Fnatic will miss VALORANT Champions for the first time in history

Fnatic’s chaotic season came to an end this Friday following a final 2–0 defeat to Joblife. Beaten for the second time in two weeks by a Tier 2 team after their loss to Enterprise Esports in the upper bracket of the Play-Ins, the multiple-time European champions have been eliminated from VCT EMEA Stage 2 and will also miss Champions for the first time in their history.

The Black and Orange side had shown signs of improvement on Thursday by overcoming GIANTX to advance to the next round, but they had already been left with no room for error. With their backs against the wall and having struggled during the Group Stage, the team had already experimented with several tactical changes, notably moving Austin “crashies” Roberts to the Sentinel role.

Despite some promising signs, these adjustments ultimately failed to translate into improved results. On the other side, Joblife, like all of the VCL teams in these Play-Ins, demonstrated that they were not there simply to make up the numbers. Following the French sides that had previously defeated Fnatic, Joblife became the fourth French team to beat them in the VCT and will now look to secure a playoff spot in their next match.

Finalists at last year’s Champions in Paris, Fnatic will not have the opportunity to challenge for the title again this year. Although the team retained the core of four players that had helped them reach that achievement, the magic no longer seemed to work in quite the same way as it had in previous years. In addition to missing the end-of-season competition for the first time in their history, the team also failed to participate in a single international tournament this season.

Without Sylvain “Veqaj” Pattyn since Stage 1 due to health reasons, the team had tried everything to recapture their former dominance, notably bringing Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov as Head Coach alongside Kirill “Cloud” Nekhozhin. With the exception of the latter and Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski, the rest of the roster are approaching the end of their contracts, and their futures remain uncertain. Much of the attention will now turn to Jake “Boaster” Howlett, a longstanding member of the team who extended his contract for an additional year last season and whose future has consequently become a matter of considerable interest.