managed to make their last map of ESL Pro League competitive, but in the end, it was not enough. Evil Geniuses will leave ESL Pro League without a victory.

Fnatic could sit back and enjoy the view, as NAVI took care of FaZe in their match. A result that puts Fnatic through to the next round.

Fnatic – Evil Geniuses (2-0) | ESL Pro League Season 14

16-11 (Nuke) | {cflag:GB} mezii – 1.63 Rating / 26-11 K-D / 105.6 ADR

16-14 (Inferno) | {cflag:SE} KRIMZ - 1.23 rating / 25-17 K-D / 83.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:SE} Jack 'Jackinho' Ström Mattsson | 1.23 rating / 40-28 K-D / 69.9 ADR

Evil Geniuses

At the start of August, the Swedish organization announced a big change to their roster. fnatic decided to depart from an all-Swedish lineup and transition to an international roster with the addition of former Cloud9 duo Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and William “mezii” Merriman.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"official-fnatic-sign-alex-mezii","isNewTab":false}]

fnatic are set to make their first official appearance on Friday at 16:45 (CET) in the Group C of ESL Pro League Season 14, facing off against the toughest squad in the group, NAVI. Ahead of their debut, HLTV.org spoke to fnatic’s new captain to find out what their focus is on heading into their first tournament together.

You can read HLTV’s full interview with fnatic’s new IGL right here: [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/32219/alex-mezii-is-an-igls-dream-hes-an-overall-amazing-player-to-glue-a-team","isNewTab":false}]

With all the surprise storylines of the tournament so far, we are eager to see, if we will see another huge upset at the tournament, where number 3, 5, and 6 in the world (G2, Virtus.pro, and Astralis) have already been knocked out. 

Together with Gambit, s1mple and his teammates have been the most consistent team in 2021. The inclusion of [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/b1tgod","isNewTab":true,"text":"Valerii 'b1t' Vakhovskyi"}] as a permanent fifth man has been a solid move from the CIS Organization. The young Ukrainian has produced some solid numbers, that helped his team to a great victory at IEM Cologne. The team starts their run at ESL Pro League with a match against Fnatic, where they are huge favorites to take home the three points. We also have them as clear favorites to win the group.

Judged by their individual skills, FaZe ranks as one of the best teams in the world. Their excellent showing at IEM Cologne gave some much-needed hope for the team. The question is, how will FaZe perform back online? The team has had horrible performances online in 2021, so what FaZe team will we get to see at Pro League? We think they will carry on the good form from IEM Cologne and show some of the moves, that made them beat Gambit in their last tournament. 

There is a potential big match coming up in the last round of Group C. mousesports and BIG collides in a battle, that very well could determine who books the last spot in the playoffs. Since the roster move that saw in-game leader [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/karrigan","isNewTab":true,"text":"Finn 'karrigan' Andersen"}] switch to FaZe bringing in Australia's finest [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dexter","isNewTab":true,"text":"Christopher 'dexter' Nong"}] as his replacement, the trend has been positive for mouz, who has improved throughout 2021 with one exemption. At IEM Cologne the team lost both their opening matches and caused the team to crash out of the main tournament in the last position. We do think, that the team is strong enough to make it out of this group in third.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Copyright_-_Helena-Kristiansson_-_gade_uhuxmk","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Helena Kristiansson ESL","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike, North, Gade"}]

You should never write off the Germans! In reality, BIG could end up anywhere from 1st to 4th in this group, but given the circumstances of them making a late roster move, we have placed them in the bottom of their range. [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/xantares","isNewTab":true,"text":"İsmailсan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş"}] and his impressive firepower are gone and replaced by the 26-year-old Dane, [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/gade","isNewTab":true,"text":"Nicklas 'gade' Gade"}], who has some big shoes to fill. The former North player joined the team in the beginning of the month, and it will be interesting to see, how the roster change will affect the team.

A new chapter in the book of Fnatic was written with the signing of the two Englishmen [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/alex-1","isNewTab":true,"text":"Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin"}], and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/mezii","isNewTab":true,"text":"William 'mezii' Merriman"}]. For the first time in history, the team will not be entirely Swedish. The move that sent [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/golden","isNewTab":true,"text":"Maikil 'Golden' Kunda Selim"}], and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/jw","isNewTab":true,"text":"Jesper 'JW' Wecksell"}] on the bench is being tested for the first time at ESL Pro League. The team has dropped down to number 65 in the world, their lowest position on the world rankings since August 2016. We have not seen a competitive match from Fnatic in two months, so it is hard to predict, where they will land in this group. One thing is for sure though, they will be pressure tested right away with their opening match against tournament favorites, Natus Vincere.

We predict them to finish last in the group. A dangerous team, however, that can easily win maps from their opponents, if you underestimate them. Polish AWP'er Michał 'MICHU' Müller has been a good addition to the squad, but the team will be severely handicapped by the loss of their in-game leader [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/stanislaw","isNewTab":true,"text":"Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz"}], who is on medical leave.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"stanislaw-will-compete-esl-pro-league-im-mentally-ready","isNewTab":true}]

Evil Geniuses will be playing with their coach Damian "daps" Steele as a stand-in. A fact that has lowered all expectations for the team in Group B.

s1mple

B1tGOD

gade

karrigan

Golden

stanislaw

Natus Vincere

mousesports

FaZe

Owen “smooya” Butterfield has been removed from Movistar Riders’ active roster, confirming the recent rumours of the Brit leaving the team. The decision to bench smooya follows the two roster moves the Spanish org made 12 days ago, where they released Kristjan "⁠shokz⁠" Jakobson and benched Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes.

Filling in the empty spaces on the roster will be the Spanish trio Álvaro “SunPayus” García, Raúl “DeathZz” Jordan and David “Dav1g” Granado, who all three previously played for Iberian Family. Down below you'll find a passage from Movistar Riders' statement.

- With these five players we seek to recover the illusion of having a completely national project and take it to the top, with the mission of being the reference for all of you, the followers of CS:GO.

As a result of this rethinking, Owen “smooya” Butterfield is removed from the starting roster, becoming a substitute until the end of his contract. The English player, whom we thank for these 6 months of dedication and work with us, is now open to hearing offers from other teams.

{cflag:ES} Alejandro "⁠mopoz⁠" Fernández-Quejo Cano

{cflag:ES} Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet

{cflag:ES} Álvaro “SunPayus” García

{cflag:GB} Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield (benched)

{cflag:BR} Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes (benched)

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mopoz

steel

shokz

ALEX is one of CS:GO’s most notorious in-game leaders. But having led ZywOo and company to success with Vitality, he made a risky move to Cloud9, where things just didn’t work. Now, he’s been tasked with fellow Brit William “mezii” Merriman to lead fnatic back to the glory days of pronax, flusha, olofmeister, and JW.  

Fnatic are currently experiencing a transformation in their glorified Counter-Strike division, with the Swedes having brought in Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and William “mezii” Merriman. And yesterday, the iconic organization announced the arrival of a third Brit, in the signing of Jamie “keita” Hall.

keita has been appointed as their new Strategic Coach where his primary task will be the in-game performance by the team. Something, Fnatic hopes will make it easier for Head Coach, Andreas Samuelsson and his work with both CS:GO rosters.

Andreas Samuelsson talks about the addition of keita and what he will bring to the team.

- Once we had elected that the best course of action to rebuild the CS:GO team would be to adopt an international roster, the natural next step following the selection of players was to also assess the management structure. Throughout this complete overhaul of the team, we wanted to ensure that we did our due diligence, and put Fnatic back on track to the path of success.

Locating and appointing a new CS coach was not an easy task, many options were considered and assessed during this time of flux. However, when we identified that Jamie had suddenly become a free agent, we felt that he could potentially be that person to fill the role and subsequently approached him about the opportunity.

The acquisition of keita comes after Fnatic last week announced a new international roster, after the benching of their loyal servants in Jesper "JW" Wecksell and Maikil "Golden" Selim. The British trio of ALEX, mezii and keita marks a substantial change, as they will be the first non-Swedish players playing under the Fnatic banner. The new-look Fnatic will debut their new roster at ESL Pro League Season 14 later this month.

Jamie "⁠keita⁠" Hall (strategic coach)

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The iconic Swedes from Fnatic will no longer hold a fully Swedish roster, as the organization has brought in the two British players in Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin and William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman. The former Cloud9 duo will inherit the spots from Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell and Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim, who were recently benched.

The new in-game leader, ALEX explains in a statement that he’s excited to have been "given the chance to help rebuild Fnatic into a title-winning team again.

- I am honoured to be given the opportunity to represent such a legendary team. I have nothing but respect for the legacy the past teams have created here and I know that there are big shoes to fill. I am looking forward to working alongside the Fnatic to develop the team’s performance both on and off the server.

To say that I’m excited would be an understatement. Being given the chance to help rebuild Fnatic into a title-winning team again is a big challenge but a fun one that I will take on with enthusiasm, 

You can read the full statement from fnatic down below.

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{cflag:SE} Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson

{cflag:SE} Jack "⁠Jackinho⁠" Ström Mattsson

{cflag:GB} William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman

	30 days	90 days
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ALEX

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