Fnatic: Rebuilding a dynasty

Without names like Enrique “Xpeke” Cedeño, Lauri “Cyanide” Happonen, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, and Paul “Soaz” Boyer, there was much less confidence among fans and analysts in the revamped Fnatic roster heading into the 2015 season. Would this even be the same organization we've seen in the European scene since Season 1? Certainly Fantasy LCS players had doubts about new roster, with every new player sitting near the bottom of the ranks in average draft position. However, after three weeks of incredible performances, everyone is left asking one question: how in the world did they do it?

Rebuilding a Winning Team

According to Fnatic’s manager Oliver Steer, the team approached their new roster composition with a serious focus on young, unproven players. “We wanted to gather a pack of hungry wolves, players who would do anything in order to prove themselves worthy to replace the old Fnatic players,” he said. With their veteran leader, Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim, as the cornerstone, the organization reached out to their contacts in Korea and discovered a young top lane prodigy in Seong-Hoon “Huni” Heo. According to Steer, Huni’s potential is extremely high. “Even though we are happy with his performance,” he said, “the real Huni is still yet to come.” With a playmaker in the top lane, Steer knew he needed to find an effective way to put Huni in position to succeed. Since Huni could not communicate effectively with his shotcaller, “we needed a jungler who is not only a talented individual, but has great English skills,” explains Steer. Fnatic realized that only a Korean jungler who spoke English could fill the role. Huni himself recommended jungler Euijin “Reignover” Kin, who impressed Fnatic during the interview process with his communication skills and game knowledge. During LCS matches, Reignover and Huni will communicate in Korean throughout the laning phase, then move to English as the mid-game develops. Reignover’s strong English also allows him to translate complex calls from YellOwStaR. With their Korean imports in tow, Fnatic still needed to round out the roster with more young players. Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten and Pierre “Steelback” Medjaldi proved themselves to be driven, talented players during the Promotion Tournament, fitting the mold that Fnatic wanted perfectly. In particular, YellOwStaR was impressed by Steelback’s mindset. “He is adapting to the team rather than the team adapting to him, which is really rare,” YellOwStaR said. With their roster set, the team faced a new challenge: getting everyone together.

Melding Cultures

Due to visa issues, the full roster was unable to get with one another until January 6, just two weeks before the start of the Spring Split. During that time, the team also faced several days without internet, further restricting their practice. Despite all their setbacks, Fnatic was able to shock the League of Legends world by going 2-0 in the first week, including a dominating performance against Elements. Steer attributes this success largely to the team’s immediate chemistry. “To be honest, the fact that we had no internet in the first couple of days really helped the boys get to know each other,” he said, also noting that despite the vast cultural differences, the team has much in common. “They are all 17-18 year-old kids sharing the same interest and same goals." In addition to the team’s fast friendship, Steer emphasized that the veteran leadership of YellOwStaR is what truly brings the whole roster together. YellOwStaR is also very conscious of his Korean teammates’ needs outside the game. “I’m trying to ask them regularly if they are missing anything since they are really far from home.” He also noted that Fnatic is dedicated to helping its new young stars grow as people, not just as players. In particular, Steer mentioned that the team is looking for an English teacher for Huni. While his guidance off the Rift has been critical, it is his in-game experience that makes him so valuable.

Tactical Genius

According to Steer, one of the advantages of building the team around YellOwStaR is his command of the game. “I like to call him the puppet master,” he said. “He often controls the entire team’s movements, recalls, and ward placements.” The team’s trust in their leader allows YellOwStaR to create well-timed, complicated maneuvers like what we saw from their Spring Split debut against Elements. While YellOwStaR has the ability to control the movements of his team, the true strength of the new Fnatic comes from combining his experience and leadership with the confidence and talent of the young rookies. Both Steer and YellOwStaR made mention of strong decision making they’ve seen from Huni and Reignover. YellOwStaR in particular noted that his new squad is communicating much more than the old Fnatic. “Everyone is more talkative and is giving a lot of crucial information in game,” YellOwStaR said. He went on to say that, while he did much of the same tactical maneuvering of the old team, the veteran players had less confidence in their own calls. “I knew that taking young, talented, and motivated players is a better choice than being surrounded by experienced players that are not willing to prove themselves anymore,” he added.

All About The Team

Change is inevitable, and the management of Fnatic took the right steps this offseason to ensure that the team changed for the better. While many of the big names are gone, there is no denying that the organization has taken a large leap forward. Currently 5-1, this unproven, culturally diverse roster sits in second place in the EU LCS. For them, everything has been about building a better team and setting the organization up for a long period of renewed success. You can catch all of Fnatic’s matches every Thursday and Friday at 9:00am PST/18:00 CET right here on Lolesports. Be sure to catch up on any matches you’ve missed on our spoiler-free vods page.

Related Articles

• New Beginning in Europe
• Coaches in the EU LCS