KRIMZ reflects on a decade with fnatic: "It's been a rollercoaster"

fnatic's longest-standing member shared his thoughts on his career and the dramatic shifts his team has gone through during his tenure.

October 24, 2016, marked a homecoming for Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson, who had helped fnatic establish an era in 2015 after joining the team the year before. The two months from August 15 to October 24, 2016, which he spent in GODSENT, were only a hiccup in a career spanning eight consecutive years — ten in total — donning the black and orange.

"It's been a rollercoaster ride," says KRIMZ, who recently became the first player to play 2000 maps with a single team. "Some days, some nights, I think, 'What if I had joined that team?' I've had a lot of opportunities, but I never regret that I stayed here. It feels like a second home."

"Putting the reflection in words is quite hard. Many very good memories, and some not so good. But overall, I'm happy with these years with fnatic."

Prior to his lengthy tenure with fnatic, KRIMZ made his name in LGB alongside the likes of Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer, Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman, and Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson. LGB’s Swedish squad departed the organization in hopes of landing a better deal after securing a semi-final finish at EMS One Katowice 2014, but they struggled to find opportunities in the wake of their exit. Losing dennis further compounded the team’s strife, culminating in KRIMZ's decision to step down from the ex-LGB squad citing "lost motivation."

Just ten days later, fnatic announced the signing of KRIMZ alongside former LGB teammate olofmeister, taking the places of Jonatan "⁠Devilwalk⁠" Lundberg and Andreas "⁠znajder⁠" Lindberg. The additions bolstered a lineup that had been struggling to replicate their stunning success at the first CS:GO Major, DreamHack Winter 2013, just months prior.

The newly replenished squad immediately hit the ground running, finishing second at ESL One Cologne 2014 and winning five titles by the end of the year. The only damper to a strong year came at DreamHack Winter 2014, where fnatic exited in the quarter-finals after the infamous "Olofboost" incident.

Despite the sour ending to 2014, fnatic returned with a vengeance in 2015. The Swedes dominated throughout the year, scooping 10 LAN titles while becoming the first team to win back-to-back Majors after their wins at ESL One Katowice and ESL One Cologne. Through it all, KRIMZ served as a consistent backbone for the team, netting him the honors of being the ninth best player of 2014 and seventh-best in 2015 while pocketing 4 MVPs during that period.

"I think I will look back in a few years to be more nostalgic," KRIMZ says when asked about fnatic's golden days. "Now, I’m still in the game and focusing. In a few years I will be laying back on the couch, thinking about all the memories and stuff."

While KRIMZ's focus now is still trained on the present, he did take a moment to reflect on fond experiences with one teammate in particular, Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell.

"I can think back that I really miss JW. He's a dear friend of mine and is going to be for the rest of life. We were both on the same page almost 99% of the time when we were playing together," KRIMZ says about his former teammate. "I miss him."

After falling short at DreamHack Cluj-Napoca 2015 in an otherwise stellar 2015, fnatic made their first change in almost a year and a half, bringing KRIMZ's former LGB teammate dennis into the mix. The addition immediately paid dividends and kickstarted a six-event win streak that was capped off at IEM Katowice 2016.

While these victories firmly incorporated early 2016 as part of fnatic's era, the Swedish side's dominance did not last forever. Their winning streak was halted with a quarter-final finish at the MLG Columbus 2016 Major and semi-final placings in the next three events kept fnatic at bay from another trophy as Luminosity and Natus Vincere began to eclipse them in the rankings.

Dissatisfied with missing out on more trophies, KRIMZ, JW and Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist stunned the Counter-Strike world by calling it quits with fnatic, and going to play under Markus "⁠pronax⁠" Wallsten in GODSENT.

Unfortunately for the trio, a change of scenery only made matters worse. Under the GODSENT moniker, the team suffered disappointing finishes in a variety of online qualifiers and fell short in the few LAN events they attended during KRIMZ's tenure.

"I think the [GODSENT] move was a childish one, thinking that the grass was greener on the other side," KRIMZ says. "We had some 'internal issues' in the old fnatic lineup; it wasn't even an issue. We came second or in semis in a tournament, and we were just like, 'we need to change something.'"

"I think that's a luxury when you have won so many events, and you think it's a bigger problem than it is. For me, that time [with GODSENT] did not exist."

KRIMZ went back the way he came after just two months, where he continues to ply his services eight years later. JW and flusha each returned to the organization in early 2017 after their disappointing period with GODSENT, but the Swedes would never again find the level of success that they had in years past.

After a 2017 filled with deep runs but no trophies, fnatic scored an impressive victory at IEM Katowice 2018 early in the following year, winning out arguably one of the most competitive BO5s ever played against the world's No. 1 team at the time, FaZe.

This win was quickly followed up by a victory at WESG 2017 World Finals, where KRIMZ led the charge for fnatic to secure the event's MVP award. Despite the strong start to the year, they were quickly overshadowed by the onset of the Astralis era mere months later.

Despite being denied more titles in 2018, KRIMZ still impressed individually, finishing the year as the world's ninth-best player thanks to his consistent output.

KRIMZ and company floundered and hit a new low in 2019 when they missed out on the StarLadder Major in Berlin. For the first time, KRIMZ and fnatic missed out on one of Valve's prestigious Majors. This disastrous result prompted a revamp of the lineup, leading to the return of flusha and Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim, both of whom had been spending time overseas with Cloud9.

A win on home soil at DreamHack Masters Malmö immediately after the roster changes inspired confidence in the future of fnatic, a result that was followed by several other deep runs in late 2019 and early 2020. But just when it seemed that things were finally looking up for fnatic, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic soon ground their progress to a halt.

"We thought [COVID] was going to be a short thing, and before COVID, we went to seven or eight playoffs straight. We were like, 'We're going to be back soon,' and we were playing very good Counter-Strike at that point," KRIMZ says regarding the pandemic's effect on the team.

"I think we all just lost confidence, and as you can see with other teams they were just grinding their ass off, like Gambit Youngsters and the Heroic guys. I think we were just not ready and prepared for it mentally."

Although fnatic kicked off the online era with a win in ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe, deep runs became few and far between as time went on. The final departures of JW and flusha came in 2021, leaving KRIMZ as the sole representative remaining from the unstoppable 2015 team.

With the culling of much of the fnatic old guard, KRIMZ now faced a watershed moment in his career, as fnatic decided to go international with the additions of Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin and William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman.

"I did not like the international move, to be honest," KRIMZ says. "I always believed in the Swedish lineup, but reflecting back, I think it was the move to make. It was so hard to make a Swedish lineup that could actually fight for even just being in the top; I don't think that would be possible."

"Back then, we didn't have any prospects, [or] very few of them. The scene in Sweden was very bad, everyone wanted to be a star player, or AWPer, no one wanted to do the dirty work. Maybe it's our own fault from the fnatic old days, when you would just run around in 2014 or 2015."

Yet, despite his initial reluctance — a sentiment shared by Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin at the time —, KRIMZ adds that he thinks it was the right move. "I met some really good friends and had some really good opportunities with it," he says.

Despite his eventual acceptance of the changes, there were still challenges that KRIMZ had to overcome in the transition to an international lineup. "It was a big step compared to just changing one or two Swedish guys, especially when you change the coach. He has a lot to say in the game, and you have to adapt and try and fit the pieces together."

"I've never been the best at English; I didn't struggle that much, but what first comes to mind is that it was quite hard to shout out the English word instead of the Swedish word. We probably lost many rounds because of that."

"You have to accept everything and adapt, as well. Same to those guys who came to fnatic, we had to embrace them with opens arms and they had to be open-minded to what we have as well. I think it worked out in the end."

In addition to overcoming the struggles involved with integrating into an international side, KRIMZ also opened up about the changes in roles he underwent during the same period.

"I think [taking supportive roles] just naturally comes at a certain point in anyone's career. Taking NiKo for example, I don't think he's going to perform that way forever. I think I've never been at that level of an individual player, but I think I had some good plays throughout the years."

"I think it just comes naturally when you have to step down from the more active positions, but I think I still have some fire, just maybe not in those star positions. You're gonna accept that even if you're gonna win a game you might be below 1 rating; that doesn't bother me at all today. I'm just happy that I can bring something to my team, and I know everybody respects it."

Since making the change to an international lineup, fnatic have been a far cry from replicating the highs of the Swedish version of the team. KRIMZ's side has qualified for just two of five Majors since the switch, while simultaneously shuffling a wide range of players in an attempt to get a roster that sticks.

Despite the setbacks, KRIMZ remains hopeful regarding the future with fnatic. "I think we have the tools to work to climb up in the ranking and get some better results. We have not shown it yet, but I don't think it has anything to do with any lineup, I think it's more about lacking confidence."

"I think it's just a result of many bad games, and not being on the same page, not about switching one or two people. I think we had some really good talks and put some structure in everything, so we have something to work on."

Regarding his own future, KRIMZ was blunt about the waning possibility of claiming another Major trophy anytime soon, but maintained some hope. "I'm a really realistic guy. I want to say a Major win is unlikely, but the fighting spirit inside me that wants to compete. We're not going to win it this year, or maybe even not next year, but I'm a believer."