Fnatic eliminated from playoffs without winning a single game for the first in history

Fnatic’s 2026 campaign has not begun in the most auspicious fashion. In their first split of the year with a revamped lineup in LEC Versus, the organization has concluded a campaign that is historic for unfortunate reasons: for the first time in their LEC history, the Blacks and Oranges exit the playoffs without securing a single victory.

Having qualified for the playoffs at the eleventh hour as the eighth seed, Fnatic suffered consecutive defeats to NAVI and Team Vitality, without ever truly mounting sustained resistance against either opponent. Beyond the results themselves, the internal atmosphere already appears strained, and supporters’ confidence in the roster has markedly declined.

Fnatic have endured more difficult seasons in the past—most notably in 2023, when the team failed to qualify for the Winter Split playoffs and did not advance beyond the Spring Group Stage. However, this marks the first time in the organization’s history that they have reached the playoffs without winning at least one game thereafter. The regular season had already foreshadowed a challenging road ahead, as Fnatic secured qualification on the final day despite a loss to G2 Esports, edging out Los Ratones on tiebreak criteria despite finishing with an identical record.

Following their opening playoff defeat to NAVI, Head Coach Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann voiced his frustration regarding the lack of internal staff support, explaining that he was handling the team’s preparation largely alone alongside the team psychologist while assistant coach Pablo “Gaax” Pérez was sidelined by illness. He later characterized the project as a “low resource team,” a remark that suggested underlying tension within the organization.

Amid these circumstances, the players themselves appear adrift and unable to demonstrate tangible improvement from week to week. Franchise cornerstone Iván “Razork” Martín, a central figure in recent years, has struggled to assert his usual influence, while rookies Panagiotis “Empyros” Tantis and Park “Lospa” Joon-hyeong have found it difficult to deliver consistently convincing performances. High-profile offseason signing Vladimiros “Vladi” Kourtidis has yet to meet expectations, and Elias “Upset” Lipp has similarly struggled to generate meaningful impact within the team’s current structure.

The season remains long, yet it has unquestionably begun under unfavorable circumstances for Fnatic. Supporters now await a response from an organization whose recent absence of titles may invite criticism but whose stature within the league arguably precludes performances of this nature.