Fnatic finally found the stand-ins they need to compete in Dota 2 Arlington Major. Joining the team temporarily are Enzo "Timado" O'Connor, Jonathan "Bryle" Guia, and Kim "DuBu" Doo-young, all from TSM. Hopefully, this is enough for Fnatic to get the points for a direct invite to The International 2022.
Indeed, it's good news for fans that Fnatic was able to fill up the roster in time for the tournament. Then again, the choice is not really that surprising. Considering that the Arlington Major is in the US, it stands to reason that Fnatic would choose players from that region.
Under those conditions, getting players from TSM was a good choice. The team didn't qualify for the Arlington Major, but they're already guaranteed a spot at this year's TI tournament. Not only that but DuBu was also part of Fnatic before so that should ease things up a bit.
A Difficult Climb
To secure a direct invite to TI, Fnatic needs to finish at least in eighth place; any placement below that doesn't give out points and cash. That means they need to at least make it to the second round of the Lower Bracket. They actually did that so there's a bit of hope for them.
Now for the Group Stage of the Arlington Major, Fnatic has been placed in Group A along with eight other teams. To make it to the Playoffs, they need to be in the top six teams of the group; easier said than done. Group A has Stockholm Major winner OG, TI10 runner-up PSG.LGD, and the Russian team Outsiders, also known as Virtus.pro.
Initial Matches
The Arlington Major starts today and the first two matches of Fnatic are against OG and Outsiders. They need to at least get a draw in those matches to give them some breathing room.
What do you think? Can Fnatic do it?
Day One Schedule
For Day One of the Arlington Major, the matches scheduled are:
- Group A
- Soniqs vs. Team Liquid
- Outsiders vs. Royal Never Give Up
- Fnatic vs. OG
- PSG.LGD vs. Talon Esports
- Team Liquid vs. OG
- Fnatic vs. Outsiders
- Talon Esports vs. Thunder Awaken
- Royal Never Give Up vs. Soniqs
- Group B
- Evil Geniuses vs. Team Aster
- BOOM Esports vs. Tundra Esports
- Natus Vincere vs. Entity
- Team Spirit vs. beastcoast
- Team Aster vs. Entity
- Evil Geniuses vs. BOOM Esports
- Team Spirit vs. Tundra Esports
- Natus Vincere vs. beastcoast
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