Fnatic

Fnatic pty ltd
Location Headquartered in London, United Kingdom
Founded 2004
Sponsors MSI
SteelSeries
Eizo
Divisions Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
League of Legends
Dota 2
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
Website fnatic.com

Fnatic is an European professional electronic sports team headquartered in London.[1] Founded July 23, 2004,[2] Fnatic has a number of eSports teams on its roster, including one of the best Counter-Strike and League of Legends[3] teams in the world. Fnatic operates a dedicated gaming house for its League of Legends team based in Berlin, Germany. Fnatic also runs an independent digital agency, Sannpa, for businesses looking to be involved in eSports.

Overview

Fnatic is an European competitive gaming organization. The company owns a digital marketing agency called Sannpa that serves the 18 - 35 eSports demographic.

The organization was founded on July 23, 2004 by Sam Mathews and Anne Mathews. Fnatic won the eSports Award Team of The Year in 2006[4] and 2009.[5] After playing several years for Fnatic, Patrik "cArn" Sättermon, a Counter-Strike player, became the Chief Gaming Officer of Fnatic in 2012. Since 2013, Anne Mathews is still the company's CFO while Sam Mathews remains as Board Chairman.

In 2008–09, Fnatic acquired sponsors MSI and SteelSeries, spurring a name change to FnaticMSI.[6] On June 1, 2011, Fnatic partnered with EIZO to launch their gaming monitors into the market.

In January 2012, Fnatic took on RaidCall as a sponsor.[7] With the new title sponsor, Fnatic expanded into Korea and became the first foreign e-sports team to acquire a professional gaming house in Seoul, South Korea.[8]

The company has its headquarters in London near the Silicon Roundabout at Old Street with a full-time senior management team including a CEO, CGO, Sales Director, Accounts Director and Head of Creative Services.

Notable alumni

First person shooter

From the mid-2011 to late 2011, Fnatic’s Counter Strike team placed top three in many events with their new acquired Danish AWP player, Michael “Friis” Jorgensen.[12]

When Pita decided to step back from gaming, Fnatic welcomed Andreas “MODDII” Fridh as the next rifle man.[13] Patrik “cArn” Sattermon, a well-known in game leader, announced his surprising retirement before the IEM World Finals, going on to become the first CGO (Chief Gaming Officer) of Fnatic.[14] Xizt took on the role of the in game leader, replacing cArn with Finn “Karrigan” Andersen, another Danish player. The new squad won their first major LAN event at Copenhagen Games 2012. The same weekend FnaticRC.aLive won his first ever major tournament at IPL4 Las Vegas.[15]

After Fnatic CS won DreamHack Summer and Swedish Championship, Rasmus "Gux" Stahl retired from Counter Strike, leaving an open spot in Fnatic. On 26 June Fnatic announced that Martin "trace" Heldt as the 5th in the team. After this transfer Fnatic CS changed the flag to the Danish one after a dominance of Swedes in the lineup. In August Richard "Xizt" Landstorm left the team to play CS:GO in Team NiP; Emil "FYRR73" Karlsson was announced as his replacement.

Fnatic switched to CS:GO as one of the top global teams. In order to complete the roster, Fnatic announced that Xyp9x & JOKERN will join the other three Danish players to compete in Counter Strike: Global Offensive.[16] Rytter, who joined Fnatic not long before they switched to CS:GO and Jokern were replaced by Moddi and Stinger.[17] Now the squad was not an all Danish line-up. In May, Fnatic announced that another player will make their return to the CS squad, Karrigan took over, in place of Stringer in order to bring Fnatic back to the top. Only a few months later, in July, the rumors of Moddii leaving Fnatic, were confirmed and soon Fnatic announced the end of an Era, as they were parting ways with the remaining four players, Michael "Friis" Jørgensen, Martin "Trace" Heldt, Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth and Finn "Karrigan" Andersen.[18] During that time the team was able to finish in the 3rd/4th position of the EMS Season 1 Finals.[19]

For a number of weeks, Fnatic was without a CS:GO team. They published the announcement that they picked up the ex-Epsilon team, which in the mean time picked up Moddii as their fifth player.[20] So far, the new team has finished second in the MadCatz invitational in Birmingham.[21]

Besides making the transition to CS:GO, Fnatic also expanded into a new game. In November 2012, Fnatic announced that they picked up a Shootmania team. Recruiting Kévin "Strenx" Baéza, a former member of their previous Quake team as well as two new players, Maikel "LeKaiM" Peeters and Jean Pierre "JiePie" Janssen. The trio won numerous smaller cups, also the Shootmania Launch Party, where they claimed $30,000.[22]

Real-time strategy

With DXRacer joining the list of sponsors, Fnatic decided to expand to Korea by being the first foreign team to establish a permanent training facility for the players. On March 19, 2012 they announce that they will open the Fnatic Gaming House in Seoul.[23] In order to fill the gaming house, the eSports organisation picked up several talents from the Korean StarCraft II scene. In January, DeParture and the Warcraft legend, Moon, as well as aLive move into the gaming house. They are coached by Hwanni who also joined Fnatic that month. Later, also OZ and Luvsic are signed by Fnatic. During that time also in the European department, players join and leave. Fnatic announced in July that ToD will part ways with them. But Harstem and Naama are added to the roster.[24] Then at the end of 2012 the first Koreans leave Fnatic. First off, Rain announces his retirement and therefore leaves the team. He is followed by Byul, Ares and Moon. Only two players are left in Korea and thus Fnatic announces to switch the focus back to Europe. They close down the Gaming House and end the contracts with aLive and OZ.[25] In the mean time Harstem was promoted from the Academy to the main roster, and the team picks up SaSe, another well known face in the scene.[26] Further, Pink, Zanster and Hellokitty are recruited to play for Fnatic.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)

In 2006–07 Fnatic added a World of Warcraft division, Fnatic.WoW. Returning to represent Fnatic in the World of Warcraft 3v3 community was Fnatic’s very own TooGood, Vo0, and Ztrider. The Fnatic.WoW division won top finishes in events including BlizzCon, Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) and Major League Gaming (MLG).

Fnatic added first a Defense of the Ancients team, Fnatic.DotA, in 2007–08, represented by Ritter "Ritter" Rusli, Romi "melen" Gunawan, Ariyanto "Lakuci" Sony, Sugiarto "BaHaMuT" Cahyadi, Jeffry "Neo" Lu.[27] Formerly they were known as XcN DotA.

In 2008–09, Fnatic picked up a new DotA team with a roster of Edvin "Kwom" Börjesson, Jonathan "Loda" Berg, Rasmus "Misery-" Berth, Rene "Kebap-" Werner, and Aringazin "Aidar" Aidar.[28]

In 2012, Fnatic picked up the former GamersLeague Dota 2 squad in order to compete with the top teams. The all Serbian lineup placed fourth in ESWC, but soon after that the team parted ways with Fnatic.[29]

During 2010–11 FnaticMSI.HoN was restructured with players like Johan "N0tail" Sundstein, Kalle "Trixi" Saarinen, Henrik "Freshpro" Hansen, Jascha "Nova_" Markuse, and Tal "Fly" Aizik.[30]

After the departure of the Serbian Dota 2 team, the HoN team which claimed four Dreamhack titles made the transition to Valve’s new MOBA, Dota 2.[31] Yet the team had to replace Jascha "NoVa_" Markuse who didn’t want to switch to Dota 2.[32] In order to fill the gap, Fnatic recruited Trixi Kalle Saarinen, who left the HoN Squad a few months earlier. During the early stages, the team had a rough time playing the new game, but improved quite fast and achieved the first win in form of the SLTV ProSeries Season 2. Further, Fnatic established a North American Squad by picking up JT.Dota [33] During that time the former HoN team made a name for themselves in the Dota 2 Scene, winning several tournaments online and offline, by beating the top teams in Europe. They were invited to The International 2013, where they finished among the top eight.[34]

League of Legends

Fnatic entered the League of Legends scene in March 2011 by acquiring the roster of the eSports team myRevenge. Two months after, WetDreaM left Fnatic just before the Season 1 World Championship.[35] Despite this, Fnatic performed well during the championship and were crowned the Season 1 champions. After Season 1 however, the team lost many of its players.[36] Between June and September of 2012, Shuhei, Mellisan, Pheilox, and Lamia left the team and were replaced by sOAZ, and nRated.[37][38][39]

Later Rekkles was recruited, but he did not meet the minimal age requirements for the Season 3 World Championships and was replaced by yellOwStaR.[40] Fnatic later won DreamHack Winter 2012, finishing second at IPL 5 in Las Vegas and IEM Season VII – Global Challenge Cologne [41] In 2013, Fnatic won the Spring Split of Season 3, but during the Summer Split, the team struggled and decided that a player change was necessary. In July 2013, Fnatic announced changes in their League of Legends roster. nRated, the main support left the team and YellOwstaR, the former AD carry, switched roles to play support. Puszu joined the team in Cologne in their Gaming House to finish Season 3 as Fnatic’s AD Carry.[42] Fnatic later won the Season 3 Summer Split and qualified for the World Championship in Los Angeles, California.

During the Group Stage of the Season 3 World Finals, Fnatic went into the quarter finals against Cloud9, considered one of the best teams from North America at the time. After defeating Cloud9 2-1, Fnatic advanced to the semi finals against Royal Club Huang Zu. They later lost against Royal Club and were placed 3rd.[43]

Fnatic won the 2015 Spring Split, after beating The Unicorns of Love on 19 April 2015 in Madrid, Spain in a best of 5 format for first place. The score of the Grand final was 3-2 in favor of Fnatic.[44]

Other divisions

In 2008, Fnatic picked up Maximo12, a talented FIFA soccer player who won several titles in 2008–09. Winning the WCG Spain 2008 is only one of them.[45] Also, in 2012, Perfect Legend joins the Fnatic Team. He is known to be one of the best Fighting Game Players in the world, claiming three EVO titles and numerous other events. [46]

Current roster

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Source[47][48]

League of Legends

Souce[49]

References

  1. ↑ "contact us page". Fnatic. Retrieved 3 Oct 2013.
  2. ↑ ‘tuxie’ Roy Vuitton (22 Jul 2006). "fnatic turns 2 years old". Fnatic. Retrieved 3 Oct 2013.
  3. ↑ "Team Money Ranking". SK Gaming.
  4. ↑ ‘tuxie’ Roy Vuitton (26 Aug 2006). "fnatic E-sports team of the year 2006". fnatic. Retrieved 14 Aug 2011.
  5. ↑ "About us". fnatic. 23 Aug 2009. Retrieved 14 Aug 2011.
  6. ↑ ‘kboy’ Neil Kirk (15 Oct 2008). "MSI and FNATIC insist on the best!". fnatic. Retrieved 14 Aug 2011.
  7. ↑ Marc Winther "Nix0n" (2012-01-19). "RaidCall title Sponsor". Hltv. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  8. ↑ ‘Lexx’ Alexander Zavoloka (19 Mar 2012). "Gaming House in Korea". Fnatic. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  9. ↑ Fnatic (1990-01-06). "Fnatic Hall of Fame". fnatic. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  10. ↑ toxjq joins fnatic, fnatic.com, July 22, 2006
  11. ↑ lauke profile, ggl.com, Aug 14, 2004
  12. ↑ "fnatic welcomes Friis". fnatic. 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  13. ↑ "Moddii joins". Fnatic. 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  14. ↑ "Carn retires". Fnatic. 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  15. ↑ "fnatic golden weekend". Fnatic. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  16. ↑ "Fnaticbrings in Xyp9x & JOKERN". razrrr_. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  17. ↑ "Roster Changes in Fnatic CS Team". Fnatic.com. Lexx. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "The end of an era". Fnatic.com. Inz. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  19. ↑ "RaidCall EMS One Bracket". Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  20. ↑ "Meet the new CS Team". Fnatic.com. Andre_. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  21. ↑ "Fnatic finish Second at MadCatz Invitational". Fnatic.com. inz. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  22. ↑ "Fnatic takes gold at SMLP". Fnatic.com. zauron. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  23. ↑ "Fnatic opens Gaming House in Korea". Fnatic.com. Lexx. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  24. ↑ http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Fnatic. Retrieved 9 October 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ↑ "Alive and OZ leave Fnatic". Fnatic.com. inz. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  26. ↑ "Fnatic adds SaSe". Fnatic.com. inz. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  27. ↑ "fnatic new dota and cod". fnatic. 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
  28. ↑ "fnatic new dota". GosuGamers. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
  29. ↑ "Fnatic welcomes Dota 2 team". Fnatic.com. Phll. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  30. ↑ "fnatic hon". fnatic. 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
  31. ↑ "Fnatic HoN switches to Dota 2". Fnatic.com. Andre_. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  32. ↑ "NoVa leaves Fnatic". Fnatic.com. Lexx. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  33. ↑ "Fnatic Dota 2 in 2012". Fnatic.com. Krockadyle. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  34. ↑ "Fnatic at TI3". Fnatic.com. JRUE. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  35. ↑ "WetDreaM leaves Fnatic". Fnatic.com. stoner. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  36. ↑ "Fnatic adds sixth player". Fnatic.com. hxd. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  37. ↑ "Lamia retires". fnatic.com. lexx. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  38. ↑ "nRated joins Fnatic". fnatic.com. hxd. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  39. ↑ "fnatic welcomes soaz". fnatic.com. lexx. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  40. ↑ "rekkles joins Fnatic". fnatic.com. inz. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  41. ↑ "Fnatic achievements". Lol gamepedia. unknown. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  42. ↑ "roster changes in fnatic lol". fnatic.com. mac. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  43. ↑ "Fnatic finishes 3rd/4th at WF". gamepedia. N/A. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  44. ↑ 2015 EU LCS Playoffs, retrieved 2015-04-15.
  45. ↑ "Maximo12 wins WCG Spain". fnatic.com. WoN. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  46. ↑ "Fnatic adds Perfect Legend". fnatic.com. iyonic. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  47. ↑ http://www.hltv.org/news/12713-krimz-and-olofm-join-fnatic
  48. ↑ http://www.hltv.org/?pageid=179&teamid=4991&eventid=0&gameid=2
  49. ↑ http://www.fnatic.com/players/LoL/

External links