Tag Archives: Fnatic

Analysis and Opinion

EU Mids: Searching for the lost superstars

The historic greatness of “EU mids” has been waning for some time.

There are several good mid laners in Europe right now, but we’re no longer living in the glory days when Danish and Spanish titans were stalking the Rift and leaving their indelible marks on the League of Legends history books. That’s partly because of an ongoing exodus of skill to North America, thinning out the upper strata of the talent pool, but there’s also a lack of compelling narratives to tell around the current generation of EU LCS mid laners: it’s become more difficult to clearly establish their legacies and in-game personalities.

Unquestionably, though, the average level of European mid lane talent has remained high, and there are stories very much worth telling, even if those narratives don’t flow quite so easily, and even if we must continue to wait and hope for the arrival of Europe’s next true mid lane superstar. Continue reading EU Mids: Searching for the lost superstars →

Analysis and Opinion

Caps on Camille mid, using negative fan comments as motivation, and why he doesn’t look at his own statistics

Following Fnatic’s week 3 victory over Roccat, mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther was in high demand by the media, but spared a few minutes to speak with Oracle’s Elixir between other interviews. Under the watchful eyes of team manager Finlay “Quaye” Stewart, Caps gave me some context around his use of Camille in game 1, shared about his impressive early growth in his rookie season, and explained why he doesn’t pay attention to his own performance stats.

Throughout our conversation, I was impressed by how open and comfortable Caps seemed. Just three weeks into his LCS career, he already carries himself with ease and confidence, both on the Rift and in backstage interviews.

A transcript of our interview follows. Portions have been slightly edited or condensed for clarity.

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TIM

First of all Caps, looking back to game one, the draft surprised a lot of people, especially the Camille specifically, how that came through. How surprised were you guys to get it after leaving it up? Continue reading Caps on Camille mid, using negative fan comments as motivation, and why he doesn’t look at his own statistics →

Analysis and Opinion

Fnatic First Look: Signs of Deilor

After an offseason of change, Fnatic fans waited eagerly, and somewhat apprehensively, to see what their revamped roster would look like on the LCS stage. The team’s first two games revealed signs of strength and signs of weakness, impressive highs and disappointing lows, and some telltale signs of coach Deilor’s continuing influence.

One day into the EU LCS Spring season, it looked like Fnatic hadn’t missed a beat: despite coming in with three new players, they handed their European rivals, Origen, a pretty clean defeat. The next day Fnatic faced Vitality, drafted the exact same five champions, and tried to do it all over again, but they went home with a disheartening loss.

Which team is the real Fnatic? Are they the Origen-beating juggernauts we saw on Thursday, or the much less potent, somewhat faltering version we saw on Friday?

Before we try to answer that question, we need to recognize that Fnatic’s play was not a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While the outcomes of the games looked very different, it wasn’t because Fnatic themselves played differently in each game. This was not a case of “inconsistency”, that overused pejorative that has been applied in the past to high-highs, low-lows players like Huni and, accurately or not, Gamsu. In fact, I would argue that Fnatic was quite consistent in how they played both of their games in week 1. The difference in the results said more about Fnatic’s chosen style of play than it did about how well they performed.

Continue reading at Unikrn →