Fnatic Narrowly Qualifies for Europe RMR in Fourth and Final Attempt
Fnatic is still in contention for a spot at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022.
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It is not all over for the Swedish esports organization Fnatic, as it barely managed to qualify for the European RMR(s). The team is still in contention for a possible spot at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022.
Undergoing multiple roster shuffles in a bid to qualify, Fnatic finished second at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022: European RMR - Open Qualifier #4, to book a slot in the European RMR A scheduled to take place from April 17th to 20th.
However, this did not come easy for the European roster who participated in all the four open qualifiers, attaining poor results in the first three along with a nerve-racking series against the Bulgarian roster of FATE Esports, which could have resulted in their elimination.
Fnatic survives a thrilling series against FATE to finally qualify for European RMR
Just when the CS:GO community had lost all hope from Fnatic, it managed to qualify for the European RMR, but it definitely did not do so with any style or finesse as FATE Esports really pushed them to their limit in their best-of-three match.
To put everything into context and provide more clarity as to why Fnatic has been struggling so hard, here is a quick recap of their journey through the open qualifiers of RMR Europe.
Ahead of the first open qualifier, Fnatic had parted ways with its British AWPer Owen "smooya" Butterfield and chose not to play with its talented rifler Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin who is reportedly being negotiated for by its Swedish rivals Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Due to this, Fnatic was forced to enter the first qualifier with two players from its academy team Fnatic Rising, Iulian "regali" Harjău replacing smooya and Peppe "Peppzor" Borak replacing Brollan.
Fnatic ended up securing a 5th-8th finish at the tournament and decided to enter the second qualifier with the same roster once again, hoping for a better performance this time around. However, they ended up losing to a mixed lineup, attaining a 17th-32nd finish at the tournament.
Taking another chance with the same roster, Fnatic was better prepared for the third qualifier but failed to reach the quarterfinals and had to settle for a 9th-16th position. With the fourth and final qualifier staring down upon them, the organization decided to swap regali with experienced Bulgarian AWPer Valentin "poizon" Vasilev.
This move turned out to be just enough for Fnatic as they crossed the safety net and placed within the top four. However, their match against FATE Esports was too close for comfort and despite the win, it still ended up being a disappointment for the side.
Fnatic reached the grand final where it lost '16-13' to GamerLegion, but attained a slot in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022: European RMR A. While its performance has been way below expectations, it remains to be seen how far the organization is able to go as it is still in contention for a slot in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022.
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