One of the most decorated organisations in VALORANT, but still without a VALORANT Champions trophy, Fnatic has their best shot yet at finally getting their hands on the one title that still eludes them. Today they reached the grand finals after a convincing 3-1 victory over Pacific’s DRX, and Hotspawn spoke with the IGL and captain Jake “Boaster” Howlett for an exclusive interview.
Hotspawn: It feels like it’s been a long time coming; you and Fnatic are finally in a Champs grand final.
What’s your reaction?
Boaster: Winning is a blessing, and also just being able to stay in the tournament and compete for a trophy is a blessing too. I think a lot of players, they don’t get to this point, they don’t even get to an international event. So you just got to be grateful and go out there and have fun and don’t ruin the moment.
Hotspawn: Fnatic’s 2023 is always looked back on, with that incredible lineup winning two Masters trophies. But still you couldn’t reach a Champs final, let alone win it.
Why do you think this iteration of Fnatic is the one to finally get to the VALORANT Champions final?
Boaster: I think it was like the slow start of the year into the ramping up into Masters Toronto, winning and proving ourselves that we can be a top team. And then getting to the finals and losing that finals, and having that hunger to just be like, ‘We’ve got to the finals. We can win a tournament’. And so we just kept it going.
It’s kind of similar to EG in 2023. They got to the finals against us at Tokyo, and then they got to Champions doing pretty much the same run with the lower bracket drop, into an upper bracket, so the history kind of repeats itself.
If you’re hungry and you’re good enough, it’s possible.
Hotspawn: Narrative-wise, it’s felt almost destined for Fnatic to go far in Paris; Leo stepped down, Alfajer was ill, and you’ve spoken about maybe never going to a global event again. Everything has come together for this incredible story.
Does it feel to you as though this is Fnatic’s year?
Boaster: Especially with the speech today as well. I was cooking with that one. But no, I think we’ve had a crazy year and a chance at trophies, and a chance at redemption for last year.
It’s nice to be at the top and to compete at the top, but it would just be nice to lift the trophy and kind of be like, ‘Yes, we did it. We won a Champs’. Which is like what people care about. It’s like the Worlds of League of Legends, you know?
Hotspawn: I’ve been wondering about the way you guys are seated on stage. From left to right: crashies, Alfajer, yourself, kaajak, Chronicle.
Is the placement deliberate? How was it decided?
Boaster: We’ve had Alfajer on the left wing, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to see the enemies as much. And so Austin (crashies) took that spot there, and he quite likes giving it, seeing them, like, “sit down” and stuff. And he likes standing up.
And then when it came to kaajak, Chronicle was already on the right, so kaajak just kind of of slotted in where Derke was. I like my duelist to the right, next to me. I don’t know why.
Hotspawn: What do you think of NRG as your final opponents?
Boaster: I think they’re a good team. It’s interesting, if I was to break it down — obviously anything can happen on the day, they can win. But I think there’s a lot more on the line for them now.
The first time they played us people weren’t expecting that they could win, they’re rookies. So let’s see how they deal with this newfound; ‘Oh, are we expected to win this event?’. And having a day off as well is an interesting one, especially because we’re going to be coming in and we’re on hot form.
So really I don’t actually know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But I just want to enjoy it. They have the map advantages, so that is one thing on their thing, but we have just an undying hunger to quench. Not quench, but to eat. I don’t know what I’m saying.
Hotspawn: There was an announcement a couple of days ago with a number of revelations about VCT in 2026.
What do you think about having a Masters in London?
Boaster: I was like, ‘Holy guacamole’. All the family can come. Getting them to France has been tough. Mum and Dad are here, my brothers came and one of my cousins came. But getting them to London, it’s like a 2-hour 30-minute trip. I’ll pay for the hotels; ‘Off you go people.’
It’d be nice. I think that’s a really nice year. Chile looks really exciting. London, that’s hype. And China — I’d like to go back to China because last time we went there we didn’t get a win, and it’s important to me.
