Fnatic have been mathematically eliminated from participating in the upcoming CS:GO PGL Stockholm Major in late October following a 0-5/1-4 performance in Group D of the IEM Fall Europe event.
Fnatic’s run in the group stage, playing only best-of-one series, got off to a rough start with a one-sided loss to FaZe Clan on Mirage, followed by close losses to Double Poney and Team Fiend on Nuke and Inferno, respectively.
Down 0-3, the Swedish-British Fnatic roster needed to win both of their last matches and get some help in other results in order to reach playoffs, but a Nuke loss to NiP sealed their fate. Going into the final day already eliminated, they unceremoniously fell in overtime to SKADE on Mirage to finish 0-5.
With no RMR points earned at IEM Fall, and with their already small amount of earned points reduced by roster change reductions, Fnatic will completely miss the PGL Stockholm Major. Despite the two-year gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the second straight Major that Fnatic has missed, after failing to qualify for StarLadder Berlin in 2019. Their last-place finish at the IEM Katowice Major before Berlin meant they had to compete through the StarLadder EU Minor, where they lost a narrow 2-0 to CR4ZY.
This result at IEM Fall 2021 occurred three months after the team moved legendary AWPer JW and reliable in-game leader Golden to the bench, to be replaced by former Cloud9 Colossus members ALEX and mezii out of the United Kingdom. This roster move was a momentous one for Fnatic, who, for the first in CS:GO, opted to field a lineup that was not entirely Swedish.
While this new form of Fnatic is still just a couple of months old, missing another major (and the first one in over two years) still has to feel like a disappointment to the iconic Counter-Strike organization. Their next scheduled event isn’t until March of 2022, at ESL Pro League season 15.
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