The Fnatic VALORANT roster, who competed in the grand finals of every major VCT competition last year prior to their 4th place result at Champions 2023, only had 20 days at home without practice during the season last year.
The team’s travel/competition/rest day distribution was shared in a post by team director Colin Johnson today, breaking down the days they spent traveling, at tournaments, and at home. The numbers really showcase how packed the 2023 schedule was, most notably via the days spent at home on break: of the 113 days of the year spent home on break, 93 of those have been in the past three months via the offseason.
The team spent 16 days just traveling, a combined 73 days at the three international events, and 92 days in Berlin for the EMEA VCT regular season and playoffs. As superstar Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev noted in a reply, the 2023 season “made [him] hate airplanes.”
The stacked calendar in 2023 took its toll on Fnatic; several members spoke about the significant effects of burnout following the end of their run at Champions 2023. During the season itself, the players almost spent as much time traveling as they did at home resting. Fnatic weren’t the only teams that felt burnt out though; both the Evil Geniuses and LOUD players spoke about how exhausting the season was during press conferences at Champions.
Sadly for all the players, relief from a stacked schedule isn’t coming in 2024, as the VCT season is set to be compacted yet again, with kickoff tournaments starting in January and almost no time off between league play and Masters events before Champions in August, again.
The 2024 season will see players once again race to the finish line, with a lengthy four month offseason waiting for them. However, the year after will supposedly be different, with head of VALORANT esports Leo Faria stating that 2025 will be more spaced out.
There will be no shortage of VALORANT to watch once the season starts in January 2024, but for the players involved, especially the ones poised to make multiple deep runs, there will be a shortage of time to rest.
