"You need to know yourself better than the enemy": mini breaks down key to Fnatic's success at Valorant Champions 2023

Fnatic is one of the biggest favorites to win Valorant Champions 2023, a sentiment widely agreed upon by fans and analysts alike. Watching them play is like listening to a musical masterpiece. The team imbues each move with method and precision, which is not to discount their ability to respond effectively to curveballs. With such sophisticated gameplay and near-perfect mechanical abilities, it's no surprise that Fnatic is a notch above their competition in tier 1 Valorant esports.

What is the secret to their success, though? The team plays a fairly limited map pool and brings the same composition to officials for extended periods of time. Despite that, they manage to keep it fresh and continue to dominate Valorant tournaments against the best of the best.

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Fnatic's mini and Boaster explain thought process behind in-game choices at Valorant Champions 2023

Fnatic team at the press conference (Image via Riot Games)

In the post-match interview with Abhipsito Das of Sportskeeda Esports, coach Jacob "mini" Harris and in-game leader (IGL), Jake "Boaster" Howlett, explain the benefits of sticking to specific compositions on certain maps over extended periods of time.

When asked about sticking to the same composition across tournaments after Fnatic dominated Bilibili Gaming at Valorant Champions 2023, Boaster responded:

"I think it is something that mini really focuses on, that is macro… On defense, [the opposing] teams are going to take A, B, or C. Let’s say that the team goes and takes A. We have an idea for what we do when a team takes A. We try to have that in-built system, or at least we try to, on the defensive side."

He further elaborated on Fnatic's gameplay ethos, saying:

"Attack sides are somewhat the same thing. We pick some site and then it is about getting information so that I can make a mid-round call based on that. It is something I have been working on a lot, and mini has been helping me a lot with the mid-rounding."

One of the biggest reasons behind Fnatic's success is the brilliance of coach mini. Apart from being a tactical genius, he is also a perfectionist, which is clear from how precise Fnatic's executions are. Speaking about him, Boaster said:

"When mini doesn’t like something or thinks it looks awkward, then I trust him. We then try to work on it to find a solution and actually see why it does look awkward and stuff. We call him (mini) the problem solver because he points out the problems in scrims. That is why we have such good cohesion."

While Boaster spoke more about the team's general approach to the game, mini broke down the specifics. He highlighted the woes of being fickle with your team composition too frequently:

"Teams that change too much lack depth and comfort. I believe that in this stage of the game, it is very important that people are comfortable. That way you can have better reactions [during a game]."

He further added:

"There are seven maps. We need to know so many reactions, so many different things can happen. You need to know yourself better than the enemy does. It is best if you understand every single thing that the enemy could do. That is so much better than switching all the time."

He named some of the most successful Valorant teams to emphasize how important consistency is in achieving greatness in a new game like Valorant. He ended by saying:

"You can see that statistically with teams that have been dominant on maps, such as us on Icebox, Gambit on Breeze, Ascend on Bind and so on. They ran the same stuff and they understood the map very well and they were comfortable."

Champions 2023 group stage (Image via Riot Games)

Fnatic have cruised through the group stage of Valorant Champions 2023 without dropping a map. They look to be in great form and are one of the top contenders for this year's trophy.