With Stage 1 of VCT 2026 in full swing, we see a lot of new team compositions and Agents that we haven’t really seen in VALORANT‘s pro play for some time.
After the Fnatic vs Team Vitality series on April 9, Dot Esports spoke to Fnatic’s IGL, Jake “Boaster” Howlett, to talk about the team’s performance in the series, some of the picks we’ve seen so far from Fnatic, and how the VALORANT meta might evolve moving forward.
Improving Fnatic’s teamfighting and trading
One of the major talking points regarding Fnatic heading into the series against Team Vitality was the team’s teamfighting and trading. Those factors caused several hiccups for Fnatic on their way to securing a 2:1 series against Eternal Fire after a clean game on Lotus.
“ I think we’re still doing decent trades, decent teamfighting. It’s still something that we always need to work on and improve, and it’s very difficult. But I’d say, we’re doing our best, and I think we’re scaling. We’re scaling with it,” Boaster said.
Fnatic closed the series against Team Vitality 2:0, winning both Split and Breeze – a result Boaster admits he wasn’t expecting that day, despite being confident in the team’s victory.
Breeze is an outstanding map for Harbor
During EMEA Stage 1, Harbor slowly rose in popularity. Fnatic played him on Breeze against Eternal Fire, then again versus Team Vitality (who also brought a Harbor of their own), and we’ve also seen Team Heretics pick Harbor on Lotus and Pearl.
In Fnatic’s case, choosing Harbor over someone like Astra comes down to Boaster’s personal preference. “I just kind of am bored of playing Astra on Breeze, especially. I quite like Harbor’s ultimate and his proactivity,” Boaster explained. He added that despite Harbor being more fun, he’s also pretty good, thriving on the attack side while also giving more options on defense with the retakes.
As for Harbor on other maps, Boaster added that while there are some that the team is still unsure of, Breeze is by far the most outstanding map. ”Breeze was the one where I felt like, oh, I’m winning a lot [on Breeze].”
Will we see Fnatic’s Iso again?
An unusual Agent Fnatic picked back on Breeze during the series against Eternal Fire was Iso, played by Emir “Alfajer” Beder. However, when playing against Team Vitality, Fnatic picked KAY/O instead, who’s growing in popularity as well.
“ I just think the KAY/O gives me a little bit more information,” Boaster said, adding that he prefers to have that extra information and make more informed calls. Regarding Iso, Boaster said that while it’s something the team can always bring, it’s more of an all-in pick that also doesn’t provide much information on defense.
Shift from Yoru to Neon, and possible rise of Phoenix
A major shift in the meta coming into Stage 1 was Yoru nerfs, causing teams to double down on Neon and try out other comps. In Stage 1 so far, Yoru has only been picked once by Gen. G on Bind against Global Esports, but he didn’t seem to provide much impact.
Boaster explained switching from Yoru to Neon wasn’t the easiest adjustment, as Yoru allowed for a lot of macro plays, and the team had to re-learn the maps. At the same time, Fnatic has a roster that can play more than just Yoru, as Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski has played a lot of Neon before and was happy to get back to it.
While the nerfs could’ve been lighter, Boaster was getting bored with the Yoru meta. “ There were a lot of people relying on it and using it as a band-aid to their poor playstyle. And so not having it now allows for us to thrive ’cause we’re doing pretty good without it.” There might be a situation where a team plays Yoru, but Boaster doesn’t expect teams to run him regularly. Instead, we might see more double Initiators.
On the Duelist front, Waylay lost her value on a lot of maps after the changes, and Boaster believes Raze will overtake her. However, seeing that Neon changes are inevitable due to her overperformance and leaks hinting at adjustments, we might see a shift from double Duelist comps in favor of double Initiator, or maybe more Phoenix.
“You might end up seeing more double Initiators, honestly, or Phoenix. I think Phoenix might rise through the ranks,” Boaster said. We have already seen more Skye, KAY/O, and Phoenix played throughout EMEA Stage 1, and that could be the trend if Neon nerfs eventually come through.
