Fnatic dodges Jinx bullet vs. ahq, earns No. 1 seed in Group B

If you thought Fnatic's Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten had harsh words for Cloud9 when asked by Sjokz on-air to predict the outcome of the final match of the Worlds 2015 Group Stage, you can rest in the knowledge that he’s just as ruthless when assessing his own team’s performance. Despite having just left the stage after clinching the No. 1 seed in Group B, Fnatic’s mid laner was despondent, using the adjective “bad” eight times over the course of our interview, averaging 1 BPM (‘bad’s per minute). Nevertheless, his team managed to pull out a thrilling win in its final game against Taiwan’s ahq e-Sports Club -- but triumph was donated, not earned.

“We should’ve lost this game,” says Febiven. “They could’ve just ended the game if they wanted to. They could have gotten two or three Barons for free. Next week if we play like this then we’re probably going to lose if the [opponent] is better.”

[[{"fid":"20198","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/centered/public/21904334538_863ea0b596_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DdhNjPBPm","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

He’s not wrong. When ahq took the hot-headed and completely unnecessary team fight at 48 minutes that threw the game, Fnatic’s base looked like downtown Tokyo in the wake of a Godzilla temper tantrum. With two Inhibitors down, super minions pushed into Fnatic's base like belligerent shoppers streaming through the doors of a Wal-Mart on Black Friday after hearing rumours they could get a shiny blue Nexus for 75% off retail price.

Chun-An "AN" Chou's scary 12/4/4 Jinx had nearly single-handedly broken Fnatic’s spine. All ahq had to do was huddle safely on the opposite side of the map, spamming team-flair and dance emotes while they waited for the Victory animation to trigger. Winions could likely have closed out the game unaided. Fortunately, despite being down, Fnatic had the presence of mind needed to slap down ahq’s haphazard engage, ace them, and finish the game in a single heart-in-throat counter-push. The spectating French audience leaped to its feet, waving Fnatic flags and screaming uncontrollably in support of the Europeans.

“We knew that we were the better team, but we drafted poorly because we were overconfident,” says Febiven, who sounds pretty damn confident. “I was overconfident because I knew that I was a better player than Westdoor. So I decided to take the [LeBlanc vs. Zed] skill matchup instead of a farm-heavy mage. And our bot lane got a bit behind so it was extremely hard and our attitude got so bad in this game so the communication was bad and our decision-making was bad.”

What does bad in-game communication look like for Fnatic?

“Everyone is calling different stuff because everyone is frustrated,” says Febiven. “We all do whatever we want. If something goes bad, then it goes more bad. For me, I did some really bad things this game, which I normally don’t do if I’m in an optimal mental state. When I jumped into the top lane at the second tower where I got one-shot, I don’t know why I did that. It just starts because something goes wrong and then communication is negative. And then it gets to everyone’s head and everyone feels desperate, or like they have to do something. And then bad things happen.”

[[{"fid":"20199","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/22077079512_4d10f47fc1_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DbpiETKyC","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Europe’s top seed going into Worlds 2015 see-sawed back and forth between bad and badass during the Group Stage, but they made the clutch plays when it mattered. In the game against ahq, Febiven pulled off a godlike Baron steal, which is no mean feat on a champ like LeBlanc, who has to throw herself into harm’s way with Distortion and can’t rely on a hail-mary snipe from outside the pit.

Febiven remains hopeful that they’ve gotten the jitters out of their system and will be stronger going into the Knockout Stage. Our interview took place just prior to the Quarterfinals draw, in which Fnatic got matched up against China’s Edward Gaming for their next test. (Febiven told us he was hoping for Origen or KOO Tigers.)

[[{"fid":"20200","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/21466722584_15630e8473_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DftJAqQae","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“I hope we get one of the weaker teams,” he says, “because then of course it will be easier for us to win and go through. Because I want to travel the world more. I want to play everywhere. We have to beat every team so it’s going to be extremely hard.”

Febiven and Fnatic have a guaranteed trip to London. Whether his squad is still in the race when the competition moves on to Brussels and Berlin later in the month, however, will depend on how bad they want it.

You can see Fnatic play in their Quarterfinal match against Edward Gaming on Saturday, October 17 at 3:00 PM CEST / 14:00 BST / 6:00 AM PT.

Make sure to tune into the first match of the Quarterfinals when Origen takes on the Flash Wolves on Thursday, October 15 at 17:00 BST, 18:00 CEST, or 9:00 AM PT.

For more Quarterfinals and Worlds content, visit Lolesports.