Fnatic continue with hiro , add doma and Anderzz
FNATIC have announced that Leo "Leo" Jannesson, who stepped back from the starting roster following Masters Shanghai due to health reasons, will not return to the roster for EMEA Stage 2 playoffs or Champions. Emirhan "hiro" Kat will continue to play in his stead. The team has also brought back Domagoj "doma" Fancev as a substitute and Martin "Anderzz" Schelasin as a strategic consultant ahead of Champions.
A critical member of the team since their championship run at LOCK//IN, Leo reported visible health issues in the EMEA Stage 1 playoffs and Masters Shanghai. According to team director Colin "CoJo" Johnson, Leo has been on “full rest” since stepping down and has not been involved in the team's preparation. Leo stated that he is “still not in a physical condition to be competing” and encouraged the fans to continue supporting hiro and the rest of the team. CoJo added that the team plans for Leo to return to the team as soon as he recovers.
Fnatic picked up hiro from Papara SuperMassive in the Turkish Challengers League as a prospective young talent to fill out the team. Since then, Fnatic have been undefeated in Stage 2 with a 4-0 record in the regular season, a strong comeback from their disappointing 0-2 performance at Masters Shanghai. hiro has been a standout player for Fnatic thus far, currently recording a tenth-place 1.14 rating overall in VCT EMEA. He most recently demonstrated an impressive 30-kill Sunset map to take his team over the line against Karmine Corp in their first match of playoffs.
Pending Riot approval, Fnatic have also added two familiar faces. doma has been added as a substitute for Champions and Anderzz has once again rejoined the team's coaching staff as a strategic consultant.
doma played for Fnatic in 2021 and was part of the squad that placed second at Masters Reykjavik. He most recently competed in the Turkish Challengers League as part of Digital Athletics. He will travel to seoul with the team and will serve as a substitute as needed.
Anderzz has been a part of Fnatic three times previously and is notably credited for designing Fnatic 's signature Fade team composition on Lotus prior to LOCK//IN, which is still a popular composition on the map over a year later. Anderzz' addition has sparked discussion over whether he has been brought in specifically to provide the team with insight into the new map Abyss.
Fnatic have already locked their spot at Champions through circuit points. They will play FUT Esports in the upper semifinals of playoffs later today for the chance at a better seed in the group stage of Champions.
For the rest of the 2024 season, Fnatic is:
- Jake "Boaster" Howlett
- Emirhan "hiro" Kat
- Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev
- Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov
- Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder
- Leo "Leo" Jannesson (Sub)
- Domagoj "doma" Fancev (Sub)
- Chris "Elmapuddy" Tebbit (Head coach)
- Martin "Anderzz" Schelasin (Assistant coach)
- Jacob "Mini" Harris (Assistant coach)
- Edgar "psych_chek" Chekera (Performance coach)
