Following the team’s early exit in the VCT EMEA Kickoff, Fnatic has decided to relieve head coach Chris “Elmapuddy” Tebbit of his duties and will now be searching for his replacement. Fnatic made the announcement with Team Director Colin “CoJo” Johnson who detailing the reasons behind the change, citing issues “raised at the end of last season” that had been “lingering” as the driving force to drop Elmapuddy after the team’s “failed Kickoff run”.

New Coach to be Carefully Selected

No immediate replacement has been revealed, with CoJo explaining that Fnatic is looking for a new coach ahead of Split 1 and that they are “actively interviewing” candidates in a post of his own.

CoJo went on to thank Elmapuddy for his contributions towards Fnatic’s 2025 Split 1 & 2 titles and affirmed his belief that the current playing roster is capable of turning things around.

“Despite this change, we still have a ton of belief in the roster and the players that we have right now. Kaajak has really proven himself to be a top-tier duelist and is capable of carrying games for us and crashies, despite his statistics, has been a great influence and member of the team…”

“I don’t think we’re too far off. I would still put us right up there being able to compete with the other teams.”

Fnatic also gave an update on the currently inactive Leo, confirming that his health–induced hiatus is set to continue with a return not anticipated for Stage 1.

In his own statement, Elmapuddy admitted that, while his dismissal was “not ideal… at the end of the day that responsibility [of Kickoff results] falls on me as the head coach.” He added that regardless of his exit he was “still proud” of the Split 1 & 2 wins and Champions run last year.

Crucial timing for Fnatic

Fnatic’s decision to relieve head coach Elmapuddy of his duties has come early enough for the team to turn their season around, but getting his replacement right is crucial. The pieces on the roster are good enough to get back to title contention but the wrong pick to lead the team could derail the season further and see Fnatic resigned to mid-table obscurity.

Fnatic’s 5th/6th-place EMEA Kickoff finish is not good enough for the organisation. The last two years saw their elite roster win two domestic titles and two global events. Elmapuddy himself stated his aim of winning three global events last year. Though Fnatic would ultimately win none of 2024’s global competitions, their regional strength was enough to keep the Aussie in his job while the team decided to part ways with Derke in the hopes of finding improvement.

Despite a shaky start to Kickoff, Derke’s replacement kaajak has shown enough to warrant his place in the side. But overall, the level expected of a team like Fnatic was not there at the start of this season.

The tournament’s quick nature makes changes after Kickoff seem very harsh barring complete disasters, so Elmapuddy’s departure could seem — and maybe is — rash. But if a big change is to be made any time outside of the off season, it’s best to do it now. Fnatic’s incoming coach, whoever it may be, still has the vast majority of the season ahead of them and a month to bed into the team before Stage 1 should Fnatic find a replacement quickly.

If the wrong call is made and the new person in charge fails to make them contenders again, then for Fnatic and its current core it could spell the beginning of the end for their status as VCT heavyweights. The likes of Team Heretics and Team Vitality, the latter thriving after signing Derke, could well dominate EMEA and push Fnatic down to the pecking order for the foreseeable future.