Adrian “Era” Kryeziu - #1 - Carry

PLAYER STATISTICS

The youngest member of Fnatic, Adrian “Era” Kryeziu began competing in professional Heroes of Newerth when he was just 14 years old, and has the distinction of being the only player on Fnatic not to have been a part of the organization’s legendary HoN squad. Era became a member of Fnatic in March 2012 during the team’s official switch from HoN to Dota 2, and, minus the absences on account of his health, has played position one for the team ever since.



Compared to the other hard carries of elite European teams, Era is easily outshone by the larger than life personalities of Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich and Jonathan “Loda” Berg. Yet in many ways, Era is a perfect synecdoche for Fnatic. He’s not especially flashy, and his hero pool might not have many pocket picks, but he’s reliable and has more good games than bad games. His item choices tend to be logical (if predictable) and given space he’ll secure whatever items he desires at or before the typical timings. Unlike Cloud9’s Jacky “EE-Sama” Mao, who seems to throw almost as many games as he carries, Era’s performance tends to be in concert with the team as a whole; when they are doing well, he does well too. Fnatic live and die together, and nowhere is this more clear than in the hard carry.



It would be grossly unfair to Era to suggest that his recent break from competitive play automatically places him at a competitive disadvantage against the rest of the Dota scene, but it would be also dishonest not to at least raise the question as to whether or not he is prepared, both psychologically and mechanically, for the cutthroat competition that awaits him at The International 2014. The sense that Fnatic, at this point, has to “make do with what they’ve got” is palpable. Severe anxiety is a tricky beast. Although it typically incapacitates its victim, it also has the potential to empower him or her. We can’t know what kind of Era will show up in Seattle, but Fnatic’s hopes are pinned on him.



SIGNATURE HEROES

Kai “H4NN1” Hanbueckers - #2 - Mid / Core

PLAYER STATISTICS

Kai “H4NN1” Hanbuecker’s career in Dota goes all the way back to the WarCraft III days, when the German mid player was a member of Maelk’s legendary MYM squad. Not long after, he transitioned to Heroes of Newerth, where he enjoyed a successful career with Fnatic’s storied team. Though he did not initially join his teammates in their switch to Dota 2, H4NN1 reunited with Fnatic roughly two months after Fnatic.HoN officially became Fnatic.Dota 2, continuing his long and prosperous relationship with the organization.



H4NN1 brings years of experience and excellent mechanics to Fnatic’s midlane. His role within the team is especially crucial for a metagame in which the the middle lane has become the defining lane in Dota 2. While H4NN1 might not have the dazzling in game presence of Dendi and Arteezy, he should still be considered one of the best mids in Europe. Though he has shown himself capable of playing carry mids, his sympathies clearly lie with ganking and utility mids, as evidenced by his propensity to play Invoker and Puck over, say, Templar Assassin and Naga Siren.



SIGNATURE HEROES

Kalle “Trixi” Saarinen - #3 - Offlane / Core

PLAYER STATISTICS

While it is true that in 2014 the midlane has become the most glamorous and greedy lane by an overwhelming margin, off-laners have become the unsung hero in 2014. Farming one’s mid hero doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it takes a concerted effort from supports dutifully stacking and, more importantly, the offlaner creating a massive amount of space to make the farming mid’s job easier. Kalle “Trixi” Saarinen excels in this role.



Though a member of Fnatic’s HoN team, Trixi was the first player on Fnatic to shift to Dota 2, competing on mousesports through 2011 and into 2012 before rejoining Fnatic in summer of that year.



As is the case with many of his teammates, the synergy of the whole draws one’s attention away from the individual players. Like individual instruments in an orchestra, Trixi’s performance is deftly blended into Fnatic’s symphonic coordination. Still, if you listen closely, you can hear Trixi’s contributions. He doesn’t make massive plays like fellow offlaner Saahil “Universe” Arora, but his presence is inevitably felt across the map. Whether he’s threatening to Flaming Lasso a lone support on Batrider or ratting in lanes on Nature’s Prophet, Trixi’s ability to silently influence the game globally defines his contribution to Fnatic.



SIGNATURE HEROES

Johan “N0tail” Sundstein (AKA BigDaddy): - #4 - Support

PLAYER STATISTICS

n0tail u r fuckin perfect m8. you’re a flower. you’re also a rainbow and a river. you are the manifestation of all perfection and i want to i don’t fucking know . . . you are fucking perfect, n0tail.

Outside of a statement from /u/ESPORTSREP, having a Twitch copypasta dedicated to you is probably the highest non-competitive honor a Dota 2 player can receive. It’s a testament to the acceptance of a given pro gamer as both a skilled player and sub-cultural icon, so it was inevitable that N0tail, whose affable personality is as enviable as his micromanagement abilities, would receive his very own copypasta.



For as long as I’ve been watching Dota 2, N0tail has been associated with the notoriously difficult geomancer, Meepo, with whom he has streamed countless pubstomps. For a hot minute, it looked like support Meepo could actually work (especially when paired with Naix bombs), but the strategy disappeared just as quickly as it emerged. This, of course, makes it deeply ironic that Meepo has since become one of Xcalibur’s signature heroes.



If his predilection for Meepo didn’t give it away, N0tail also excels at mechanically demanding supports like Chen, Enchantress, and Visage. In contrast to other four-role supports like Jerry “EGM” Lundkvist and Ludwig “Zai” Wåhlberg, N0tail isn’t afflicted by an all consuming need for greed. This allows him to be in perpetual motion, constantly ganking and babysitting, where other supports might spend a minute in a lane last hitting. The trade off, of course, is that while he might be boosting his xp and potentially securing assist gold, he’s not reliably boosting his net worth.



SIGNATURE HEROES

Tal “Fly” Aizik - #5 - Support

PLAYER STATISTICS

One of the only professional Dota players from Israel, Tal “Fly” Aizik plays the hard support role for Fnatic. Fly, in many ways, is the embodiment of the “supports are felt and not seen” mantra. Like his teammate N0tail, Fly is rarely caught trying to sneak last hits, and instead tends to scour the map, looking for ganks, warding, and dewarding. The effects of Fly’s play are palpable, but rarely immediately apparent.



When the style works, it works well, but when the deck is stacked against Fnatic, the strategy crumbles under pressure. This makes it particularly difficult for Fnatic to play from behind. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hard support; looking back at any of Fnatic’s recent losses, it’s not hard to find instances in which Fly is obliterated by a single right click or nuke.



Like EG’s support duo of Peter “PPD” Dager and Zai, Fly tends to play less mechanically demanding heroes that allow him to focus his attention on making the team’s in-game decisions. The lesser mechanical demands of, say, Crystal Maiden (compared to Visage for example), allow Fly to direct his attention around the map, keeping an eye on enemy rotations and item progression.

SIGNATURE HEROES