Fnatic: The Strongest Team in CS: GO History

With Fnatic winning another major title, they have just cemented their place in CS: GO history as one of, if not the best team this game has ever witnessed. Many may ask how in the world could a team face tons of quality opposition and emerge at the top of almost every event that they have attended.

Here are the reasons why Fnatic is currently considered to be the best team in the history of the game:

Three majors

Fnatic has three major trophies in their rack: Dreamhack Winter 2013, EMS Katowice 2015 and ESL Cologne 2015. The other teams that have won majors are as follows: Virtus.Pro (EMS Katowice 2014), Ninjas in Pyjamas (ESL Cologne 2014) and LDLC.com (Dreamhack Winter 2014).

While there is a one-year gap between the first and the second major championships that Fnatic has won, it must be viewed in the context of the opposition that existed during the time. Dreamhack Winter 2013 saw NiP at the peak of the so-called “Fifflaren era”, while Fnatic has just changed their roster a few months before the tournament.

Meanwhile, EMS Katowice 2015 is a much more even playing field as teams such as EnvyUS and Virtus.Pro are there to stiffen the competition. However, once again, despite NiP making it to three maps in the grand final and giving them another dose of the “NiP magic”, Fnatic still wins it thanks to the performances of a certain Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer racking up 79 kills in the grand finals.

Finally, at ESL Cologne 2015, Fnatic just schooled a newly formed EnvyUS, 2-0 (19-15 on Dust 2 and 16-7 on Cobblestone). This record-breaking third major title comes at a time when each of the top 10 CS: GO  teams in the world can beat each other at any given moment, thus heightening its importance and stature.

Unrelenting form

Out of the last ten tournaments that they have taken part in, Fnatic has won seven of them (including ESL Cologne 2015), placed second in two of them and placed into the top 4 in only one of them. They have never placed out of the top four since February 2015, when they were unable to get out of Group D in the StarLadder Season XII CS: GO tournament.

According to csgotrends.com, a statistics tracking site for CS: GO, Fnatic has won against 66% of their matches against the top 5 teams in the world throughout their entire career. This means that they have won two out of three maps that they have played against the best opponents that CS: GO can offer and the numbers stand as a testament to the overall greatness of Fnatic.

The right recipe to do it

All of Fnatic’s five members have different talents and tricks that they bring to the table. Flusha is a consistent player and is the foundation on which this team is built upon: Most of the time, his form is brilliant and the very few times that he had a slump made sure that Fnatic lose a title (MLG 2015 is a very good example of this.) At his peak, he can be reliably called on to win any sort of clutch situation; due to his prowess, he is known as the “Clutcher Extraordinaire”.

Meanwhile, pronax is a player who can hold down sites consistently; he is mostly known for holding the balcony of the A apartments on Inferno, which is considered to be their home map. However, his selfless dedication for the team as well as his unreal mid-round calling puts him directly as one of the best in-game leaders (IGLs) to ever grace the game along with Ex6tenZ.

Moving on, JW is already known as one of the best snipers in the world; however, to leave his description at that is an absolute insult to the things that he brings to the table. With his extreme aggressiveness, sick reaction times and unbreakable bursts of form, JW is not a monster that you will want to wake up. The consistency of his team allows him to do endless highlight plays that would have been impossible otherwise; at any rate, he is a good all-around player.

Then, KRIMZ, which is known to be one of the “gods” of the game, can hold down the smaller B site on any map all by himself, making sure that the rest of his team can concentrate on locking down the rest of the map. Coupled with his impeccable aim and strong fundamental play, his presence makes sure that any team will have to think twice before even thinking of venturing into the B site, especially on Inferno, Mirage and Dust 2.

Finally, olofmeister, who is currently the world’s best player and among the five “gods” of the game, has strong mental fortitude and excellent game sense. Combined with his otherworldly aim and unparalleled mastery of almost every weapon in the game, his shining moments make sure that Fnatic does not have to sweat it out in order to take titles. Place him on a rotating role, and he will be at the optimal place at the best time. Put him on a lurking role and he will give you a living nightmare by pressuring the opposite site of the map. If that was not enough, put him together with krimz and together, they can hold half of the map all by themselves or win 2vX situations, thus making sure that Fnatic can get rounds out of the most unlikely situations.

No weak map pool

Fnatic can easily place three maps into their pocket: Inferno, Mirage and Cache are all included in their so-called “home maps” due to varying reasons. Inferno is the place where all of the Fnatic players can play most comfortably: Whether it is JW on the AWP roaming around the CT side of the map or flusha taking control of banana on the T side, each player of Fnatic feels at home on this very map as they know every nook and corner of it.

Meanwhile, Mirage allows for their dual setup to work very well: With JW holding mid using his AWP, any of the remaining two pairs can choose sites and wreak havoc on their opponents. Their T side allows them to go either for pick-based strategies or execute on a site and rely on the aiming power of flusha, olofmeister and KRIMZ.

Finally, Cache is olofmeister’s home map, where he just single-handedly manhandles his opponents no matter the time or the situation. He has done this consistently since his LGB days and with him being at the top of the CS: GO food chain at the moment, it is hard to imagine why can’t he repeat his Cache show each time Fnatic picks it.

As for the rest of the map pool, they have proven that they can give the world’s best teams on a particular map a run for their money: EnvyUS has just lost against Fnatic in the grand finals of ESL One Cologne with a 19-15 scoreline on double overtime, while teams like Na’Vi and Virtus.Pro on Train always have the hardest time of their lives when they are facing the black-and-orange team on Train (both teams considering it to be their home map).

Their diverse map pool ensures that in a best-of-three matchup, teams will have to play at least one of their good maps, or two if it is a best-of-five, thus allowing the team to have a comfort zone in order to come back from maps that were lost due to the enemy’s prowess.

The other claimants: Ninjas in Pyjamas, EnvyUS and Team Solo Mid

There are only three teams that can pose a strong claim to the title of being the best team in the world at the moment. There is no need to introduce the Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP): With their 87-0 map streak in the early days of CS: GO, appearances in the finals of five majors and winning a major in their worst slump, the magic of NiP is surely a force to be reckoned with. They have been the best team in the world for a very long time, with their reign only ending during the post-ESL Cologne 2014 period.

However, with virtually only Aleksi “allu” Jalli performing in the last major at ESL Cologne 2015, it is safe to say that the Ninjas must either change their strategies in order to keep up with the times or go a major roster overhaul.

In the meantime, EnvyUS with their new lineup has gotten second place at ESL Cologne 2015 despite not being in full form.

This simply speaks volumes about their potential: If all of the players get to their respective peak forms, it is possible that they can finally end Fnatic’s three-major record and be on their way to become one of the best CS: GO teams in history. Three of its players have already won a major as LDLC.com (and have experienced being at the top of CS: GO from November 2014-February 2015) and all of these players are extremely talented in their respective roles.

If any three of their members get their stride (or two, if kennyS is one of them), then we may very well see something similar to the VeryGames era, in which a French team had the opportunity to beat NiP in their prime.

Finally, there’s Team Solo Mid (TSM), otherwise known as “Fnatic’s kryptonite” due to their strong performances against the Swedish giant. Even though they were unable to get past through the semi-finals in this major, they are still considered to be a very strong team whose peak hasn’t been unleashed yet.

If any of these teams can step up their game in the coming months leading to Dreamhack Winter 2015, then we may very well see another great rivalry similar to Fnatic vs. NiP or VeryGames vs. NiP.

Conclusion

But for now, Fnatic is at the top of the game.

With players which can fill up any role, maps that give them multiple pathways to glory and titles which baffle anyone’s imagination, who can ask for more?

Fnatic is the strongest team in the world right now.

It is simple as that.

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