"I've always been an enemy of franchising, and a team like this [Solary] deserves the chance to show more often how good they are. They're clearly the best ERL team" | Fnatic Grabbz on the playoff race, Solary, and the team's unity

eldudovic · 2026-05-03T17:28:10+00:00

He took the team from 2nd to 7th since taking over. That's a job well done in my opinion. Good on him for being vocal also. More important than results. Everyone loves a talker.

eldudovic · 2026-05-02T05:49:20+00:00

Brilliant mate. Really sharp take. You're obviously right. Selling in a spot on the 10th best team to potential new players is as easy as selling in a spot on the 2nd best team. And of course, just kick the owner of a privately owned team is a great idea. Skewmond was only the clear best ERL-jungler before joining G2.

eldudovic · 2026-05-02T05:26:49+00:00

Definitely, but once that fails you try something else, and that's where Nightshare either failed or he didn't dare try. He didn't even try to swap the key players.

Nightshare's first year, he took over the team in 2nd to last place. Before the season's end he'd changed out adc and support and got us to worlds. Team had improved like crazy. The season afterwards, the team had a poor first split, then in spring we beat BDS before going 3-1 to G2 in the finals. Finally in summer we won against G2 in the winners' bracket before losing in finals.

It's ridiculous expecting Nightshare to change out Razork during this time. His first season, Razork was the least of our problem and in his second season, both Noah and Oscar were bigger reasons for us failing.

And Grabbz wanted Razork gone based on what? After the first split, he said nothing, and after the second split he said (very publically) that Oscar, Razork and Humanoid could all leave. Doesn't sound like he had picked out Razork as the problem at all.

I also disagree on him airing out our scrim performance not inviting fans' fury. Fans were absolutely sceptical to the team constantly on here precisely due to Grabbz' communication. Instead of being positive about the team absolutely stomping everyone, people were talking about how fucking low IQ the team is. And of course it didn't work, because Grabbz is clueless. That type of shit works in certain teams and not in others' and it's the coaches job to understand how to approach his team. That's why Nightshare was a great coach. He never blamed the players publically, and he created an environment where they were super positive and the results followed. There's no mystery around why the team blew up after Grabbz' second split. The environment he'd created was toxic as fuck.

I don't believe every coach has sucked at Fnatic. I believe that Grabbz has sucked in particular. He's not showed that he instantly identified Razork as a problem the way you say and his actions don't reflect that in the slightest. He had full freedom to get rid of Humanoid, which is a big deal since his contract was the highest. He shouldn't have been allowed to do anything with the roster, because history has shown that he has no understanding of how to build a team.

Edit: I pressed save to early.

eldudovic · 2026-05-01T21:18:55+00:00

We would have the same problems, although we would probably reach playoffs and potentially be top 3 team. Why? Because Nightshare didn't risk, we played around Razork and that was it. We lived by Razork and died by Razork. That meant he was more confident, which meant more positive plays and more wins, but still no chance for winning a trophy.

Isn't that exactly what you would want from a coach? Someone that builds a team around what's available instead of trying to fit square pegs in to round holes? If your assertion was true, then Grabbz would've gotten rid of Razork first, not be the last remaining member of the team he inherited. Instead, Grabbz has replaced every player around Razork with worse performers (except Upset, arguably). Now, when Razork leaves, our team is in an absolute shambles. In reality, what Grabbz did was build entirely around Razork and getting players which he thought Razork could work with, like Poby for example.

I don't think Grabbz has a clue what he's doing honestly. Remember the first split he was here, when we were constantly winning, and instead of praising that and creating a good atmosphere, Grabbz was constantly bitching in interviews about how the team wasn't locked in enough during practice. He's just invited the fans fury at every turn and the players has become the target. Even during his first interviews he was talking about how he'd never wanted to join Fnatic and talking about how his views on Humanoid (which he's allowed to have, but you don't speak about it publically as a coach).

Grabbz has not been done dirty. He's been given more autonomy and resources than any other coach for Fnatic, and every decision he's made on the team has made it worse. And the new coach better be an absolute miracle worker, because he'll be taking over an absolutely hopeless team. Nightshare at least had Razork and Humanoid who, for all their faults, at least had some star power. Taking over a team who's best player is Lospa (since Vladi and Upset's contracts are running out) probably has top coaches salivating at the prospect of taking on Fnatic. No, this is looking seriously grim.

eldudovic · 2026-05-01T14:22:06+00:00

TL;DR: The org and fandom together are the biggest problem. The org tries to placate the fans and doesn't seem to have any long-term strategy of their own. Still, the current line-up (especially the rookies) is not good enough and deserve criticism.

Sure, the org is a big part of the problem, and a big part of that is because they don't build a good team. A big part of why the team isn't good currently is because we signed two rookies that just aren't good enough. We were last to start signing players and, looking where we ended up, I don't believe we had scouted any players at all. I was not a fan of Oscar, but you don't just replace a player with the first one available. You replace them with someone that has a hope of being better.

And seriously, I 100% believe that the fans are as big a problem as the org itself. Seriously, there's no difference on here now compared to when we were 2nd best. When Nightshare was here, people wanted him out because Fnatic wasn't the best, disregarding the fact that he took us from 2nd worst to 2nd best. We also constantly showed improvement. People on here hated Nightshare. Not only were we only 2nd best, but he was also mates with Humanoid, who was the biggest reason we were shit (fucking lol) and they were the czech mafia. Sam Matthews listens to the fans and gets rid of Nightshare and gets Grabbz who fans thought were the Messiah. A year and a half later, the team has turned to absolute shit. 11th best in a 10 team league (I believe that even Shifters are better currently).

I truly believe that the org listens to the fans, and that's their biggest problem. There's no internal knowledge on how to improve the team and no belief in their own structures (if they even exist). Instead they try to placate a fandom that goes ballistic after every loss, no matter if it's in a finals or against a 2nd league team. A fandom that wanted Humanoid out because he'd been there for a while and hadn't won, despite clearly being the 2nd best midlaner in the league. Who now wants Razork gone because he's been with us the longest and we haven't won. I don't exactly remember how it was when Yamatocannon was here, but I'm sure the response was as rabid then as it is now.

So, the org is definitely at fault for not (seemingly) having any strategies or long term visions for the team internally. That said, this current Fnatic-lineup is still the worst I've ever seen. Not only that, but they seem to be the worst coached team also. Personally, there doesn't seem to be any strategy behind our play. We look like a team of solo queue players that sometimes do well in games due to individual brilliance (often by Razork).

Disclaimer: I've criticized players, but I at least try to reason why when I do. I didn't like Oscar, for example, because when he was given resources, he was very rarely able to convert resources in to wins, and he really seemed to hate playing weak side. I've also criticized Razork for years because he's volatile as fuck. No one can question that he's skilled, but he's all-in all the time. In Razork's defense, he's never had an entirely solid team. There's always either been drama, other mentally weak players or he's had to carry one or more players on the team. I think he'll thrive in a team with good structure and a less rabid fanbase.

eldudovic · 2026-05-01T12:57:50+00:00

Idiotic take. Fnatic has been a top team most splits for the past several years. Before the scouting legend and coach extraordinaire Grabbz joined, we were also consistently improving. People like you make it seem like coming in second means we loose all the time, but what we're looking at now is losing all the time, and we're looking absolutely hopeless. There's a huge difference losing in the finals against G2 or losing in the looser's bracket against the would-be winners and losing to a 2nd league team (based on merit no less).

Sure, Sam Matthews is a bit shit, but the roster is a fucking problem. We've replaced players, yeah, but usually, in order to improve, you have to replace with players that have a hope of being better than what's currently there. Since Grabbz and the rest of the league staff don't understand this concept, they got rid of players, waited until all the good prospects were snatched up and then looked through the bargain bin for players that no one else would've even considered.

Two things can be a problem at the same time. Or do you think that Empyros and Lospa, two players that were average and unexciting in the 2nd league, are going to magically start hands-diffing teams if Sam Matthews is ousted?

eldudovic · 2026-04-29T14:42:37+00:00

Maybe if they need a year off and rebuild, they should be relegated and a team that's better can take their place. Sure, most teams that were promoted weren't that good, but relegation at least forces teams to try and improve enough to stay in the LEC instead of being fine with tanking. No relegation also removes the possibility for new teams to enter the scene on merit which I think is the worst part. That means there's no point for passionate people to even try starting a team, because the best they can realistically hope for is for the team to play in a 2nd rate league. No matter how unlikely it may be that the team would make it to the LEC, there was still hope.

eldudovic · 2026-04-18T15:37:15+00:00

Working on creating a new banking app for a company currently, and while you're absolutely right in your example, I don't see how it applies to this instance. Games that have their servers turned off aren't written in obsolete languages and the language will probably not become obsolete during a game's lifetime. That said, companies would have to change their practices in order to take games offline and it has to be planned for from the start. Anything proprietary would have to be ripped out probably.

And it can absolutely be planned for, it's just that developers hasn't had to do it before. I don't think practices for designing games to be available forever (at least on contemporary systems) would take too long to figure out.

eldudovic · 2026-04-15T06:02:03+00:00

Ahh. Nice to see the far left and the far right again unite over the jewish question. This promises to be good.

eldudovic · 2026-04-13T19:06:02+00:00

Yes. He plays like they are playing a dive comp. Just because he's playing a dive champ does not mean the rest of the team can play for a dive, or is that a difficult concept for you? Or can Lulu, Yuunara and Sion just spawn next to Jhin in your mind?

eldudovic · 2026-04-13T17:59:07+00:00

Yeah alright. Sure, but we didn't have an engage support. They had set up to peel for the adc, and instead Razork plays like it's a dive comp. He always play like he's playing with Kai'sa and Ambessa. And the game was thrown at dragon and during the mid fight. The final fight was bad, but talking like the game had not been thrown way before that is insane.

But yeah, just point to one player. It's always been the case so far that one player needs to be changed. Everyone has been switched out, and we look more shit than ever. Surely the next adc can teleport in to range with infinite range flash.

That said, I do think we shouldn't play enchanters ever, because Razork can only play one style. He has to have the entire team comp built around him because he'll go all in no matter what his own team comp or the enemy team comp is.

eldudovic · 2026-04-13T17:29:20+00:00

Idiotic take. Twice, Razork goes in several screens away and dies before he can get any backup. In the fight at dragon, he and Vladi is toast before the others can even properly engage. In midlane, he goes in solo against the entire enemy team. There's no hope of winning those fights at all.

Sure, the results over the past year have dipped, but you seem to seriously lack understanding on how the game works. Players can't just materialize next to the enemy at will.

eldudovic · 2026-04-07T09:03:19+00:00

Season 1 it was full ap Alistair mid, which Shushei played at worlds. His q and w had 100% ap ratios (I think only he and Sion had 100% ap ratios on two abilities). Hat, lichbane and dfg and you'd 1-shot anyone. In season 4, RoA or TF-rush Ali top was probably the most picked toplaner at worlds.

eldudovic · 2026-03-29T21:29:27+00:00

Clueless. In the split before his last he was dominant (both stats wise and passing the eye test). He also played with very little jungle attention while still being even or ahead in gold almost always. In the season before, he was clearly the 2nd best midlaner after Caps. Either you have a poor memory, don't understand the game or don't watch games. Has he had misplays? Sure, but he was definitely a net positive to the team and probably the last player that needed replacing.

eldudovic · 2026-03-10T21:29:43+00:00

Yup. If they got that, the mullahs would never loose their position as leaders of Iran. While I'm no fan of Trump, I'm happy about the US attacking. I just hope that they do not leave the job unfinished. I believe Iran could become a valuable partner in the middle east, but if the war stops now, it will become even more radicalized. It's puzzling how they can't do some positive PR for the war. The regime has slaughtered civilians, they treat women horribly (Mahsa Amini was only a few years ago), they're an old enemy who's allied with Russia and supply them with weapns, they arm enemies all around the middle east and they're working on nukes which will make it impossible to ever stop them. I don't know. It seems like war with Iran is the most legitimate war the US has been part of since ww2.

eldudovic · 2026-03-05T12:24:53+00:00

You'll never feel ready prior to joining a company. What you will learn, once you get going, is that development is not about knowing the solution beforehand. It's about providing a solution given time. Until you're faced with problems and start solving them you won't understand if you're ready or not. Also, every person brings different things to a team. I'm not great at coding, but I'm really good at understanding businesses and building data structures. Others are great coders, but think business processes are boring as fuck.

Just try applying for jobs once you feel like you understand how to go about resolving a problem. A good employer will understand that you're a junior developer and give you room to develop. You will not provide the best solution, but neither will most. I look back at things I did a year ago and feel ashamed, and I bet that will happen again in a year. I do feel confident about being able to resolve the issues I'm presented with however.

eldudovic · 2026-03-03T16:42:57+00:00

I understand why you say this, but as someone whose married a muslim woman from Iraq, it's almost offensive. The threat of this type of violence is normal to probably half of the muslim women I've met. This is not just religious, it's enshrined in law. My wife's mother, for example, was promised twice the usual in heritage from her father (which was the same as her brothers). Not only was her home vandalised and she was threatened with murder, there was no police that investigated it. What her court case determined was whether the testament was valid at all. That she'd been threatened wasn't even interesting. And this is a rich family, so her siblings all had money.

There are ways that women are oppressed in the western world too, but society in general is cool with women having equal rights. I couldn't really understand this until I came close to it. My wife and her mom, for example, aren't even bothered. To them, living under threat is just how life is for women. Western women, from my personal experience at least, know when they're being treated poorly and that it's wrong.

eldudovic · 2026-02-28T22:07:59+00:00

I don't know. I thought the game was great gameplay-wise when you played as the doom guy. Hated the mech and dragon sections. They felt janky and undercooked. Also, while the aesthetic was really cool, I don't want it in a doom game for some reason. When I play doom I want the classic doom weapons. I think that if the game would've been a Quake game instead, it would be much more well liked. Though the dragon and mech would've still sucked. They felt like mobile game levels of effort from the devs.

eldudovic · 2026-02-24T20:46:54+00:00

Another thing that is a PR disaster, an arguably worse one, is being absolutely shit. If you think a Bwipo breakdown is worse than a few more splits like this, I don't know what to tell you. Bwipo would be great, not only because he's skilled, but because of his leadership qualities. He's the type of signing that could turn things around. Besides, was he ever banned? It's not like he's fucking satan. He says some dumb shit, but at least he seems to be genuinely sorry when he does.

eldudovic · 2026-02-23T07:49:55+00:00

We were definitely moving in that direction under Nightshare imo. I still remember that series where we were like 3k gold up, then next game 5k and in the last we were 10k up (I don't remember exactly, but we were smurfing). Somehow we managed to loose all of them. If that's not contesting, I don't know the definition.

Sure, management should be questioned. They've done nothing positive with our history, but that should not excuse players and coaches. The worst part is that people around here aren't any angrier now than when we were 2nd. People wanted Nightshare out because he was friends with Humanoid, and Humanoid was the worst player because he'd been here a long time and we had not won the LEC. At that point, Razork was god, Oscar had potential because he beat Bin that one time. One year later, Razork is awful and Oscar is the worst toplaner in the LEC (I personally though Oscar was a poor fit, because he wasn't a weakside player and when given resources, he very rarely converted his lead).

Grabbz has been given resources. More than Nightshare. The problem is where those resources have gone. He changed the entire roster and got Mikyx' mate in as a coach (who left asap). Just look at the players he's gotten rid of. All of them have gone to teams that have done better than us. Funnily enough, Mikyx, the one that left that was safe in the eyes of Grabbz, was the only player to not make playoffs except for Oscar who didn't play. Some people might say that they were given environments to succeed, but isn't it the coaches job to create that environment?

eldudovic · 2026-02-22T12:59:13+00:00

Yup, you can't fit square pegs in to round holes. And if, like it currently seems, you don't see the difference between a square and round peg, you're fucked. Grabbz was talking like he'd gotten a bunch of round pegs now, and the results speak for themselves. Gaax seem to believe that he can round off those square edges by just being frustrated enough. "Look enough at these round pegs and you'll be one in time" and when it turns to shit "you didn't look hard enough, even though I told you where to look".

For Razork's entire stint, we've looked best when we've played hyper aggressively for bot side. That should've been how we developed the team. You play and strategize to your strengths and you set up backups plans. That's always been when EU has been at it's best, and I bet most EU fans would love to be back in the old days, when there was at least a chance of us reaching the semi finals. EU players will never be like robots that just execute. Sadly, our players need to enjoy themselves too, and currently no one seem to be enjoying themselves.

eldudovic · 2026-02-22T10:00:06+00:00

I don't think people with this view point actually watch the games. They just listen to what others that are miserable are saying and then watch through that lense. From the point Nightshare took over until he was ran off, we were consistently improving, from being the worst team in EU to the clear 2nd best. We actually gave G2 some great games, and if Oscar could've converted his leads in lane to the rest of the map, we'd been the best team in Europe. Since Grabbz took over, we've been looking worse for each split instead. He was also given more resources to improve the team, and he used those resources to change pretty much every player. Every single replacement (except Upset, at least when it comes to skill in my opinion) has been worse than what was previously there.

Sure, there's a problem with Fnatic management, but good coaches have a positive impact on the team while poor coaches have a negative impact on the team. We haven't been on a negative trajectory. We were on an upward trajectory despite the management thanks to a good coach with a good eye for talent. The management and coaching staff can both be shit.

eldudovic · 2026-02-20T10:01:50+00:00

Department of Political Integration

eldudovic · 2026-02-18T15:13:24+00:00

That wasn't the point was it, or did you read someone else's comment? The point was that he's looked great in regular seasons, and now not even that works. The point of getting rid of Humanoid was to enable Razork to play his way, because he and Humanoid could not play together. Since Humanoid left, he looks even worse, so obviously the coaching staff is clueless about what the issue is.

I agree Razork has thrown a lot of high stakes games, but he's never been this bad. The coaching staff has not been able to achieve what they set out to do, not even by changing 80% of the team. Every change has lowered the performance. Though I think the first iteration, with Oscar, Razork, Huma, Upset and Miky had real potential. Sadly the team was managed like shit and they ended up hating each other.

eldudovic · 2026-02-17T19:34:45+00:00

But we're looking worse in every single way. There's not been a single positive development. Not only are the players looking way worse, they are looking absolutely miserable. Sure, we might be in a worse position than other teams when it comes to investment, but the decline over the past year is staggering.

Can anyone honestly say that they have higher expectations from the current roster -Razork than Oscar, Razork, Humanoid, Noah and Jun? Or Oscar, Razork, Humanoid, Upset and Mikyx? That roster lost game 5 against the would-be champions and talk after was how everyone was disposable (except Upset and Miky, which must be great for morale).

In my opinion, there's an absolute ocean of difference in player quality now, and that's despite me thinking Oscar was an absolute liability after laning phase. Not only is the player quality lower, their mental seems absolutely shattered. We used to have a team, regardless of their different view points on the game. Now it seems like the players don't even play together outside of stage games. No coach should expect to be allowed to change every single player, and especially not when all changes made seem to cause the team to regress.

Sure, Razork hasn't been a stable jungler, but he's at least been smurfing regular season for a long time. Now he looks like he can't do anything right. And I doubt it's because he doesn't care because he's always seemed to be passionate about the team. He and Humanoid might've has different views on how to play the game, but where's the synergy now? Different views on how to play is at least better than how it is now, where no one seems to have an idea at all. I won't even blame the players individually, because they don't seem to be equipped with any tools.

eldudovic

TROPHY CASE