Undoubtedly the best European Team of 2015, Fnatic looks at Worlds as an opportunity to slide themselves into the elite tier list of teams. Fnatic started 2015 in uncertain fashion, unable to truly gauge their true strength as a team until the EU LCS started. However they far exceeded any expectations people may have had for this newly formed roster at the start of the spring split. Under the leadership of Yellowstar, Fnatic had pushed themselves to an undefeated streak of 21 consecutive games until their first game loss against Origen during the Summer finals.

Top - Heo “Huni” Seung-Hoon

You can't really ask for a better year as a rookie player in the competitive scene. From anonymity to a two time EU LCS winner and rookie of the split for the spring split, Huni has more than just demonstrated his worth as a player, and is looking to push his name further up the rankings of best top laners in the world. Huni is diverse enough in his champion pool to work across metas without issues. During most of the spring season, Huni and Febiven shared the burden to carry the team and were very good when given the resources to do so. While Huni isn't the best tank player, his teleport timings allow him to maximize his efficiency on whatever champion he plays. Also, when given the resources to carry, Huni can (and usually will) take over games on his own.

Jungle - Kim “ReignOver” Yeu-Jin

It's easy to tag ReignOver as the weakest player on Fnatic based on his performances during the latter stages of the EU LCS. For a few weeks, it was possible to shut down ReignOver’s early presence simply through picks and bans. It is true that ReignOver is by no means a star player but neither does Fnatic need him to be. He is not a top tier international jungler, but ReignOver is efficient with his time. Both him and Yellowstar were very good at roaming around the map, either tp ganking or putting wards in the enemy jungle. Aggressive and gank heavy, Reignover is sometimes responsible for over-committing to situations he shouldn't be going into. Focusing most of his attention top allowed Huni to gain enough advantages to become the primary carry of Fnatic.

Mid - Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten

Whether it’s taking a secondary role in the team and being a supportive type player or taking charge and putting his team on his back, Febiven excels in all styles of play, far surpassing our expectations of him coming into 2015. He was labelled as a player who would occasionally crumble under pressure in H2k, but ever since Joining Fnatic, that aspect of his play is notably absent. A big reason for Fnatic’s success during the latter half of the summer split while ReignOver and Huni were not performing to capacity was Febiven’s consistency as a player. He wasn’t flashy, but the main reason Fnatic was able to come back from large deficits was because Febiven always managed to remain relevant regardless of how far Fnatic fell behind. Confident and versatile, Febiven stands as the best mid laner in the west looking to cement his stance as one of the best players in the world.

AD Carry - Martin “Rekkles” Larsson

As a direct upgrade to former AD carry, Steeelback, Rekkles was deemed to play a similar role in the Fnatic line up: a low econ - supportive style, thus allowing Huni or Febiven to carry every game. While initially this was the case, as weeks went on, Fnatic began putting more faith into Rekkles, giving this already versatile team another means to win when Huni or Febiven could not. Being self sufficient in lane swaps gives Yellowstar the freedom he needs to play in other parts of the map. The addition of a third possible carry just allows so much more freedom of team compositions.

Support - Bora “Yellowstar” Kim

After deciding to stick with Fnatic and rebuild the team from the ground up, Yellowstar lead this team in back-to-back split victories. Being a seasoned veteran has made Yellowstar into one of the best in-game leaders in LoL. Calm, collected, and a very decisive shot caller are just a few of the traits of Fnatic’s support. Earlier in the split, Yellowstar had some of the best roaming alongside ReignOver. His ward control around objectives has been stellar, setting up for Huni’s teleport right as they need it.

Player to look out for: Febiven

We’ve seen great things from this young Dutch mid laner and we might have not even seen the best of him yet. Febiven has been consistent during the entire year and his performances in MSI shows he has the right level of confidence -- not too cocky, but fully confident in his ability to outplay the opposing mid laner.  

Conclusion:

Despite their early game deficiencies over the past few weeks, Fnatic is the premier team in Europe and it shows. Solid late game shotcalling, strong comeback potential, and the ability to carry from either Top, Mid or Bot. Just the thought of having Febiven going one on one against Rookie will be a great test for both mid laners to see where their skills match up against elite tier mids.

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Images courtesy of thescoreesports.com, riot games flickr and lolesports' youtube channel