Fnatic is kicking off a new era for its CS:GO team today with the signing of William “Mezii” Merriman and Alex “ALEX” McMeekin. Both players come from the deconstructed Cloud9 Colossus, with Mezii taking a brief four-month detour with Endpoint.
For years, Fnatic has been regarded as a legendary CS:GO organization, running with an entirely Swedish lineup that competed at the highest level of the game. Most notably, Fnatic was considered one of the best teams in Counter-Strike during the first couple years of CS:GO, winning three Majors in a two-year span between 2013 and 2015.
But the team has sunk to new lows over the past year and a half, sliding downhill since a first-place finish in the EU division of ESL Pro League season 11 in April 2020. As results worsened in 2021, Fnatic made several significant changes to its starting roster, which included moving on from two of its legendary players. The org benched flusha in January before parting ways in April and just benched JW in July along with IGL Golden.
Following these moves, Fnatic chief gaming officer Patrik “cArn” Sättermon said the team would be heading in an international direction for the future. And now, the team has done so with the additions of U.K. talents ALEX and Mezii.
ALEX steps into the in-game leader role after finding international success in that role in 2019 with Team Vitality alongside the superstar ascendency of ZywOo. Cloud9 acquired ALEX in September 2020 for a massive figure, turning him into the head of its new “Colossus” project, which included Mezii, another British player who had recently played for Vexed and GamerLegion. But the mix of poor results and high costs forced Cloud9 to “hit pause” on its CS:GO involvement in March.
ALEX remained on the C9 bench until now, while Mezii left in April for a brief stint with Endpoint. Now, both players find themselves reunited on Fnatic, alongside a proven veteran in KRIMZ, a rising star in Brollan, and a developing AWPer in Jackinho.
Fnatic analyzed over 100 players this summer to find the ideal roster pieces, according to the org’s announcement. After settling on the idea of going international, Fnatic sought out an experienced and dedicated IGL, as well as an up-and-coming rifler with plenty of potential. The new additions fit those descriptions perfectly, according to Fnatic head coach Andreas Samuelsson.
The new Fnatic roster will make its debut at ESL Pro League season 14 starting Aug. 13 in a stacked group featuring Na’Vi, FaZe, BIG, mousesports, and Evil Geniuses.
