Fnatic Part Ways With Raven

In one of the most unexpected roster moves of the Dota 2 offseason, Fnatic announced the departure of Marc “Raven” Fausto. The esports organization announced the news on Friday, November 11, ending the 22-year-old’s 2-year-long stint with the team.

Fnatic unveiled the surprising departure on Friday, announcing that Raven will no longer be part of the team. According to the esports organization, the departure was mutual as both parties wished to part ways ahead of the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.

“Today we say goodbye to our carry Raven. His contract with Fnatic ended after TI11, and we mutually agreed to part ways, allowing him to explore his options,” read the announcement.

“Thank you, and we wish you all the best, One True Carry”

Although there seems to be no poor relations between Raven and Fnatic, the 22-year-old’s departure is a huge blow to the team as Fnatic wave goodbye to one of its top players. Raven has been a part of Fnatic since July 2020 and has since established himself as one of the team’s key players, leading Fnatic to The International 10 and 11.

However, after Fnatic failed to deliver at TI11, some roster changes were expected, granted no one expected Raven to be the one to leave the team.

Raven kicked off his esports career in April 2014 with Click’ N Search, having since played for some of the top teams in the region. Some of the most notable stops in his career included Mineski, TNC Predator, and Geek Fam.

Interestingly, Raven was already a part of Fnatic for a short stint between September and November 2016 before he left to play for TNC Predator, Lotac, and Geek Fam, eventually returning to the team on July 8, 2020.

Since Raven re-joined Fnatic he remained with the organization as the starting carry and led the squad to numerous strong tournament placements.

In the first month with Fnatic, Raven helped the organization place third at ESL One Thailand 2020: Asia and ended the year with a fourth-place finish at BTS Pro Series Season 4: Southeast Asia.

In 2021, Fnatic continued posting solid results. They won Dota Pro Circuit 2021: S1 – Southeast Asia Upper Division and finished BTS Pro Series Season 7: Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, Fnatic failed to show up at TI10, where they finished ninth-12th.

The 2022 season was mostly the same. Fnatic kicked off the year with a runner-up finish at DPC SEA 2021/2022 Tour 1: Division I, added a gold medal from DPC SEA 2021/2022 Tour 2: Division I, and a third-place finish from DPC SEA 2021/2022 Tour 3: Division I.

However, Fnatic failed to achieve much in international events. They placed ninth at GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022, seventh-eighth at ESL One Stockholm 2022, and 13th-16th at The International 2022.

But regardless of the team’s iffy showing in international competitions, Raven has retained his tag as one of the top carry players in the region and was often the main reason why Fnatic achieved a lot domestically. Unfortunately, his second journey with the team came to an end, putting Fnatic in a rough spot as they look for a replacement.

It’s currently unclear who Fnatic will sign to fill in the void left behind by Raven. Moreover, it’s unknown whether Fnatic will look to make more roster changes ahead of the 2023 DPC season, but given the teams’ lack of success and many of the top Dota 2 players entering free agency, more changes are likely on the card.

The 2023 DPC season kicks off on January 9 for the upper division and January 30 for the lower division, meaning that Fnatic have just under two months to freshen up its Dota 2 roster.