The 2024 VCT season has started and is set to run on the same schedule that caused many viewer and player complaints in 2023. Fnatic’s Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett revealed in an interview with Dexerto how his team plans to combat the cramped schedule.
The Valorant esports schedule has been a major point of contention at the start of the VCT 2024 season. Fans have called for changes due to the overall lack of matches for teams who perform poorly, like 100 Thieves. Players on the best teams in the world, on the other hand, have complained of burnout due to playing too many matches throughout the season.
Riot has responded to the criticism, saying that the plan is to make major changes to the schedule for 2025, as they have already locked in the current slate of international and league matches for 2024.
Fnatic, which placed top four at every major VCT event in 2023, dealt with burnout toward the end of their run at Valorant Champions. In an interview with Dexerto, the team’s IGL Boaster explained how they plan to overcome the cramped schedule and make a run at all three 2024 major trophies.
Fnatic Boaster talks team strategy to avoid burnout
The IGL said in a post-match interview that Fnatic is again gunning for more international trophy wins after walking away with two in 2023.
To combat the cramped schedule that saw them flame out of Valorant Champions in fourth place, Boaster said the team is planning to scale back practice and focus on team exercises in 2024.
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“There is going to be a shift in practice when it comes to the season. I think we might drop down to five days a week instead of six, and really allow for that rest and recovery and do team bonding activities. But then each time before the event, we might ramp it up again, and make sure that we’re on our form and make sure we understand what happened last year in terms of where our vision was, and what we wanted,” Boaster said.
STANDING NEXT TO YOUUUUU @OfficialBoaster pic.twitter.com/CwU5uLtzFW
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) February 23, 2024
The team captain also said he and his teammates now know what it feels like when they’ve become overcooked in terms of grinding the game in pursuit of a trophy. So, in theory, they should know when to scale back practice and focus on not flaming out early in the tournament.
“We just want to make sure that this time, each time we’re prepping, we’re prepping together, and we’re in the same boat. We’re a team, everyone’s got their job to play. Everyone’s got their role to do, and if anyone’s letting down someone, then we will call it out,” Boaster said.
He revealed that the team is currently practicing six days a week at the moment, as the season has only just started and thanks to their top seed Fnatic only needed to win one series to qualify for the VCT EMEA Kickoff playoff stage.
