Fnatic Raven to miss ESL One Malaysia due to COVID-19

Fnatic player Marc “Raven” Fausto is no longer attending the ESL One Malayasia Major due to COVID-19.

Fnatic’s carry player Raven tested positive for COVID-19 just one day before ESL One Malaysia begins, leaving the Dota 2 team to scramble for a stand-in with just hours until the event. The news was first shared on Facebook by Fnatic, which explained that Raven is now in isolation and “well on his way to recovery.”

“I have stayed in Thailand to attend to him,” added team director Pao Bago on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team have done multiple COVID tests that all came back negative. The rest of the team will be able to compete in the ESL One Malaysia Major. Fnatic noted that it would announce a replacement for Raven soon.

As promised, Bago updated the Dota community on Raven’s replacement soon after the initial announcement.

Jinn “Palos” Lamatao will be taking Raven’s spot on the roster for the Major. He arrived in the Philippines late on Aug. 21 and then “immediately” answered Fnatic’s request for a stand-in, taking another flight right after. Palos is now with the rest of the Fnatic squad.

While this was all quite last second before such a large event, Fnatic is oddly used to this kind of last-minute situation. Raven has missed other tournaments throughout the past season, including Gamers Galaxy Thailand due to COVID-19. Before that, Raven missed the PGL Arlington Major due to issues with Visas. At the time, Armel and Januel also failed to have their Visas approved in time.

ESL One Malaysia starts on Aug. 23 with the Group Stage. Fnatic will be clashing with BOOM Esports, another SEA squad. With TSM and Team Liquid also in Group B, Fnatic will need to really find some synergy with stand-in Palos to get a spot in the Playoffs.