“I Think It Was Just a Really Long Split” – FNATIC Coach on VCT EMEA Grand Final Defeat

The length of the tournament played a part in breaking FNATIC’s long streak of victories

Before the VCT EMEA Grand Final game against Team Liquid, FNATIC enjoyed a 21-match winning streak, one of the longest in recent VALORANT history. After looking so dominant, the 1-3 defeat and leaving the stage without the trophy was a matter of surprise for the EMEA crowd, and FNATIC’s head coach Jacob “mini” Harris opened up the reasons behind this result in the pre-Masters Press Conference.

Talking about the Grand Final defeat, mini told ESTNN how the length of the Split played a role in the subpar performance facing Team Liquid. 

ESTNN: “FNATIC enjoyed one of the longest winning streaks in Valornat until the Grand Final against Liquid. What do you think played the biggest role in that defeat? Was it just an unlucky day?”

mini: “I think it was just a really long Split. We were grinding really hard, and yeah, it was just an off day, I think as well. Like, I think it’s one of those kinda days. We didn’t really change all that much that day. Our preparation was okay, but it wasn’t like I stayed up til 6 in the morning or anything. So, I think maybe I could’ve done a bit better; maybe we could’ve treated it a bit differently.”

He mentioned the fatigue of the squad from playing so long, as well as taking a day off right before the final Bo5 being a few of the reasons. “We also just took a day off the day before; we’ve never done that before cause we were just so tired, like when you’re going to every event when you’re going deep into events, it’s tiring, and you know, like, the wellbeing of the players comes first sometimes.”

Credit: Riot Games

Going into Masters Tokyo, FNATIC’s IGL Jake “Boaster” Howlett spoke to correspondents about how they “have been cooking” new strategies for the tournament. The roster remains one of the favorites to win the event, with players like Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev and Leo “Leo” Jannesson expected to continue their stellar forms seen in the EMEA League.