When the new Fnatic roster formed in April, the region was abuzz with excitement about a lineup that looked to eclipse every other SEA team ever to have competed. However it quickly became apparent that the lineup’s strength on paper was not translating into practice.

Despite the decision to replace Meracle with Ah Jit, the recent improvement of Fnatic suggests a different explanation for the team’s early problems. In hindsight, it has become abundantly clear that early on the team failed to discover an appropriate playstyle to fit all of its players. Too many of the players were used to playing defining roles in their previous teams and, relatedly, too many players were used to playing with a lot of gold relative to their respective roles.

With Fnatic’s success in the TI7 regional qualifier, we see that their solution to the above problem was for four players to surrender themselves to the mercy of one. The cult of QO was born. A player who now leads the team and has designed a system wherein every other player explicitly plays around him, in service to him, with the ultimate aim of enabling him.

Without even watching them play, the slightest analysis of Fnatic’s recent drafts reveals a very clear pattern. More than any other team at the moment they have developed an explicit system and it’s one that, as of yet, works very well. Thus, it might surprise you to hear just how simple it is. QO plays a hero which can fight very aggressively, diving relentlessly. Everyone else plays heroes and buys items that help him to do that.

Thus, the other four picks will have a emphasis on heal/sustain, saving capability and control. The plan is straightforward: once key item timings are met, the team 5-mans around QO and protects him with their lives. Meanwhile, he is the butcher, the executioner, more terrifying than even a sharknado.

Here is an example of an ideal Fnatic draft. Where possible, DJ will almost always pick himself Witchdoctor. It fits all of the criteria listed above. It can heal, it can control, and as a bonus it can do both of those things with no farm at all. And you best believe that is what DJ gets these days. Those expecting huge 4 position plays from the player this TI will be sorely disappointed because in the QO system DJ plays a hard ‘6’ position.

Next, you have Febby on Clockwerk. Again it fits the criteria well. It has enormous potential to control, some ability to save, and can pull key targets off of QO in fights. And like Witchdoctor, it can operate with less farm than many of the other heroes in its position.

Ah Jit and Ohaiyo on Necrophos and Underlord represent sustain and control particularly in the context of the ultimate 5-man setup. Both of these are heroes that usually need to be focused early on if you want to take down their teammates because of how much they contribute to keeping their teammates alive. And this is precisely the kind of support QO thrives with. An additional benefit of these heroes is that either one of them can do well in a solo lane and this is important because in every game either Ah Jit or Ohaiyo will receive no support whatsoever in order to guarantee that QO can get the help he needs.

Lastly there is the king himself. It should come as no surprise that PA is an ideal pick for him because it’s an all time favourite of his and one which brilliantly embodies what he’s all about. This hero quickly wreaks havoc on opponents when allowed to move freely around a teamfight and that’s exactly the kind of situation that the rest of the team is designed to set up.

Naturally, these exact heroes will not be available, nor ideal, in every single game. So look at this next example.

Five entirely different heroes but the exact same system. Ember Spirit, like PA, is a mobile hero that can ‘go ham’ provided the right conditions. Furion and Venomancer are both able to solo and both good at 5-manning early on. Nyx and Tusk are both capable of controlling and saving. The itemisations take it one step further. In this game, Venomancer will buy Force Staff and Halberd. Furion will buy Drum and Solar Crest. Tusk will buy Greaves. While standard enough choices, these are the sorts of builds consistently aimed for in this team because that is what their system demands. Oh yeah, and QO goes Radiance in this game, a further indication of just how QO-centric the team is.