FNATIC FNATIC Europe Unranked crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder took a convincing 2-0 over Gentle Mates Gentle Mates Europe Unranked K4DAVRA Thomas Johner RobbieBk Robbie Boerkamp Minny Patrik Hušek Zyppan Pontus Eek Click Haydem Ali in the second round of the VCT EMEA Kickoff lower bracket, eliminating the French outfit from the tournament.

FNATIC's victory feels like a return to form for the roster, who opened Kickoff earlier this month with a 2-1 loss to BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Unranked Jamppi Elias Olkkonen sociablEE Volkan Yonal PROFEK Dawid Święć vakk Vakaris Bebravičius stand-in LewN Burak Alkan . They have since eliminated Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Unranked ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio in a 2-1 bout, but only today did the team seem back to their true selves.

kaajak was one of the crucial pieces in FNATIC's victory today. He dropped 27 on Fracture, six of which came in the final two rounds. On defense, he and Boaster pushed Arcade to gun down three and reach match point. The following round, kaajak nailed another three from the top of Generator and shut down a B hit to take the match win.

Alfajer celebrates at the EMEA Kickoff What a show. (Photo by Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games)

That was just the final nail in the coffin, though, because the writing was already on the wall by then. Gentle Mates were down 11-0 on Abyss by the time they finally took some rounds, but even those five points they accrued in the 13-5 result seemed like an uphill battle.

That feeling was largely due to Alfajer and kaajak's performance, who added up to 26 kills, over half of all of Gentle Mates together, and allowed for a 13-6 victory that bookended the match.

Alfajer's return to Jett for the first time since July 2021 brimmed with success. A 1.24 rating, 289 ACS, and 200 ADR were just some of the highlight stats of his Abyss performance. FNATIC's MVP on that map was actually Boaster, whose only death in the first half came in the 12th and final round.

Their performances were towered over by kaajak's Fracture. His 27 kills amounted to 270 ADR and nearly 400 ACS, averaging out a match-high 1.83 rating. This put him atop the scoreboard in the match, where he sat with a 1.51 rating and nearly double the kills of Gentle Mates' highest fragger, Minny .

kaajak got high praise from the broadcast and his IGL. After struggling deeply in the opening bout against BBL, he has put on back-to-back impressive displays in FNATIC's lower bracket run so far. Boaster owed it to the fact that, after that inaugural loss, things just "seemed to click."

Even the IGL was putting on a show

FNATIC letting Abyss slip through the veto may have come as a surprise, given their last showing on the map resulted in a 13-8 loss to the hands of BBL. Boaster revealed in the post-match interview that, after the loss, the team recalibrated and shifted focus to a double-dive comp.

After seeing success in scrims with the new Jett-Yoru duo — a decision made after just a few scrims — FNATIC allowed Gentle Mates to pick it. FNATIC intended to exploit M8's A site weaknesses, which they did by overpowering the site on most attacking rounds.

FNATIC's relaxed 2-0 victory sets them on a straight path to Masters Bangkok. Three victories are still needed before they can book flights to Thailand, though. The first of those three is scheduled for tomorrow.

The first match of the third round of the lower bracket will feature FNATIC and FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Unranked xeus Doğan Gözgen MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan qRaxs Doğukan Balaban duking it out for survival at EMEA Kickoff. The winner will have a weeklong break before returning for the lower bracket semifinal.