by Fnatic is rumoured to be set to remove Martin “MAGNUM” Penkov from the active lineup.
The decision is said to be driven by the need to rebuild for the next VALORANT season.
MAGNUM joined the European organization last year on April 9 and was instantly impactful to the team.
He was part of the Fnatic team that finished top at the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Stage Two Challengers Two regular season. He’s a year in with Fnatic and has total earnings of approximately $44,531.
The 20-year old started his career in 2020 with Avenue Esports, where he spent about 3 months before moving on to Enterprise Esports. After a 6-month run with the Czech-based organization, EP, he made his way through to HOMELESS, where he had a very short stint before joining Fnatic.
The European organization had a terrible outing at the VCT Masters in Reykjavik, Iceland. They suffered two consecutive defeats at the hands of Ninjas in Pyjamas and Zeta Division at the group stage. Both teams swept Fnatic, which resulted in Fnatic and KRU Esports tied for the worst result in their various groups.
The first international Valorant event of the year featured 8 teams, paired in two groups of four, with all teams vying for one of four remaining slots in the playoffs. With a prize pool of $675,000 and 3,400 VCT circuit points.
Fnatic was featured in the same group as DRX, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Zeta Division, their first outing was against the NiP. Fnatic lost both maps, Ascent 7-13 and Split 8-13. They were also dealt with the same fate in their second outing, Zeta swept them, winning both maps (Fracture 13-7 and Icebox 13-11).
Fnatic’s exit could be attributed to some issues the team faced prior to the event. Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev had contacted Covid-19 and was missing in action for some days, which saw Joona “H1ber” Parviainen stand in for him. Enzo “Fearoth” Mestari also had to stand in for Andrew “braveaf” Gorchakov, who was temporarily suspended by the organization for allegedly being in support of the war against Ukraine.
Their failure to win a map at the VCT Masters and their overall performance have come into question and as such, the team is rumoured to be on the path of rebuilding. With the VCT EMEA Stage commencing at the end of the VCT Masters, which ends on April 24. We might see a strong Fnatic team or the need for a rebuild would entirely be obvious.
