Fnatic are champions once more. After an intense and dramatic finals against Titan at the Pantamera CS:GO Challenge the Swedes have once again beaten some of the best teams in the world and claimed 15 000 Euro.
But for in-game leader Markus ”Pronax” Wallsten, the victory was far from expected for them.
– I’m kinda surprised we managed to win, he says.

On early Sunday morning it was clear that Fnatic, the team that dominated large parts of 2014, once again finished on top in a tournament with some of the best teams in the world attending. Just one week after their Clutchcon win, they managed to secure a 2-0 victory against Titan in the Pantamera CS:GO Challenge. But despite their performance in the US, Markus ”Pronax” Wallsten didn’t expect much from them this past weekend.
– Going into this tournament, it didn’t feel like we were in very good shape. I’m kinda surprised we managed to win. But at the same time it felt like we started finding our way back to our playing style as the tournament progressed, he says.

”We didn’t work out anything new”

After forfeiting DreamHack Winter and only practicing sporadically before X-Games, Fnatic still have a way to go when it comes to getting in shape before the major in Katowice.
– We took a break after 2014. Before MLG we only played for little more than a week. We didn’t work out anything new during that time. Instead we focused on finding our form on an individual level. When we got to the States we noticed that all of the teams knew exactly how we played.
– Going into Pantamera, we thought we had to play more. But after Clutchcon Olof got sick and Freddy ”Krimz” Johansson was away, so we didn’t have time to play anything before this tournament either.

You still say that you found your way back to your playing style, what was it that fell in place for you?

– We’ve had some problems with communication in different situations where we simply haven’t talked to eachother like we usually do. We’ve made some stressed decisions and people have been running around alone. But it got better as the tournament progressed. But we’re still not in the same shape we were in during 2014, but we’re getting there.

”The next tournament will decide who’s number one”

Would you call yourself number one in the world after this?

– It’s a hard question because we were ranked at number one before MLG, but LDLC managed to win there. And they also won DreamHack Winter, so I don’t know if we’re number one or of they are.

What do you think?

– I feel it’s about 50-50. They’re a damn good team. I thought they were gonna be even better before this tournament but when we’re playing on top we can beat them. The next tournament will have to decide.