One of CS:GO's most dominant rosters has broken up, but the team have proven in the past that they can recover from dramatic shake-ups
In the 17th Century, Sweden was a great power that dominated Scandinavia for a hundred years and tallied up spectacular battlefield victories.
Eventually, though, the state fell into decline, with decay at home and military failure abroad.
So what happened? A coup d’état ushered in a new establishment, and King Gustav III swept into power in 1771.
The theme of this story is repeating itself in Sweden today, in the country’s most beloved CounterStrike institution: Fnatic.
Fnatic has been at the very forefront of CS:GO for years. They seriously dominated the scene throughout 2015 and the beginning of 2016, winning a total of six international competitions.
The roster of olofmeister, dennis, flusha, JW and KRiMZ has stayed consistent, and it’s this line-up that has become one of the most celebrated in the game.
Finally, though, Fnatic have announced the departure of flusha, JW and KRiMZ, while olof and dennis remain to keep the team going.
In a microcosm of Swedish history, the past few months have seen a decline in Fnatic’s fortunes, and the team hope a change in personnel will be the solution.
The turning point seemed to be Fnatic’s loss to Team Liquid in the group stages of MLG Colombus, which was quickly followed by a loss to Astralis and the announcement of olof’s wrist injury.
Even after his return, they were simply not on form. After reaching the ELEAGUE final this summer – their first final since March – Fnatic lost to Virtus.pro.
In fact, they lost badly, even on their strongest map, Cobblestone, while olof was actually the lowest rated player of the series with a 0.68 rating.
So what went wrong? olof’s injury certainly threw everything out of kilter.
The team changed up their play style to accommodate wenton – olof’s stand in – but this left them significantly lacking in fragging power.
From there, they just could not get back on form. There was a clear lack of aggressive play, and a lot less risk taking on olof’s part, which proved to be detrimental.
Gone were the days when the deadly olof/KRiMZ duo ruled supreme; when KRiMZ’s crazy CT pushes and single-man defends would allow olof to get in early rotation.
Towards the end, especially during the dennis line-up, the team seemed to be lacking in basic strategy and execution, and relied too heavily on pure skill and the run and gun style.
However, internal strife also played its part. There’s reason to believe that the team became divided – olof/dennis, flusha/JW, and KRiMZ.
Fnatic’s roster shake-up announcement reads: “Regardless of the efforts all parties have made to resolve internal issues, it reached a point where there was a clear division within the team.
“Both parties felt it necessary to split the team up for future growth.”
The speed with which Fnatic decided to take action is also noteworthy. It was only four or five months ago that they were practically unbeatable.
That’s partly why the announcement came as such a surprise. For many, the splitting up of olof and KRiMZ is the end of an era.
But is it the start of something even more epic?
Let’s cast our focus back to six years ago, when another Fnatic era was sweeping the CS:GO scene.
The lineup of f0rest, dsn, cArn, gux and GeT_RiGhT was seemingly unstoppable before similar internal issues halted the winning machine.
The f0rest/GeT_RiGhT combo at the time was unrivalled in terms of effectiveness, but the olof/KRiMZ partnership actually overtook the former during 2015, having a tremendously positive effect on the team.
Not once during this period did Fnatic go out of an offline tournament in the group stages, which is testament to how solid this combo has been.
The organisation has always been able to perfect its line-up, which partly comes down to an impressive ability to scout out new talent.
JW, f0rest, dsn and flusha were all first-gen when Fnatic brought them in. Couple that with good leadership, as in the case of pronax, and you’ve got the first glimpse of a formidable team.
Once again though, the team has broken up, and perhaps nothing could be done to save it. But history dictates that Fnatic birth new glory, over and over, and we’re excited to see what comes next.
So what effects will splitting up CS:GO’s most successful team have?
The three axed players have all moved over to Swedish team, GODSENT, while two of GODSENT’s members, Twist and Lekr0, have joined Fnatic.
The final place at Fnatic is filled by wenton. Not to be cynical, but is he a placeholder?
Just like that, GODSENT immediately has a team of three incredible, proven players. JW and flusha are highly experienced, and were there for every major victory during Fnatic’s spell on the CS:GO throne.
GODSENT have fought alongside each other before, winning three majors together.
Will we be seeing more victories under their belts? The Pronax system has proven time and time again that it works, and past experience shows that flusha and JW work better under it.
It’s worth noting that, while they’ve gained in experience with the latest line-up, they have also lost some firepower.
JW and flusha, though both pretty amazing players, will need to step up to the plate. The team needs a star player, and the limelight is calling for JW.
Fnatic will likely feel this loss during the initial period for the new line-up. However, Twist has played with olof and Dennis before as part of that classic LGB roster back in 2014.
He has also proven, especially at DreamHack Malmö, that he can pack substantial firepower, as well as being pretty versatile in terms of weapon usage.
And now, finally, he’s in a worthy team where he can fully flex his muscles. Sorry NiP, we know you wanted him.
But Fnatic will now have to requalify for the next major as GODSENT inherited their spot, having the bulk of the team’s players. A funny thought, right? olof competing through the minors.
Whatever happens, this has been one of the biggest dramas in CS:GO history. The first match between the two teams with the new rosters will be unmissable.
If anything, this Swedish shuffle has somewhat levelled out the playing field. And, if there’s one thing we’ve learnt, it’s that change is as necessary as it is inevitable.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, King Gustav III of Sweden went on to revitalise the state, give patronage to the arts and renew the country’s military might.
Let’s see what the new Fnatic can do.
