Fnatic and Mandatory have announced a partnership that will see the two esports organisations collaborate in Valorant.
France-based Mandatory compete in the Valorant Challengers 2023 France: Revolution league, while London-headquartered organisation Fnatic of course play in the higher-tier VCT EMEA League.
The alliance will see the two Valorant teams train together regularly, ‘and work hand in hand to progress to the highest level’, with coaches discussing strategies with each other and player loans being made.
According to this translated post on the Mandatory website, over the course of the 2024 season, Mandatory ‘will be sending one or more of their players as reinforcements if necessary’.
“In other words, we may see HyP, AKUMAAAAA, TheBigFiz, SoOn or Goaster in the VCT this year.”
Yes, that means Mandatory’s French player Goaster is partnering with Fnatic’s UK star Boaster.
Boaster said (in French): “We can’t wait to be working together and hope we can see you in France soon. Good luck to Mandatory for this season and hopefully you will support us as well. See you soon.”
When he’s not speaking French or English, Boaster is also giving VCT Masters Tokyo winners speeches in Japanese.
In addition, Mandatory founder ZeratoR and IGL HyP will be organising watch parties on their Twitch channels to support Fnatic players Derke, Alfajer, Leo, Chronicle and Boaster in their matches throughout the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT).
“For some months now, Riot Games has been encouraging the creation of partnerships between national league and VCT league teams. And if there was one club we were ready to work with, it was Fnatic.”
Meteora, Mandatory
Fnatic and Mandatory said they are also partnering up to create content and raise the profile of esports and Valorant.
Fnatic added: “We are delighted to finally announce that we are joining forces with the French legends, Mandatory!
“What does that mean? We will work closely with them so that they can realise their ambition to access VCT, create a multitude of collaborative content and, above all, offer watch parties with ZeratoR and HyP!”
Mandatory player Goaster referred to Boaster as his ‘evil double’.
Meteora, Founder of Mandatory, added: “For some months now, Riot Games has been encouraging the creation of partnerships between national league and VCT league teams. And if there was one club we were ready to work with, it was Fnatic.
“When the opportunity arose, we went for it, and today we’re really delighted to be working hand in hand with Fnatic. We’re going to be behind them all year long. And we can’t wait to see Mandatory and Fnatic kick ass this season!”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
