Fnatic is off to a rough start in the 2021 LEC Spring split, as the team debuted with a defeat against Misfits.
Fnatic’s new roster couldn’t live up to expectations and dropped its first game of the season, to everyone’s surprise. Misfits, a team that most analysts predicted to perform poorly, took control of the game and never gave Fnatic a chance to recover.
Fnatic put together a composition that had engagement options, damage, and good scaling. On Misfit’s side, the team didn’t have as many options and relied on its ability to create its own advantages. The key would be to funnel gold into mid laner Vincent “Vetheo” BerriĂ© and jungler Iván “Razork” DĂaz. Misfits needed to accelerate the pace of the game and take the win before Fnatic had the chance to scale. and they succeeded succeeded in every step of the process.
Fnatic’s roster was one of the most-talked-about topics of the offseason. Based on the signings, Fnatic was supposed to be a top team in the LEC. After one game, there’s cause for doubt about those predictions.
Simply put, Fnatic looked lost on the map. In the early game, Fnatic successfully turned the skirmishes around, but after the 10-minute mark, Misfits started to win every fight. It looked like every player had its own idea on how to approach the game and they couldn’t reach a general consensus. No mistake went unpunished, and once Misfits had control over the game it didn’t let it go.
Starting the season with a defeat is almost a Fnatic tradition at this point, but something about this season feels different. The team still has plenty of weeks to figure it out and come up with a game plan that makes sense and Fnatic has outstanding individuals on its team. They just all need to learn how to play as a unit.
No throws vs @FNATIC on my watch #LEC
— Vander (@Vanderlol) January 22, 2021
Fnatic is an esports organization based in the United Kingdom but it has operations around the world. It is best known for its enduring Swedish Counter-Strike team, and also has a Southeast Asian Dota 2 team, an Australian Rainbow 6 team, and more.
Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek is no longer part of Fnatic. The former mid laner parted ways with the team in late 2020. In January 2021, Nemesis joined South Korean organization Gen.G as a content creator.
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