Everything you need to know about Fnatic: Europe Closed Qualifier profile

Click here for all links to all sixteen of the team profiles for the Europe Closed Qualifier for ESL One Rio.

Rank (HLTV/ESL): #4/#4

Invite or Qualifier: Invited

Lineup

• Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin
• Robin "flusha" Rönnquist
• Maikil "Golden" Selim
• Jesper "JW" Wecksell
• Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson
• Andreas "Samuelsson" Samuelsson (coach)

Five most recent results

• IEM Katowice 2020 = 3rd (LAN)
• ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals = 3rd (LAN)
• Esports Championship Series Season 8 Finals = 3rd (LAN)
• Esports Championship Series Season 8 Europe Week 5 = 1st (Online)
• StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 8 = 3rd (LAN)

Brief rundown

Last year saw Fnatic bomb out of IEM Katowice 2019 in 20-22nd place out of 24 teams before suffering a crushing defeat in the Europe Minor for the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, marking the first time the organisation did not participate in a CS:GO Major.

As the dust settled, Richard "Xizt" Landström and Simon "twist" Eliasson were benched and decisions were to be made around JW and KRIMZ who both signed contracts for the next three years.

The return of flusha and Golden soon followed to complete the rebuild, with the latter once again having the golden touch to bring success to Fnatic with a win at DreamHack Masters Malmo towards the end of the year.

An impressive run at IEM Katowice 2020 saw Fnatic best 100 Thieves in the quarterfinal match before falling to a formidable G2 Esports in the semifinal.

While Fnatic are an experienced LAN team, playing an online qualifier means anything can happen. The core of KRIMZ, JW and flusha remain one of the most successful in CS:GO history and in good form, taking back their crown is more than achievable. While Samuelsson has been managing Fnatic for a long time, the change in coaching will also be tested during the first Major run of this year.

Old domestic rivals under a new name could well await in their bracket as Dignitas face Movistar Riders on the other side.

Player to watch: Brollan

Young prodigy Brollan is a key part of Fnatic’s firepower. Surrounded by legends and veterans of the game, he has been living up to expectation and holding his own within the team even in high-pressure LAN finals.

KRIMZ had named Brollan as his bold prediction for 2019 and the 17-year-old broke into the top 20 list himself at #19, the same spot occupied by another young rising talent, Robin "ropz" Kool, the year before.

GINX prediction

Fnatic should be a guaranteed team through to the Europe Minor. While previous form at IEM Katowice and before the StarLadder Berlin Major in 2019 was shaky, they look a lot stronger now. The online portion of the marathon to the Major will be the hardest, but as long as they make it to LAN, we can expect to see the Swedish players make a deep run this May.

As the fourth best team in the world right now and the highest ranked team having to go through the process, it would be a disaster for Fnatic to not progress enough to at least retain a spot for the second 2020 Major.