League of Legends’ top European league has just begun another season, and Fnatic are already navigating in troubled waters following a 1-2 week in the 2023 LEC Winter season.
The legacy organization came into the season under the weight of many expectations, but they failed to meet them right away as they unexpectedly lost their first match against Vitality before being steamrolled by G2 Esports.
Still, Fnatic players showed flashes of potential in those games and managed to avoid finishing the week winless by defeating KOI.
This start of the season shows a grim future for the team, according to some fans —but they also had the most challenging schedule out of all teams, and they proved they could dominate in many aspects.
If they play their cards right, Fnatic could set the score and claw their way to the top of the standings. What worries fans is that the 2023 LEC format doesn’t leave much room for error.
The Winter Season will only last three weeks. Then the teams’ strengths will be put to test by competing in best-of-threes in the group stage, which means Fnatic must not only win most of their upcoming matches but also solidify their strategy to survive in the group stage to get their playoff ticket in March.
Consolidate early games
In all three matches this week, Fnatic lost the edge during the early game. In their defense, it wasn’t the team’s composition strong points in each match, especially against three opposing teams renowned for early proactivity.
Flaws in their strategy’s execution stood out during their second match against G2, however. Despite G2’s win condition being Hans Sama’s Draven pick, Fnatic gave the French AD carry two free kills within the first five minutes after the Fnatic players took the fight rather than remaining safe. The early game proved to play a major part in the team’s defeat.
In general, Fnatic letting opponents dictate the game’s pace in the early stages is risky, even more so in this year’s format. Teams will play fewer matches before heading to group’s best-of-threes, which means Fnatic will have less time and data to identify their opponent’s strategies.
Fnatic have to be proactive to take games and ensure they cannot be taken by surprise again like they were against Vitality. This can be a challenge for the players, and new head coach Crusher, who is stepping onto a major league stage for the first year. Fnatic’s players have strong personalities, which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how he’s going to manage it.
Strengthen bot lane’s synergy
Fnatic made other mistakes in the early game of their other matches, and they showed that their irregular vision management on the bot side can leave them unaware of vital moves from the opponents.
It was blatant during their first match against Vitality, where jungler Bo took the first blood thanks to an early gank on Graves. Rekkles was completely unaware of his movements and stood no chance against the three opponents.
Fortunately, Rekkles has solid lane mechanics, so the bot lane recovered after this move. But in other scenarios—like G2’s game with the Draven pick—it doomed him and his support Rhuckz.
More generally, Rhuckz is the team’s promising rookie and has big shoes to fill. The Winter Season’s format isn’t permissive for rookies, and he’s going to be challenged until the playoffs.
He showed a decent performance this week, but the strategy on the map’s bot side showed worrying irregularities. Whether it’s due to the season’s beginnings or communication within the team, it doesn’t look entirely solid. A shaky bot side strategy can make the difference, and since bot side saw the most changes in Fnatic’s roster this year, opponents are likely going to take advantage of that.
Spice up the playstyle
Pro teams’ playstyles are often heavily influenced by their junglers, and Razork is one of the most aggressive players in the LEC. In Misfits, he proved he could carry games on champions like Xin Zhao and Nidalee. For this reason, Fnatic has much to gain by handing carry picks to their teammate.
Fnatic chose three relatively defensive compositions in the first week, capitalizing on their macro game skills post-mid game instead. It is a viable strategy, but it also negates a part of Razork’s potential, which could make the team stronger to counter some strategies.
In their match against KOI, Fnatic could have taken the opportunity to take a more aggressive composition and claim the lead earlier in the game.
They focused on holding the game until they could reach their powerspike instead, and then they dominated the match. Beforehand, however, KOI dictated the game’s pace and built a threatening gold advantage. Fnatic recovered, mainly thanks to Razork’s Baron steal and his strong map control on Maokai.
Fnatic will face off against Team BDS, Excel, and Team Heretics next week, all of whom stand at 1-2. Although Fnatic are the favorites on paper, they’ll have no room for error in those upcoming matches.
The LEC’s second week will kick off at 11am CT on Saturday, Jan. 28.
