'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
After 6 days of top-notch Counter Strike, Fnatic has finally completed their resurrection to the top of the CS:GO scene. Defeating FaZe 3-2 in a nail-biting Best of 5, Maikil "Golden" Selim's team took home $253,000 worth prize money in what was Fnatic's first major LAN tournament victory since winning this very event 2 years prior. Fnatic's ace rifler Robin "flusha" Rönnquist grabbed the MVP of the tournament to put the icing on the cake for the team.
Since winning IEM Katowice 2016, Fnatic has been on a roller coaster ride with poor performances and roster changes affecting their momentum throughout the two years. After winning Kato '16, Fnatic had a dismal performance at the MLG Columbus Major managing only a 5th-8th finish and followed up with another poor performance at the ESL: One Cologne 2016 major finishing 3rd-4th.
Six days after the major, Fnatic announced their first major roster change as Robin "flusha" Rönnquist, Freddy "Krimz"Johansson and Jesper "JW" Wecksell left the team to join ex-player Markus "pronax" Wallsten's team Godsent. Neither Godsent nor Fnatic would manage to post any significant results and finally, the three would return to Fnatic after several swaps and reform the line up with Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson and Maikil "Golden" Selim.
Fnatic's biggest loss, however, came on August 20th, 2017, one day before cementing their current line-up, as their star player, Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer, left the team to join FaZe clan. In spite of losing their marquee player, the team would go on an uphill journey and complete it by winning their record third IEM Katowice World Championship.
Fnatic were placed in Group B of the 16 team tournament alongside tournament favourites and eventual runner-up FaZe and hometown team, Virtus Pro. They went on to win the upper bracket of their group defeating FaZe 2-0 in the finals 16-11 and 16-8 on Inferno and Cache respectively. Winning the group stage gave them a semifinal berth where they faced the challenge of NA's Team Liquid. Fnatic would easily defeat Liquid 2-0, 16-13 on Inferno and 16-7 on Mirage to proceed to the grand finals to again meet FaZe. A beastly performance from flusha, who scored 127 frags in 5 maps, would win Fnatic their first title in two years.
Fnatic's victory propelled them to 5th position in the CS:GO world rankings. Despite losing the grand finals, FaZe retained their spot at the top. The other teams comprising the top 5 are the Brazillian powerhouse SK Gaming at 2, defending major champions Cloud9 at 3 and mousesports at 4 as of the official rankings dated March 5th, 2018.
