Fnatic is on their way of being the top CS:GO team in the world and it couldn’t have been possible without their IGL Maikil “Golden” Selim.

The team’s successful run started when they defeated FaZe after an intense final at the recent IEM Katowice 2018. However, a few days after the victory, it was rumored that the team’s IGL Golden was being replaced by Richard “Xizt” Landström.

The report was based on speculation about Golden’s inexperience in the elite CS:GO scene. Golden only started playing professionally in mid-August 2016 when he was acquired by the Fnatic Academy.

His big break came in August 2017 when he replaced Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer in Fnatic. Given his lack of exposure to international teams, Golden was still able to lead his team to the IEM Katowice 2018 glory.

However, that didn’t seem enough as we heard Golden being replaced by probably the best Swedish IGL Richard “Xizt” Landström. Xizt has been leading NiP as a top tier team ever since they moved from CS 1.6 to CS:GO. Xizt has been playing professionally since 2009 and lead NiP as their IGL for about six years until recently being benched due to lack of performance.

Bringing in Xizt in place of Golden seemed like the perfect move for the team to stay atop. Considering his expertise, skills and confidence as an IGL, Fnatic would have done a great favor to themselves.

The report of this move was released almost a week ago by Flickshot.fr. However, this couldn’t have been immediately possible as Fnatic had already confirmed their attendance for the WESG Major 2018.

Concluded yesterday, Fnatic won the event after a top seed finish in the group stage. While Golden wasn’t a top fragger, his calls were almost always on point and allowed Fnatic an easy run throughout the event.

With yet another title under the belt, it seems that the replacement of Xizt and Golden is no longer a possibility. This was confirmed by Golden himself via his tweet after winning the event.

I stay. — Maikil Selim (@goldennCSGO) March 18, 2018

Most likely, Golden was given a chance to prove that he wasn’t a one trick pony and the team’s good performance at WESG would determine his fate in the organization.

Winning the event has solidified his place in the team and further allowed to prove his professional acumen in CS:GO. While Fnatic still has a long way to go, Golden has a lot to prove. It is safe to say that the team has at least found a good IGL that they can rely on.