In a new blog post entitled "Oh Fnatic.HoN, where art thou?," Jascha "NoVa_" Markuse, support player for Fnatic.HoN, offers some explanations for his team's recent struggles, and states that they are back on track.

[MSI] NoVa_'s post begins with the following:

“

Countless ESL tournaments, UNGL, FnaticPlay, Dreamhack Winter and SteelSeries Worldcup to name only some tournaments - a winning percentage above 95% (training games included): Fnatic's HoN squad once looked unbeatable, untouchable and performed trendsetting games. The dominating execution January in the last sequence of the long-winded event, the Worldcup, destroyed hopes of faithful [SK] and [EG] fans all around the world. Forward a bit, more precisely to March, 2011. Whereas most teams still fall to the HoN team, you can find a few second place finishes, even an early tournament exit here and there. "Random" teams take maps from Fnatic and the first fans scream "slump" and search a new team to cheer two or three weeks for. (Hey, at least we held you longer than any other team!)

So what has happened? Did the team suddenly drop skill? Did we lose motivation? Maybe the other teams became better, finally caught up and adjusted quicker to new patches and changes such as the Realignment Patch?”

(Read the rest at NoVa_'s blog on FNATIC.com.)

When you're considered one of the best teams in the world, anything other than first place is an unacceptable tournament result. Fnatic.HoN was probably unsatisfied with their 3rd place finish in the Honcast HoNor Tournament after losing to EG and SK. But when they failed to advance past the Group Stage of the SK Gaming HoN Tournament #1, people did start to wonder, "where art thou?"

All teams go through periods of ups and downs. NoVa_ talks about his team reaching a peak, then losing motivation after they won the World Cup. He also notes changes to the game and the competitive scene, admitting that, "the other teams did not only catch up, we also simply fell behind."

However, they have shown a bit of resurgence lately. Their results in the ESL Major Series, HoN Super Series, QQ Gaming Qualifiers, and GosuCup HoN #1 have been promising thus far. And while other teams are dealing with frequent roster changes, Fnatic.HoN have stuck with their core five members.

Fnatic's rise over the past 3 weeks.
In the end, NoVa_ doesn't try to make excuses for his team. He doesn't try to use Fnatic.HoN's domination at the Gamers Assembly LAN as evidence of their return to full strength, either. He simply says that they are on their way, and leaves us with the haunting image of a heavy metal album cover.

Links
fnatic.com - Source

[MSI] NoVa_ on Fnatic's ups and downs