Fnatic’s Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett returns to talk with Esports News UK. After just over a year since our last interview, we caught up with the Fnatic in-game leader to summarise the past year and his aims for the 2025 season.
Playfully insisting on being called the ‘handsome IGL for Fnatic’, Boaster comments on the 2024 season, the new team dynamic, casting stunning spells against rivals FUT Esports, response to technical issues plaguing the tournament, his secret to being the best clutch player in EMEA, reducing the pressure and expectations, teasing new walkout routines, and explaining his ‘Wall of Good Looking [Stuff]’.
Pretty good! Obviously, last year wasn’t ideal for us, but this year I’m really starting to enjoy playing Valorant and competing again. I’m not putting too much pressure on winning or losing, and it seems to be for the better as well because it makes the wins feel nicer, but also the losses feel nicer.
Following up on that, 2024 was a mixed bag for Fnatic.
The team won Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) EMEA Stage 1 and Stage 2, but did not qualify for VCT Masters Madrid and had poor results at VCT Masters Shanghai and VCT Champions 2024.
You also had some new teammates and coaching staff join. How has that been?
Yeah, I think crashies (Austin Roberts) is a pleasure to have as a teammate. He’s positive, he works hard, and I think he’s got this contagious energy in the team that allows everyone else to follow the vibe. And he’s older, so a bit more mature than the other players, so it’s nice to have him around. He likes to do stuff, is a pleasure to work with, and plays pretty well too. He seems to be getting better and better with us, which is amazing.
Kaajak (Kajetan Haremski), he’s a quiet one, but he’s really friendly. He’s quite funny at times and he can also shoot really well.
So we’ve got a nice bunch of players right now, and I’m enjoying playing with them.
What newbies? Chronicle (Timofey Khromov), Alfajer (Emir Beder), you know, same old.
You just won against rivals FUT Esports, where you cast stunning spells on them during the warm-up on Map 1.
Fnatic faced FUT Esports in the Upper Bracket Round 1 of VCT EMEA Stage 1, where they swept them in a 2-0 victory. It was shown on the broadcast that Boaster cast Stupefy on the opposing team.
Do you think this will be an effective strategy going forward?
Hopefully, yeah. Stupefy!
I might have to whip that out for Team Liquid as well. Did they put that on the broadcast? That’s so funny.
FUT Esports is a team that always is a pain in my ass, but I’m really happy that we were able to win it here again, because they beat us last time at VCT Masters Bangkok when it mattered.
I remember saying to the boys that FUT Esports always win against us, but then they throw away the opportunity they’ve gained. So I don’t want to give them any opportunities, I want to take that opportunity and show that we can be the best in EMEA and qualify for VCT Toronto.
Would you say the match is an accurate representation of Fnatic’s performance right now?
Yeah, I think there was something contagious in the air today that allowed Alfajer and Chronicle to perform. So I’m really happy that they managed to find their mojo. It’s been a bit inconsistent from them, not like crazy inconsistent, but they’ve been in their own heads a little bit. Whether they can be their prime self again and bring it back. So I’m happy to see that they did really well today and showed some good form. Even saved us a few rounds as well.
During your match today, there was a technical issue to add to the pile of issues in recent weeks.
This occurred on round four of the first map, which adds to the ongoing saga of technical issues during VCT EMEA. As a result of the initial issues, Fnatic played Team Heretics to an empty studio last week.
How has this affected you and the team?
It was a shame because on that day, we were really ready to play with the crowd and everything. We were in good form leading up to it and then the little break kind of screwed us up a bit.
We lost our pre-match routines and didn’t manage to prepare in the same way, and there was also no one in the audience, so it was a weird game that one.
But I’m happy with the way Riot EMEA turned it around. They’ve given us better PCs, better monitors. In general, I think it’s going to do pretty well in the long run.
So I’m kind of happy with that, and the boys seem happy. They’re playing on some top-end tech now, and also the fans got repaid.
Overall, I think people will forget about it, and they managed to make it up to the fans. So that’s all I can ask for.
Before the match, the broadcast mentioned that you were the best in Europe in clutch situations with a 28% success rate (before the match). Those moments can be quite stressful, so what’s your secret?
I think it’s just time. If you think about how much time you have on the bomb or time you have to defuse, it’s either your best friend or your worst enemy. But you can use that time to manipulate how the enemy moves as well.
I almost fluffed the one on Lotus C site. I thought he didn’t have enough time, but it ended up being 0.12 seconds, which is kind of crazy. Luckily, I won that, but it would’ve been a blunder from me that I wouldn’t have been happy with.
But overall, it’s time and just playing, finding your ones, finding the 1v1s in the hectic 1v2s or 1v3s, etc.
In those clutch situations, do you find yourself disappointed when you don’t win them?
You have to move on. When it comes to the game, you can’t be living in the past. You can’t be like, “Ah! I should have won that.” Honestly, you have to be very stoic and move on. New round, next round.
Obviously, after the game, you’ll be like, “If only I just won that clutch.” The amount of times someone said that or I felt that in the past. Since it can be the difference maker between an 8-4 half or a 4-8 half. Especially when economy and ultimates are on the line as well.
So I’m happy I won one clutch today. Although the 1v3 I almost got on defence pistol was kind of crazy. I managed to manipulate them with the smoke and find my ones again.
Last time when we spoke, you said you’d go for all three titles. Want to tempt fate and make that claim again?
No, I’m not saying anything like that again. That was the worst thing I’ve ever said in my career, so I’m never saying anything like that again.
Right now, I just want to qualify for places again. I want to go back to that Boaster.
I don’t expect to win anything anymore because expectations are always open to be ruined. I just want to have fun, enjoy the game, enjoy the process, and then if we win, we win. That’s how I’m living nowadays.
Moving on to the inspiration for your intro walkouts, what choreography has caught your eye recently?
BINI, ‘Zero Pressure’, I was thinking about that one.
I’ve got a special one for Champs Paris or Masters Toronto if we qualify. That’ll be a solo walkout, I won’t reveal that one yet. Some people are telling me to do ‘Gnarly’ from Katseye. But I also want to do just a Twice one, the classico, and an Ateez one. I think those are my go-tos right now.
Will you ever do any non-Kpop-inspired choreography?
We recently watched Sinners. It’s quite a good movie actually, I recommend it.
And I was jokingly saying, “What if I just did some Irish river dancing out on the stage?” However, I also said no one would understand what the hell was going on, so it would need context.
Other than that, not really. There’s not much to do, say if I start doing some pirouettes on stage, people would think, “what the hell is he doing?!”
Maybe I’ll learn splits and do the splits on stage. That one might require a bit of practice beforehand. It’ll need a year of stretching.
Recently, you created a lovely piece of art titled ‘Boaster’s Wall of Good Looking [Stuff]’.
The original title contains some more ‘expressive’ language.
Can you talk us through it?
So we made a little poster about the Fnatic skin, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I was like, “Well, it’s a good looking skin, what else is good looking?” And then I just kind of list things off.
I was like, “Let me think. johnqt (Mohamed Amine Ouarid) has got great hair. We’ve got pANcada (Bryan Luna), we’ve got crashies, we’ve got Jungkook, we’ve got me owning Vitality.” Having a good game there, it’s a rare one, it’s a rare one to see. So yeah, it just came out like that.
Originally, I just had the Shrek thing, and then I was like, “Nah, I can do something better.” So that was kind of what happened.
Does this mean you think Shrek is good looking?
He was actually outside the box, so that doesn’t count.
Lastly, any final words to your fans or your haters?
Shout out to my haters, shout out to my fans, you know, the support you have, whether it’s the hate train or the love train, I appreciate it. The passion you bring to Valorant is the reason why I can play and perform in front of you. So I appreciate it, much love.
Thank you to Boaster, who with Fnatic, will soon face off against Team Liquid in VCT EMEA Stage 1 to qualify for VCT Masters Toronto and the Esports World Cup 2025.
Hope to speak again, maybe even at the same time next year.
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