After a 4th place finish at TI6 (The International 6) last year, Fnatic has overcame all odds and became only the second team from Southeast Asia to qualify for TI7 (The International 7). The first team granted a direct invite was TNC Pro Team, the same organisation that knocked out OG in the 2nd round of the Losers Bracket.
With 2017 being a turbulent time for Fnatic after constant roster changes, the team has regained two of the five players from its 2016 squad – Chong ‘Ohaiyo’ Xin Khoo and Djardel Jicko ‘DJ’ B. Mampusti in their respective offlane and support roles. With Chai ‘Mushi’ Yee Fung already part of another team and its other members scattered around, Fnatic managed to get a second place finish in the Round Robin of the SEA Qualifiers, pitting them against team Execration in the first round of the Playoff bracket. After a clean 2-0 sweep, Fnatic went on to also defeat another Filipino powerhouse, Clutch Gamers in rather convincing fashion.
Ever since the swap of Galvin Kang ‘Meracle’ Jian Wen for Lai ‘Ahjit’ Jay Son, formerly of WarriorGaming.Unity, Fnatic has seen a steady stream of consistent results as Ahjit brought along his consistent plays on the carry role, something Fnatic needed to keep up with the pace of the meta. However, the hard part has yet to come as qualifying for TI7 is one thing, but getting a respectable result out of TI7 is a different matter entirely.
Sadly, when one door opens, another closes as this will be the first time since TI2 that Mushi will not be gracing the stage as Mineski got knocked out by Execration 2-1 in the Lower Bracket Playoffs. This will be a bitter pill for all fans of the talismanic Malaysian mid player as his goal of winning the ever-elusive ‘Aegis of the Immortal’ will have to wait for another year. Although Mineski features a promising squad with the recent addition of Egor ‘Ark’ Zhabotinskii on the carry position, Andrey ‘Mag~’ Chipenko on the offlane and Ryo ‘ryOyr’ Hasegawa on support, its diverse and experienced lineup was not preapred for what Execration had to offer.
This sets up an all-Filipino final in the Lower Bracket for the last qualification slot for TI7 against Clutch Gamers.
