Xizt departs Fnatic

It is a sad day indeed, not just for our organization but for CS 1.6 scene as well. One of the biggest names in the Counter-Strike 1.6, Richard "Xizt" Landström has decided to take a next step in his career as a professional gamer, and stop playing the game competitively. Furthermore, he has also decided to depart from FnaticRaidCall, and step down as our captain, as he will join NiP. The transfer has been made in the most professional way, and FnaticRaidCall would like to thank NiP for that. Here is the statement from our Chief Gaming Officer Patrik "cArn" Sättermon about Richard's departure, his time on the team and more:

Richard joined Fnatic in late 2010 and even though there were many changes over time, he stayed loyal to the team and continued growing and improving both as a player and as a person. He has had an amazing run with Fnatic, starting with DreamHack winter victory and later on defending that title. When I retired he became team captain and lead Fnatic to become the best team in 2012 with five consecutive victories: Copenhagen Games, Fnatic Counter-Strike League, Esport SM, DreamHack Summer and GameGune 2012. It's sad to see him go now, but he wants to continue his pro-gaming career in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and we as a team are not ready to make that switch just yet. We will continue playing the game we love, Counter-Strike 1.6, and want to wish Richard all the best in his future.We also want to thank him for all the time and dedication that he has put into Fnatic.

As Patrik said, we feel that CS:GO is not yet ready to become the replacement for 1.6, this is why we will continue supporting the game that we all loved for so many years. Here is the statement from Richard as well, about his time spent in Fnatic, as well as his future:

My time in Fnatic can't be described as anything else than great. I have played in Fnatic for over one and a half years and I am very happy and proud of what we accomplished, even though we had our rough patches, we still had a lot of fun and in the end we came out strong. I heard lots of rumors about Fnatic before I joined that it’s the best organization and you will always be treated good and I can really say that Fnatic is one of the best when it comes to eSport. I have never had any troubles when playing in Fnatic, they have all been very helpful towards me and I have only good things to say. It's now time for me to move on with my career as a professional gamer and say good bye to CS 1.6 and Fnatic. It's very sad for me to leave CS 1.6 but since all the major events now have dropped it I feel like this is the best step for me to take. I will still keep playing 1.6, but not on a professional level. I would like to say a big thanks to the Fnatic management for believing in me and letting me represent the Black and Orange colors for such a long time: Anne, Sam, Neil, Danjiel, Matthew and Alexander. I played with a lot of different players in Fnatic and I would like to thank everyone, it's been a blast, especially to cArn and dsn for picking me up in 2010/2011 who made all of it possible. I wish the best of luck to the current Fnatic CS team, I am confident they will find a suitable replacement for me and continue their dominance. Lastly, I would like to thank all the Fnatic fans out there, you are awesome! See you around!

We would like to thank Richard for his great coorperation and his efforts during his stay at Fnatic. Furthermore, our fifth player will be announced during next week, so be sure to check our website for more information.

FnaticRaidCall's CS 1.6 division now looks like this:

 Michael "Friis" Jørgensen
 Martin "trace" Heldt
 Finn "Karrigan" Andersen
 Andreas "MODDII" Frid