The American initiator’s exit clears the way for a reported move to T1, and Fnatic also lose two coaches who were part of their 2025 run.
Fnatic have parted ways with Austin “crashies” Roberts, a day after the organisation said goodbye to assistant coach Casper “Desmo” Rasmussen and performance coach Philipp “Szed” Schickor. The club confirmed crashies’ departure on X on Wednesday afternoon, leaving kaajak, Cloud and Alfajer as the only active players on the roster.
“You’ll always have family here,” Fnatic wrote to the 28-year-old. His exit comes hours after Sheep Esports reported that crashies is set to join T1 for the 2027 VCT season alongside a returning Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, as we covered this morning. Neither T1 nor crashies has confirmed the move. It would be a return of sorts: crashies played for T1 in 2020, before his years at Envy, OpTic Gaming and NRG.
From four finals to no internationals
crashies arrived before the 2025 season as the replacement for Leo “Leo” Jannesson, and his first year in orange was full of finals. Fnatic won VCT EMEA Stage 1 and then reached three international grand finals without winning one.
| Event | Placing |
|---|---|
| VCT EMEA 2025 Kickoff | 5th to 6th |
| VCT EMEA 2025 Stage 1 | 1st |
| Masters Toronto 2025 | 2nd |
| Esports World Cup 2025 | 2nd |
| VCT EMEA 2025 Stage 2 | 5th to 6th |
| VALORANT Champions Paris 2025 | 2nd |
The 2026 season went the other way. Fnatic were fourth at EMEA Kickoff, fifth to sixth in Stage 1 and out in the Stage 2 Play-Ins after a loss to Joblife. They did not reach a single international event all year.
Szed joined as performance coach ahead of Stage 1 in 2025 and was there for the title run. Fnatic thanked him on Tuesday for “the unforgettable pre-game speeches” after two seasons together.
Desmo’s day on the server
Desmo came in as assistant coach for 2026 after a spell coaching LEVIATÁN in the Americas League. On 23 April he also stood in for Sylvain “Veqaj” Pattyn against GIANTX in week four of EMEA Stage 1, and Fnatic won 2-1 after dropping Haven 3-13 and taking Bind 13-7 and Breeze 13-9. Fnatic’s farewell called him “EMEA’s best undefeated Phoenix”.
A rebuild with three players
The clear-out began after the Stage 2 exit. Fnatic gave in-game leader Jake “Boaster” Howlett permission to explore other options, and he is set to join Gentle Mates, according to Sheep Esports. Head coach Andrey “ENGH” Sholokhov and Veqaj were released.
That leaves Fnatic with three players:
- Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski
- Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin
- Emir “Alfajer” Ali Beder
In September, the club admitted the 2026 season fell short and promised changes. They have time to make them. As a partner team, Fnatic are already guaranteed a place at VCT EMEA Kickoff 2027 in Berlin, but they need at least two players and a new head coach before then.
