FNATIC sweeps Team Heretics to claim EMEA throne

FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder has defeated Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #3 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius 3-0 to claim the EMEA Stage 1 trophy, returning to the top of the region.

In what's developed into one of the hottest rivalries in the VCT, FNATIC entered the match with just two wins in their last six meetings with Team Heretics, with one of those wins coming just two days earlier in the upper final.

With the double map veto, FNATIC banned Pearl and Haven. They picked Split, Team Heretics picked Icebox, and FNATIC picked Fracture. Team Heretics' Lotus and the decider of Ascent were not necessary.

The series opened on Split, a frequent ban of Team Heretics in 2025. A slight change to the team comp saw flex player Wo0t on Raze as opposed to the Iso he played in the team's most recent Split outing.

FNATIC was nothing short of dominant to begin the series. Starting on attack, they made smart use of kaajak 's Yoru utility, feigning presence on one side of the map only to tilt the scales onto the opposite side. FNATIC got out to a 7-0 lead, and while Team Heretics did earn three of the next five rounds, it did very little to put a dent in FNATIC's momentum.

FNATIC won the second half pistol and handily converted the anti-eco, and while they did drop the bonus, they won the next two rounds after that to claim the first map 13-4. kaajak had an absurd 28 kills on the map, also logging an impressive 43% headshot percentage despite the high volume.

The series shifted to Icebox, a map that Team Heretics had reason to feel confident picking. Just the day before, they dominated Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #9 penny Erik Penny paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak Serial Maikls Zdanovs 13-2 on the map to close out a 3-0 lower final victory. While Team Heretics played with their tried and tested comp, which placed most of their players on what could be classed as comfort picks, FNATIC stuck with their more unconventional zero Duelist comp, featuring Sage.

The map traditionally tends to lean to the attacker side, but that seemed false on this occasion. With FNATIC's double Sentinel, delay heavy comp forcing Team Heretics to hit the brakes at nearly every turn. They won seven defense rounds in their upper final win against Team Heretics two days earlier, but they outdid themselves in a big way, entering halftime up 10-2 thanks to a 9-0 start to the map.

FNATIC's comp did struggle to create much space on the attacker side, but they would eventually get the job done, closing things out 13-9.

FNATIC in-game leader Boaster led the way with 18 kills in a well-rounded team-wide performance, while MiniBoo 's server-high 19 kills were not enough in the losing effort.

Fracture, like Icebox, was a map that both teams were more than familiar with. It was the opening map of the aforementioned upper final, and saw FNATIC win 13-6 thanks to a dominant defender side. While FNATIC fielded the same comp, Team Heretics tweaked theirs, opting for a double Duelist comp that dropped the Breach/Tejo Initiator pairing in favor of Fade.

Team Heretics claimed the first four rounds to open the map, but FNATIC fielded another strong defender side. Entering halftime with yet another lead on an attacker-sided map, FNATIC looked to close things out, but was met with a taller task this time. Team Heretics flexed their muscles on defense, winning five of the first seven rounds in the half to take a narrow 10-9 lead.

FNATIC bounced back from the surge to reach match point, but overtime was forced soon after thanks to solid Heretics team play. In overtime, FNATIC outperformed their opponent on both sides of the map, cleaning things up to win the final map 14-12.

kaajak had yet another impressive outing, recording a server-high 73 kills in just three maps played. No other player in the server recorded more than 50.

With the win, FNATIC returns to the top of the EMEA region, and will earn a bye into the playoffs of Masters Toronto. Team Heretics, meanwhile, takes home three championship points.