fnatic bench JW; aim for international lineup

British multigaming organization fnatic has announced the beginning of a transformation of its CS:GO lineup, which should be resulted in forming an international roster. Against this backdrop, it was announced that veteran Jesper "JW" Wecksel has been transferred to the team's reserves.

“It’s a strange, yet exciting feeling, after 2709 days /or/ 1658 official maps played under the same club to wake up and not knowing what’s next.

I have always tried my best every single day during these past almost 8 years to make Fnatic the absolute best it could ever be, sometimes it was harder and sometimes "easier" but in the end, I’m happy with what I have achieved here.

Now it’s time to take some time to reflect upon things, what I could possibly have done better or different, and bring that with me to whatever is next in life, be it CS, Valorant, or esports in general.

Thank you for everything thus far and stay tuned for my next step.”

Jesper "JW" Wecksell

Earlier in July, fnatic Sweden also saw captain Maikil "Golden" Selim leave the team. At the time, the organization announced that this was not the last roster change for the current offseason.

JW has represented fnatic for the past eight years, except for a brief period in 2016 when he played for GODSENT. With him, the team has won numerous prestigious tournaments, including three majors - DreamHack Winter 2013, ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015. It is also worth noting that the 26-year-old Swede was one of the top 10 players in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

‘After 6 weeks of deep evaluations and hard work, we have decided to bench Jesper. We have spent tons of hours deciding which route we are going to take to bring Fnatic back to where we belong, and the final decision is to change to an international lineup. Jesper is one of the most experienced players and has done an amazing job in Fnatic.

He has achieved what most of us can’t even dream of with 3 Major trophies and over 20 tournament trophies; placing him among the absolute best in the history of CSGO. It saddens me to make this decision, but the team needs a big rebuild. I am enormously proud of how much Jesper has developed as a person and leader of the team during the last 1.5 years.

I have never seen such a transformation within esports before. Whatever you want to do next Jesper, we are behind you to support your future career. I wish you nothing but the best and I am very thankful for our time together.’

Andreas Samuelsson, CSGO Head Coach

Note that a few days earlier there were rumors that fnatic was close to signing Danish in-game leader Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen. At the moment there is no official confirmation of that rumor.

Origin: fnatic.com