Fnatic - A profesional gaming team

The new FnaticMSI Counter-Strike team and the story behind the changes.

FnaticMSI is famed for its highly-success Counter-Strike 1.6 team, which has been the single most successful Counter-Strike team in electronic sports history. One thing that is always inevitable in life is that all things must come to an end, which brings about a time of change. After recent reports by both Rakaka and HLTV.org it is now time to officially make an announcement.

After five years of faithful service, FnaticMSI.CS says goodbye to Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg who leaves the team along with Rasmus 'Gux' Ståhl and Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund marking the end of an era. In early 2009 the line-up dominated the scene and won virtually every event they attended, including the Intel Extreme Masters Global Finals, Global Challenge Dubai, World Esports Masters and KODE5, just to name a few. The marked team of the year where they won over $170,000 in prize money and established themselves as the number one team in the world. Alesund even won the race for the 2009 Player of the Year-title - a feat Lindberg had achieved in 2006.

The reasons for the parting

In 2010, even after being reunited with Gux, our Swedes haven't been as dominant as last year, but have still managed to scoop up several titles and over $100,000 in prize money. Despite their success the teams high expectations and social conflicts have caused the team to explore other avenues.

Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund, Rasmus 'Gux' Ståhl and the 2006-veteran Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg decided firmly they wished to change the team and explore new challenges with a line-up that did not consist of legendary players Harley 'dsn' Örwall and Patrik 'cArn' Sättermon. They expressed a desire to bring a new team into FnaticMSI, devoid of cArn and dsn, but with RobbaN and allen as replacements.

The FnaticMSI managament decided that we did not want to build a team of mercenaries, we felt it was important that we had players that wanted to stay and up hold the FnaticMSI legacy for the right reasons. 

According to team captain Patrik 'cArn' Sättermon the changes are caused by the team's loss of "their social touch". The FnaticMSI.CS team has long been famed for their social coherence, something Sättermon himself has pointed out in several interviews to be a cornerstone in their consistency.

"We couldn't agree on a mutual goal and how to progress as a team. We felt more like a group of individual players than as the team we once were", Sättermon told FNATIC.com.

Will the future be bright with new talent?

This clearly meant that an action to rebuild the team has been put into place, we decided to stand firm with Patrik 'cArn' Sattermon as the team and in-game leader and stand by the pillar and longest standing FnaticMSI member of all time, Harley 'dsn' Orvall.

Looking at players that have impressed and in the market for fresh blood it was clear that Marcus 'Delpan' Larsson, one of the hottest free agents was a clear choice. In addition you have up and coming sensation formerly of Lions: Richard 'Xizt' Landstrom.

Patrik 'cArn' Sattermon
Harley 'dsn' Orwall
Marcus 'Delpan' Larsson
Richard 'Xizt' Landstrom

Sam Mathews, Founder and Managing Director of FnaticMSI said these words regarding the changes:

"It is with a heavy heart that I see these changes occur. Many tough decisions had to be made, but we chose to stand by the leaders of our team, You cannot build a team of just skill and expect it to work, chemistry is the most important thing, and one of the things that FnaticMSI has always been different about than other long standing swedish teams.

We had the opportunity to take on this team with Robban, and we chose to let the opportunity pass. We feel cArn is a natural born leader, and will be in fnatic long aftter CS has lost its competitive edge, we believe in his ability and Harleys ability to build a winning team. On the other hand it is always disappointing to see the actions of players who have been with the team for five years make a decision to join an organisation for the wrong reasons."

Neil 'kboy' Kirk, FnaticMSI's Business Development Manager, gave this statement:

"I have never been one to like goodbyes, and never is that more true now! These guys have been the ultimate fnatic players, they have represented us with skill, focus, professionalsim, dedication and were at one time indestructable as a team in CS. They wore the orange and black shirts with pride, and most of all they were great guys. We wish them all the best of luck and take pride in their past achievements.  It is now time to move on to the next chapter in FnaticMSI CS with open and optimistic views. Welcoming Marcus and Richard initially for 2011."

Two players departing, Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund and Rasmus 'Gux' Ståhl also had some final words to share with the FnaticMSI fans. First off is Christopher:

"I would like to thank the FnaticMSI organization, the players I have been playing with and all the great sponsors who have made my life a bit easier. I can honestly say it will take me some time to forget that I'm not playing with the FnaticMSI GeT_RiGhT tag anymore, but, it's something I will not regret with my heart. As sometimes you need to follow your heart and mind to make you feel better. I would like to thank all the players who are in the FnaticMSI family, the fans who have always been there even if we lost or won. That's something I will probably miss the most.

But, now there is another year coming, 2011. I will now make another chapter in my Counter-Strike carreer and try to rule the world again. Have I even done that before? I don't know, I guess the fans have to say that. I would like to say that I will miss doing the tacos with Patrik, see how Harley fails with doing some potatos and Rasmus with his smile who could turn many things in my life to a brighter day. I hope you guys (the fans) will anyway support me in whatever I do, even if you will stay as a hardcore FnaticMSI fans. Good luck with everything and see you on the battlefield this 2011!"

Rasmus followed his former FnaticMSI team-mate:

"I would love to thank FnaticMSI for the time in the organisation, I cannot explain how much I have enjoyed playing for FnaticMSI. They have always been honest to all the players and have always put the players first. It's with alot of sadness I leave FnaticMSI behind, as I have never felt more home in any other organisation. I can only wish them the best of luck in the future!"

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the die-hard supporters and fans of FnaticMSI for their continued support. It is important for our new lineup to have your backing as they go out next year with a new desire to continue to uphold the Fnatic name and achieve great things. In addition a huge thank you to all of our great sponsors for their ongoing support which make this possible, MSI, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, UGAME and SLAPPA.