Ahead of his debut tournament with his new team, here are some of the biggest issues ALEX has to fix at Fnatic.
ALEX restoring the prestige of Fnatic
Alex “ALEX” McMeekin has been announced as Fnatic’s new CS:GO IGL, coming in as the leader of the org’s new-look international roster. The side has suffered perhaps its worst ever run of form throughout 2021, dropping out of the HLTV top thirty and going through a whole variety of issues inside and out of the server.
Throughout the online era, as Fnatic have tumbled lower and lower down the world rankings, one of the most concerning things to watch unfold has been this palpable inferiority complex the team seems to have picked up.
Fnatic have always been a more ‘feeling’ team, relying on the flair and confidence of their talismanic individuals, as opposed to grinding opponents down with shrewd mechanics and strategies, but the past year or so has seen this exposed in the worst ways for all the world to see. Not only has every member of the team looked short of confidence in recent times, but seeing Fnatic crash out in last place after straight losses have almost become habitual for the CS community at this point.
For a side that had entered the online era as the world’s number one ranked team and remain the second-most successful org in the history of the game, it’s been a catastrophic fall from grace.
Both Patrik “cArn” Sättermon and coach/team director Andreas “Samuelsson” Samuelsson have come out publicly during the player break to reaffirm that the team’s performances are not acceptable, and the recent roster shuffle is sure to be a great way of drawing a line under the past and going again with a renewed sense of purpose.
IEM Katowice 2018 and Dreamhack Masters: Malmö 2019 are two examples of events where Fnatic have bounced back from periods of transition to claim some silverware against the world’s best, and kicking off this international era for the org with a similar level of pedigree and expectation is crucial for ALEX to be considered a success.
Bringing out the best of Brollan
At one point after being acquired by Fnatic in 2018, Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin seemed like Swedish CS’ next big superstar in the making. And, even given the long list of legendary figures to have emerged from the region, it looked for a time that Brollan was well on his way to becoming a genuine top-five player in the world.
Joining the likes of Fnatic legends Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson, Jesper “JW” Wecksell, and Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson as a recipient of consecutive HLTV top twenty awards across 2019 and 2020, Brollan bagged his first tournament MVP award at ESL Pro League Season 11 and has formed an impressive partnership alongside KRIMZ as Fnatic’s chief entry fraggers.
However, in many ways, Brollan’s recent drop-off in the past year or so has been the biggest encapsulation of all the wider issues at play for Fnatic during the online era. Brollan has made no secret of his dislike for all things online against the stages and spectacles synonymous with LAN play, and that feeling of a loss of motivation has been palpable at times in how he has performed in the server, going from Fnatic’s most dangerous player, to arguably the one whose inconsistencies have been the most volatile recently.
And now with his two seasoned mentors in the side being moved to the bench, the responsibility of reigniting and energizing Brollan’s career has well and truly fallen on ALEX’s shoulders as he joins Fnatic. Brollan could well still be one of CS:GO’s best riflers, and unlocking his talent will be one of the biggest steps forward his new IGL could pull out of his hat.
Establish a map pool
Every single successful side in CS:GO has a deep map pool, being especially potent on three or four specific picks. During the Fnatic heyday before the online era, the side were known for their incredible win percentage on maps such as Train, Inferno, and Overpass, where there was more flexibility for off-meta utility usage and extravagant manoeuvering from the likes of JW and Robin “flusha” Rönnquist.
However, as the results have continued to worsen, it’s felt like Fnatic have adopted a desperate scattergun approach to the maps they plan on. Over the past twelve months, Fnatic have played Inferno 33 times, Train, Overpass, and Mirage 20 times, Vertigo 17 times, and Dust 2 and Nuke, historically the org’s auto-bans, less than 10 times each. Even Ancient got a surprise pick from Fnatic at IEM Summer, only to get thoroughly beaten on by Ninjas in Pyjamas. At the time of writing, only Inferno (60.6%) has a win percentage higher than 50% for the org, showcasing the lack of success the team are having in making the map pool work for them.
Throughout his time with both Vitality and Cloud9, ALEX was known for his preference towards the likes of Nuke and Mirage, which could be an interesting dynamic to watch unfold as his time at Fnatic develops.
