Boaster: “For some reason, we always start at our lowest level and are so slowly scaling” – VCT EMEA Kickoff Interview

There was just a single change for Fnatic this past off season, Chronicle leaving to join rivals Team Vitality, with Veqaj joining as his replacement. Their first official game since the change saw the side succumb to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of BBL Esports at VCT EMEA Kickoff. Following the loss, Hotspawn spoke to IGL Jake “Boaster” Howlett for an interview.

Hotspawn: It started pretty well against BBL today, but was ultimately a loss for Fnatic.

What is your immediate reaction to the defeat?

Boaster: I think the comms were really good on that defence side. We were looking juicy. The three rounds that we lost, I actually think we shouldn’t have lost. I’m not really sure what happened. That’s how it goes with shooting, and Valorant itself.

And then it got to attack side. We lost the pistol, which is fine, but the bonus round was really brutal for us because it allows them to snowball into an Op economy. And on that map, the Op is really oppressive. And then it’s also hard to just want to default a Cypher camera, but the Op is always there. I think our comp lacks in tools for dealing with that. And so, yeah, it just snowballed, and we weren’t able to get rounds until right at the end when we were changing our strats and stuff.

But honestly, the Breeze, it’s a map that hasn’t looked too saucy for us since starting it. And I thought we might be able to just bypass it, but I think we just need more reps on it and more footage and more ideas and more systems in place.

Hotspawn: How have you found the changes to Breeze in general?

Boaster: I think kind of boring, truthfully. I think removing the tube just makes it such a simple map. And I think it was quite fun when you had the tube options. It was hard for defence, but now for defence, it’s just so easy. ‘There’s three chokes, good luck trying to get out of them.’

Hotspawn: Another change is the 1v1 Skirmish Side Selection. What were your thoughts on that?

Will you have a go?

Boaster: I’ve heard that right now the delay is like, you’ll go to the Skirmish, but it would take like 25 minutes, which is =a lot of time consumption for an IGL for preparation and stuff. So I’d say I probably wouldn’t go until they sort out the system, make it a lot more [of a] swifter process. Because in my head it should just be, you go in, you do it, you go out, you know?

Hotspawn: PAL did the Skirmish for Vitality, saying that he’d prefer to leave the players to focus on their normal routines. But from what you’ve said, having the coach spend so much time there doesn’t sound ideal either.

What do you think is the best way around it at the moment?

Boaster: I’m honestly not sure. We just send whoever wants to go and is down to just be chilling. I don’t think I’ll go. It would be fun, but I also can’t really be bothered yet. Not until it’s on stream. When it’s on stream, then I can do it. But until then, I’ll let someone else do it. Either coach or one of the boys who wants to.

Hotspawn: On the off season, losing Chron is obviously a massive switch. That said, losing Derke last year was similar change, and Fnatic came out fine with kaajak proving to be an incredible replacement.

How did you find the off season process?

Boaster: I’d say, obviously, losing Chron was a big deal for us. But we got the replacement in Veqaj and it’s kind of a work in progress. And I think he’s doing pretty well, you know, and every time he’s learning. He’s got big boots to fill. He’s also got a big role to fill and he’s doing a pretty good job at it.

I just think we just needed more time, you know? We’re a team that, when we were in off season, we were going to these like offseason events. I had a medical condition, bronchitis, so I couldn’t go to one of the events. And I think sometimes we just need to do less, in my opinion, and just have more prep time because I always feel rushed at the start of Kickoff.

We normally start in December, January; I always just feel like I don’t have enough time. These past two weeks, every day was a lot of work to try and fix lots and lots and lots of issues within the team. And when you’re going to these events, yeah, you’re getting stage reps, but it’s not the same intensity as playing a game when the season matters. Everyone really cares a lot more about season and qualifying for VCT Masters, and when you’re playing these offseason events, people just play it quite casually and quite for fun. So yeah, I think we just need, we just need a bit more time.

Hotspawn: In trying to reach Santiago then, do you think it’s helpful for Fnatic that Kickoff’s triple-elimination?

Boaster: I’d say so. I think we might be one of those teams that actually needs a triple-elim. And I honestly don’t care how we qualify to Santiago. The only goal is to qualify to Santiago. So if we don’t end up qualifying, it’s a bit embarrassing. But also, hopefully it’s a wake-up call, and we need to get good again.

Honestly it’s like the years just repeat itself. The season starts, I’m like, ‘Ah, here we go again.’ And it’s the same kind of thing where every team is kind of like, they start here and they like go down or a little bit up here. But us, for some reason, we always start at our lowest level and are so slowly scaling. But I wish our lowest level was a bit higher, so then we could get to these other events. Well, the first events of the year. I need to keep my track record.

Hotspawn: What do you make of the other EMEA teams?

Boaster: I think it really depends on who’s in hot form. I think the BBL kids have so much passion and they were so aggressive, which is almost like a Paper Rex style, which EMEA is not really used to. So it was quite fun to see. I do think eventually there’s a potential that they will drop off. It really depends on how their atmosphere/mood goes.

But when it comes to other teams, I think Gentle Mates always seemed quite good in practise. I think that NAVI has some heavy hitters. I think teams that have these consistent heavy hitters are going to be a bit scary, and I think obviously Vitality can do it. We’ll see when they get fully tested by Liquid. Heretics seem to not be in the same state as they were before from their first game.

Hotspawn: From the outside, expectations for Fnatic have dipped following Chronicle’s departure, but, again, a similar thing happened after Derke left last year and it ended up being a great season.

What would you see as a successful 2026?

Boaster: So whenever I think about when our goal is to win a Master’s event this year, it always ends up backfiring. So since that 2024 year, the gas leak year, and 2025 felt a lot better, I think the way I’ll go into 2026 is, the goal is just to qualify for events again and go from there, and just keep scaling and start believing.

I said to the boys, we don’t need to be amazing now, we just need to be getting better and we need to be good enough just to qualify. And then we have a lot of time. There’s a lot of time between each game, a couple of days, and those days are really helpful for an IGL like me, and for the boys to really refine their skills. So I’d say it’s kind of something like that.