Welcome to Fnatic Overwatch
Anyone who has tuned into professional Overwatch has undoubtedly heard of some of the early entries dominating the scene like Cloud9 and EnvyUs. Even those who do not have likely bumped into some of the content featuring professional players, Lane “Surefour” Roberts and Brandon “a_Seagull” Lamed coming to mind right off of the bat. But one team that formed only a couple of weeks ago is stomping on the scene without mercy – and they’re going to be number one before you know it.
Despite Fnatic’s prevalence as one of the most dominant European organizations in Esports, their entry into Blizzard’s shooter has been slightly delayed. The players that they’ve picked up aren’t the most famous (though not underground by any means), and the team has yet to mark its territory.
Their Carries, Their Potential
The team is composed of Oliver “Vonethil” Lager and Scott “Custa” Kennedy at the support roles, Matt “coolmatt69” Iorio and Warsi Faraaz “Stoop” Waris tanking it up, but most importantly, André “iddqd” Dahlström and Casey “buds” McIlwaine featured on the carries. And those last two are why I think they have what it takes to reach the top.
Overwatch, as it currently exists, is undoubtedly a team featured game. But that doesn’t mean individual performances aren’t immensely important. Especially in the current metagame featuring only two carries (and sometimes one if you’re NRG), those players need to possess near-flawless mechanical prowess. When anyone watches this team play, they should be able to see three evident traits in each of the carries right off of the bat:
- Consistency – always putting out damage and reliably fragging
- Versatility – able to maneuver a diverse and expanding roster
- Raw Aim – ready to duel other stars
Between these traits, iddqd and buds prove to be well-rounded enough to serve as the base of a potentially dynastic team with Fnatic. The former has been renowned since the first week of competitive play, eclipsing every other player with his McCree. Buds is no slouch of a secondary carry though. His tracing ability allows him to fill on heroes like Tracer and Reaper; however, his versatility combined with this really elevates the team. At times, his pestering Genji creates space for his teammates and chaos for enemies. Others, a trump card Widowmaker can open up entire points with an instant headshot.
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Closing in Quick
Most recently in their match against Cloud9 in the ESL Atlantic Showdown, they took the first two matches before being reverse swept in a series of close affairs. Stalwarts Surefour and Reaver were constantly out of their rhythm against Fnatic’s aggressive duo, combined with collected shot-calling from Vonethil and a disgusting Zarya in the hands of coolmatt69.
At a time where no one looks able to break EnvyUs, these guys seem like the likely challenger. Unlike Cloud9 who struggles with what seems to be lapses in focus, or NRG who can’t keep a roster together and has one of their carries who cannot play hitscan, Fnatic doesn’t have glaring weaknesses. They will be adaptable to future meta changes, but also showed their ability to grow in the current one.
If you haven’t picked a favourite team yet, I’d suggest checking this squad out soon. Trust me, it’ll be easy being a fan of a team that’s about to become the best in Overwatch.
