Fnatic and Guild Esports look invincible in VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 2

VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 2 Challengers continues with all excitement into Week 5. Out of two groups of six teams, only two teams did take any losses: Fnatic and Guild Esports.

What is the story behind the success of these teams? And why are they so dominant?

Guild Esports back to winter form

Guild Esports had a near perfect start to 2022. Starting the season with a brand new squad, the team managed to make it to the VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers without being defeated in the open qualifiers, especially under the leadership of Leo and Sayf. Guild fully adapted to the meta and dominated their opponents with firepower as well as good utility usage. Afterwards, the roster tested itself against strong teams from EMEA, and successfully passed these tests with successive victories.

Once they became serious candidates for the championship, the league was suspended. By this time, problems also arose in the roster and they suffered some serious underperformance. First, they lost their group leadership with two defeats, followed by an elimination in the first round of the Playoffs.

Guild Esports did miss their first international, but when it comes to Stage 2, the squad is back to form. They can still lose the control of the game from time to time and lose maps, but it hasn’t lost a series yet. They don’t look like they’re going to lose unless they make a big mistake.

Fnatic rosterswaps into godmode

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also affected the VALORANT scene closely. First, the EMEA matches were postponed, and then the teams from Russia and Ukraine could not play. After a certain time, albeit late, EMEA Stage 1 has come to an end. However, this time, players’ travel problems arose.

BraveAF, who was in the squad, could not attend Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík due to restrictions. In addition, the star player of the team, Derke, also missed group stage matches due to COVID-19. The consecutive terrible news pushed Fnatic to compete in the tournament with two stand-ins.

With the roster’s chemistry deteriorating, Fnatic took undesired results repeatedly and bid early farewell to Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík. With the end of the event, the European giant announced that it was parting ways with BraveAF and Magnum. After hiding the new names of the roster for a long time, the organization announced days before the start of the VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 2 Challengers that Alfajer and Enzo joined the team.

Enzo was one of the players who joined the team as a stand-in at Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík. However, Alfajer was a name that the European audience did not know well. It was a matter of curiosity how the young player, who had a good season in the Turkish regional league, would perform.

The team’s new blood satisfied all the curiosity with the start of EMEA Stage 2. Alfajer, who made a great start to the league, fascinated everyone. Although the skeleton crew was kept, the roster easily outmaneuvered its rivals and got better day by day, even though it was newly established. Enzo’s taking on the second IGL role, lightening Boaster’s load, and Alfajer backing Derke as gunpower made Fnatic invincible.

Going into Week 5 both teams aim for a perfect record leading into Playoffs. With their 1st seeds guaranteed, we will likely see both in the Upper Bracket final and potentially the Grand Final as well.

Can one complete a full stage completely undefeated?