Fnatic VALORANT’s Decline: Should Alfajer Play Duelist Instead Of Derke?

After becoming the first back-to-back global champions, the Fnatic VALORANT division was considered the best team of 2023. However, they are only a shadow of themselves, as success is yet to be found in 2024. 

The Mighty Fall: Missing Out On Masters Madrid

The start of the year was not what Fnatic and its fans had expected, as the team displayed a subpar performance in the VCT EMEA Kickoff tournament. 

The European squad won their opening match against Team Vitality. Since Fnatic was the highest-ranked EMEA team then, they received a shortcut in the Group Stage and immediately qualified for the Playoffs of the Kickoff event. 

However, Fnatic fell victim to a major upset, losing to Karmine Corp in the qualification match for Masters Madrid, meaning they had missed their first international event since 2021. 

Current Form Still Remains Shaky

The Fnatic had to sit on the sidelines while the Sentinels lifted the trophy at Madrid, but their absence from Masters Madrid meant the team had plenty of time to practice and return to their top form. 

In a YouTube video with his girlfriend, Boaster ranked the teams Fnatic would beat among the VCT Masters Madrid lineup, where he mentioned his team would defeat Team Heretics. However, the in-game leader could not walk the talk, as Fnatic lost their opening series against Team Heretics in the VCT EMEA Stage 1 tournament. The “cocky” in-game leader finished the map with a KDA of 5/15/7. 

Good news ensued, as Fnatic could win the following series against GIANTX. Still, fans were not satisfied with the victory, as GIANTX is arguably the weakest team at the event, and Fnatic still dropped a map against the underdogs.

Derke, who is supposed to be the team’s star player, heavily underperformed, bottom-fragging on all three maps as the team’s Duelist. Fortunately, Alfajer was playing Raze on the decisive map and carried the team after a 21/11/1 performance, ending the map with a 1.39 rating. 

Discussion: Should Alfajer And Derke Swap Roles?

Naturally, Fnatic’s underwhelming performance led the community to share their opinions.

Sentinel’s sixth man, curry, made a point on his livestream that people should really be pushing for Fnatic to let Alfajer on Duelist and move Derke to the Sentinel role. 

“Alfajer is obviously a better Sentinel, but who would be a better duelist for this team? Honestly, I feel like Fnatic are struggling a lot when it comes to Derke playing Duelist,” said the streamer.

In the past, Fnatic has placed Derke in other roles, including Sentinel-based agents such as Chamber and Sage. Now that Chamber has been heavily nerfed, the Headhunter doesn’t seem like a viable option anymore. 

However, Alfajer mainly plays agents such as Killjoy and Chamber. Does this change seem feasible for the Fnatic roster, and if applied, will it pay off?

Header: @alfajervl Instagram