"Being just 19 years old, Santeri has impressed quite a lot of people, starting with SC2 beta. He is now back to being a full-time professional gamer, working very hard to become one of the best players out there. We believe in his talent and love his style, as we are now happy to add another European player to our roster, alongside NightEnD and Harstem (Academy). Naama will also join the rest of the SC2 team in the Fnatic Gaming House, located in Korea, later this year.
Here is what Elroy Pinto had to say about Naama's addition to our team:
The ChooChoo Train is here! After looking around in Europe we have managed to find the Terran player that we hope can create the magic that we saw a few years back from him at DreamHack. I am very excited to see Naama in our lineup as I believe he has been fairly unlucky post his early success in StarCraft 2. I do think he still has it in him and with our support I believe he can reach the top of Europe once again! Welcome Santeri and good luck at Fnatic. Meanwhile the newcomer himself, Naama, was rather happy with the news as well:
I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to represent a top tier team once more, and I know this will give me a lot of motivation as I can fully focus on my own gameplay. Thanks to everyone for supporting me, I won't let anyone down. So there it is. Naama, a Terran player from Finland, joining our Professional SC2 team. His debut will commence tonight, when he'll play in the 2nd Stage of StarCraft II Intel Extreme Masters GamesCom EU Qualifier. An interview with Santeri will be published here at Fnatic.com on Thursday. "
Was expecting a better pick-up than this as Fnatic has been getting giants in the Korean scene lately. This is almost a step-down but congratulations to Naama. This is why announcements of announcements are a BAD idea.
Screw the haters! Naama played incredibly at the homestory cup, and if he keeps refining the follow-ups to those insane pushes of his, he'll be one of the top contenders in the scene! Gratz to everyone involved! : )
On July 18 2012 03:10 Torte de Lini wrote: God, that naama vs. mana match back in 2010 still stays in my mind
You and me, torte. You and me. I can't even hear naama or mana or else I pocture the same siege tank contain every map that mana is improvising how to hold off..it was a good series that made a mana fan out of me, not a naama. But grats to him, he plays well enough to deserve fnatic.
Ps: the zelnaga caverns games...those high templar storming the 3rd base..the crazy running marauder. Easily one of my most memorable series to watch.
naama just the nicest guy ^^ homestory he came out and got autopraph from fan on his shirt (jaeh not giving he takes it ^^) and he seems unbeatable in poker xD
And there comes the SCV Train! :D I like Naama and hope he can improve. He play the completly different than say like ThorZain - which is kind of nice.
Well I guess that's a good news ! I personnally don't like Fnatic, but I think it's one of the best Foreigner team (if I can say this 'cause 90% of the players are Koreans ^^). Anyway I think the skill of Naama will improve when he'll go to Korea !
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
naama has the potential for being at least top3 terran in EU, he just lacks the mindset and motivation most of the time. His mechanics are really top notch so everything comes down to practice. Fnatic seeing through real talent, for example with nightend who has given solid results and now naama. Good job and good pickup!
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
Why would/did fraer leave rox?
Because RoX.KIS can't give him the same possibilites Fnatic can. He'd probably have twice as big salary at Fnatic and would be able to practice in Korea + Go to a lot more tournaments.
Take doesnt like the news. Appearently he paid the flight/hotel for Naama for HSC and AL promised they would pay that back, but they dont respond to his e-mails and now with Naama leaving the team ... AL just seem like a really really shady organization.
yeah exactly like i said before in the previous threads! I knew Naama had something going on for himself! And fnatic seems to be interested in new players! gl fnatic and Naama!
Naama is the very "wildcard" of Fnatic now. They can throw him up on team situations, to pull of something out of the ordinary in way of trying to turn the tables.
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
Oh okay. I was thinking the same thing. There's plenty of strong foreigners that are teamless right now. I guess they see potential in him!
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
Oh okay. I was thinking the same thing. There's plenty of strong foreigners that are teamless right now. I guess they see potential in him!
I think fnatic needs less foreigners and more Koreans. They're almost pure korean, but let's face it. Foreigners aren't Koreans. Just going over there and training doesn't garuntee greatness. Look at Jinro, Nightend, Last Shadow. NaNiWa, Sase, and HuK are the people who have done the korean thing right in Sc2. Regardless, anyone from OGs would of been a better pick then Naama or any foreigner I think.
Weird pick up in my opinion. Is Naama a threat to win any big event? He's a solid player with cool/unique tactics but a champion he is not. I guess I am spoiled by "always-a-threat" Korean announcements.
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
Oh okay. I was thinking the same thing. There's plenty of strong foreigners that are teamless right now. I guess they see potential in him!
I think fnatic needs less foreigners and more Koreans. They're almost pure korean, but let's face it. Foreigners aren't Koreans. Just going over there and training doesn't garuntee greatness. Look at Jinro, Nightend, Last Shadow. NaNiWa, Sase, and HuK are the people who have done the korean thing right in Sc2. Regardless, anyone from OGs would of been a better pick then Naama or any foreigner I think.
The problem with the foreign based teams with full korean line-ups is that in the long run it will generate less interest in the foreigner scene, not that Naama alone will add much more interest towards fnatic. Also Fnatic already has an impressive Korean roster, adding another top notch player would be much more expensive than adding Naama for example (not a fact, just a guess)
On July 18 2012 04:12 IPA wrote: Weird pick up in my opinion. Is Naama a threat to win any big event? He's a solid player with cool/unique tactics but a champion he is not. I guess I am spoiled by "always-a-threat" Korean announcements.
GL to all. Go Moon.
Well atleast he is DH Winter 2010 champion :D and go go naama
On July 18 2012 03:33 SHOOG wrote: Don't know much about him. Seeing as he's getting a majority of negative reviews I'm going to assume that it's not great of a pickup for Fnatic.
He's just another mid-tier european, IMO Fnatic could've gotten better players. I would've rather seen MorroW/Major/Fraer getting picked up.
Oh okay. I was thinking the same thing. There's plenty of strong foreigners that are teamless right now. I guess they see potential in him!
I think fnatic needs less foreigners and more Koreans. They're almost pure korean, but let's face it. Foreigners aren't Koreans. Just going over there and training doesn't garuntee greatness. Look at Jinro, Nightend, Last Shadow. NaNiWa, Sase, and HuK are the people who have done the korean thing right in Sc2. Regardless, anyone from OGs would of been a better pick then Naama or any foreigner I think.
The problem with the foreign based teams with full korean line-ups is that in the long run it will generate less interest in the foreigner scene, not that Naama alone will add much more interest towards fnatic. Also Fnatic already has an impressive Korean roster, adding another top notch player would be much more expensive than adding Naama for example (not a fact, just a guess)
I guess that is true. The fact of it is, that foreigners hardly watch GSL and things like that anyways unless someone from their specific region is playing. I prefer Koreans over Foreigners though. I love the excellent work ethic, and all the heart and soul that is put in. Rather than someone like stephano who has some kind of weird natural talent and doesn't put in hard work and dedicate.
(My source for this being, any interview with Stephano. He will tell you he doesn't practice lol. I hate that foreigner attitude of relying on skills and not hard work)
While I think Naama is a pretty neat player who provides a unique play-style, and likely some flavor to fnatic, this pickup kind of bums me out because it seems like there are a lot of free agents who really deserve a team right now. I like Naama, but taking him over Supernova, Genius, or Violet (to name a few) seems like an odd choice.
Obviously Naama might be cheaper, or the others aren't interested, or they've signed with other teams already, but there are so many talented free agents out there right now that fnatic could pick up. Guys who are at, or have been at a Code S level. Naama is good, but not Code S good and probably not even Code A good. When guys at that level are available (and some of them have been for some time), why not try to grab that talent to supplement aLive and Oz? Unless it's simply to get a foreigner player that will give the team exposure.
On July 18 2012 04:14 kochanfe wrote: I REALLY hope this isn't just because he defeated Mvp at HomeStory... but, I don't think Hwanni is that stupid.
He's one of those players who has weird credentials. On the one hand he's a first place winner of a major international tournament, but on the other hand, he's since struggled to match that, or even come close in any meaningful way. I think it's pretty obvious there's a really good player buried in there somewhere, but he's the type that seems like it takes a lot of effort to bring out the best in him, if left to his own devices he crumbles.
Fnatic is a weird team though, there's some really spectacular players there, but they aren't the superstars of the type EG recruits, and it's one of the only foreign teams that will recruit no-name korean players (at least to the western perspective). I think it's a good fit. Fnatic is a place where a player like Naama won't have trouble finding the best practice partners in the world to work with.
Nice, the european bit by bit finally gets to step foot in the land where it all began. It's a shame bit by bit retired robbing us of this epic battle to see which scv would come out on top.
I really thought it was LastShadow since he had come back to StarCraft and was settling down again. It just seemed right since he was so close to ToD (ex-Fnatic) and the fact that he already has the Fnatic shirts he was showing on stream recently haha... oh well, good luck to Naama I guess!
On July 18 2012 03:10 Torte de Lini wrote: God, that naama vs. mana match back in 2010 still stays in my mind
Definitely was epic ^^
Didn't really realize he was still relevant, but hopefully he makes a comeback!
Naama's move from mouz to Virus was so big step back in his career that he himself openly regretted it.. We can now hopefully see now motivated Naama bouncing back!
Naama is one of the best foreing terrans but he also may have the best foreing TvT. When I interviewed him , he said that his tvt in in fire! And from resuilts we can see its true!
Haters gonna hate. But we will see him doing well and even growing up more his fan base which is already huge! Most unique terran player ever! 1base bc rush :DD love it!!!
Congrats for Naama. His play at HSC5 was awesome and I enjoyed watching his series versus Socke especially. Crazy tactics and shit. Hopefully he finds motivation here.
On July 18 2012 06:00 Holgerius wrote: Please fill me in (I've honestly been out of the loop when it comes to the SC2 scene); what has Naama accomplished since Dreamhack?
Nothing much, because of lacking motivation. And that is because he has got fucked up by his past teams (Virus and so on). Hopefully we'll see a lot of him. Next offline will be WCS Nordic Finals in Stockholm and Assembly Summer 2012 a week after.
On July 18 2012 03:18 Zackeva wrote: Screw the haters! Naama played incredibly at the homestory cup, and if he keeps refining the follow-ups to those insane pushes of his, he'll be one of the top contenders in the scene! Gratz to everyone involved! : )
He got knocked out of the ro16 and was thoroughly trolled by MVP
On July 18 2012 03:18 Zackeva wrote: Screw the haters! Naama played incredibly at the homestory cup, and if he keeps refining the follow-ups to those insane pushes of his, he'll be one of the top contenders in the scene! Gratz to everyone involved! : )
He got knocked out of the ro16 and was thoroughly trolled by MVP
I know the word trolling is used very inflationary these days, but how exactly did MVP troll him ?
On July 18 2012 06:00 Holgerius wrote: Please fill me in (I've honestly been out of the loop when it comes to the SC2 scene); what has Naama accomplished since Dreamhack?
It's always result results results... really all people care about. Naama is a really great pick up with so much potential. Really looking forward to his stay in korea, gz to Fnatic and Naama!
His play will evolve. At least he will always be known to opponents as someone who could mess with them, with great practice partners his decision making will make him a true beast! GL Fnatic
Maybe AL not in as bad of a situation as we thought?
Both FXO and fnatic can be considered classes above AL as an organization and team. I'm sure many in BabyKnight and Naama's position would've done the same thing.
Naama has one big problem.. he is really unstable player.., he can win vs anyone , and next day can lose to some really bad or medium player. This maby works in small teams.. but not in Fnatic..what is one of the best teams right now in SC 2
Naama has one big problem.. he is really unstable player.., he can win vs anyone , and next day can lose to some really bad or medium player. This maby works in small teams.. but not in Fnatic..what is one of the best teams right now in SC 2
I agree 110%, that's why I would've prefered to see someone else.
Naama has one big problem.. he is really unstable player.., he can win vs anyone , and next day can lose to some really bad or medium player. This maby works in small teams.. but not in Fnatic..what is one of the best teams right now in SC 2
It's really not though. aLive and Oz have not shown any major improvements since they joined and the only player who has really improved since joining Fnatic seems to be ByuL, who is still only a star in Team Leagues. Their line-up is way too small to be considered one of the best teams right now; aLive and Oz are both good, and Fnatic's Zerg line-up is alright, but they can't carry the team against other big name teams.
Naama has one big problem.. he is really unstable player.., he can win vs anyone , and next day can lose to some really bad or medium player. This maby works in small teams.. but not in Fnatic..what is one of the best teams right now in SC 2
It's really not though. aLive and Oz have not shown any major improvements since they joined and the only player who has really improved since joining Fnatic seems to be ByuL, who is still only a star in Team Leagues. Their line-up is way too small to be considered one of the best teams right now; aLive and Oz are both good, and Fnatic's Zerg line-up is alright, but they can't carry the team against other big name teams.
5:2 win vs IM-SK 5:3 lose vs TSL ( but symbol was that day in beast mode.., and then cannot stop him ) 5:4 win vs prime 5:4 lose vse Slayers-EG games was very close 5:2 lose vs MVP , yes here was clear win for MVP Its not bad for GSTL..., and fnatic almost go to semifinals. Fnatic was 1:2 ( 11-14 in maps) , Slayers was 2:1 ( 14:10 in maps) http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/2012_Global_StarCraft_II_Team_League_Season_2
shocking addition, very anti climatic .Fnatic was on its way to become one of the very best teams, MMA would have settled it, adding a player that could have dealt with TSL and MVP Zergs.
Doubt Naama will be a valueable GSTL force. Oh well stopped following SC2 anyways..
All kidding aside, best wishes to Naama and Fnatic. I know that he has stated leaving Mouz as one of his biggest mistakes. Hopefully Fnatic will be the home that Naama has been lookling for. He plays like the Terran version of MC, and I really look forward to seeing how he can progress in a proper team environment.
On July 18 2012 12:03 ffrozenfish wrote: how is Naama more fnatic material than SuperNova?
Are you mad because they didnt pick SuperNova? Let Fnatic make their own decisions. And im sure everyone would like teams develope their own players instead of buying the best.
On July 18 2012 11:08 Z-SC2 wrote: shocking addition, very anti climatic .Fnatic was on its way to become one of the very best teams, MMA would have settled it, adding a player that could have dealt with TSL and MVP Zergs.
Doubt Naama will be a valueable GSTL force. Oh well stopped following SC2 anyways..
Well I guess this seals the deal, Fnatic's #1 fan dissapproves
Anyway, really excited for Naama. It's hard being an EU terran player, but hopefully he can find the motivation to practice a lot and take his game to a new level.
On July 18 2012 15:49 Azhrak wrote: Congratulations to Naama and thank you Fnatic for giving him this opportunity. My interest in Fnatic increased a lot by this.
Seconded. It's really great to see Naama get back on a high-level team. Choo-Choo train fighting! I for one am a huge fan of his playstyle.
Naama has one big problem.. he is really unstable player.., he can win vs anyone , and next day can lose to some really bad or medium player. This maby works in small teams.. but not in Fnatic..what is one of the best teams right now in SC 2
Agreed. But ever since leaving mouz his team situation has been so unstable too, especially during all that Virus stuff. Maybe a good environment can help him develop... Gratz!
Just like Nightend, after some training in Korea with the top team players (aLive, Byul, Oz...) he will be sent back to Europe (they just sugested that+ToD left) for the team to have a presence in the region with the biggest fan base. (<- personal opinion)
I don't agree with this aquisition but being a Fnatic fan does not make me like all the players in the team. Hope for Naama to change my opinion and melt some faces. The FnaticRC house is one of the best (if not the best) place to be for improving in everything that is SC2 related and failing to do that tells a lot about that player. The following months will be a real challenge for Naama's progaming career.
Very, very nice by Fnatic to give Naama this chance <3 Hope he can do well, Naama is such a nice guy and when he has a good day he can beat almost everyone. Fnatic Naama fighting!
Also I think Naama is a good player for GSTL, because nobody can anticipate what Naama is going to do in the game. He is a surprise weapon, and I think that is very good. You can´t really prepare for Naama.
Love it! He's Finnish, good personality, very fast player, makes lots of mistakes and doesn't know shit about the meta game. So basically he has everything needed to become the best.
On July 18 2012 12:03 ffrozenfish wrote: how is Naama more fnatic material than SuperNova?
Are you mad because they didnt pick SuperNova? Let Fnatic make their own decisions. And im sure everyone would like teams develope their own players instead of buying the best.
Im not mad, Im just curious about the "Fnatic Material" stuff
Well ToD wasn't producing any results sadly and they've replaced him with another european player. Hopefully Naama can give better results and can gel well with the team as well.
Exciting pickup for fnatic. gz to the team and to Naama as well! hope to see fnatic pwn scrubs in the coming months =D
On July 18 2012 11:08 Z-SC2 wrote: shocking addition, very anti climatic .Fnatic was on its way to become one of the very best teams, MMA would have settled it, adding a player that could have dealt with TSL and MVP Zergs.
Doubt Naama will be a valueable GSTL force. Oh well stopped following SC2 anyways..
Well I guess this seals the deal, Fnatic'sLG-IM'sFlash's Fnatic's #1 fan dissapproves
Anyway, really excited for Naama. It's hard being an EU terran player, but hopefully he can find the motivation to practice a lot and take his game to a new level.
On July 18 2012 15:49 Azhrak wrote: Congratulations to Naama and thank you Fnatic for giving him this opportunity. My interest in Fnatic increased a lot by this.
Seconded. It's really great to see Naama get back on a high-level team. Choo-Choo train fighting! I for one am a huge fan of his playstyle.
Awesome! I remember beating him early in the SC2 history when he was starting to get big, and I was going to tell everyone how I beat a pro, but he never did get any more attention/good wins after that. Hopefully this time he'll own everyone, and my epeen will be massive!
Fuck yeah, Naama is a mad dog great guy. I like to think even if he makes it big he'll still come outside and smoke like a badass and hang with his fans. <3 Best of luck Naama, really give it ur best, you don't get many chances like this!
This is awesome! I actually love naama, i fell in love with him when i first saw him pull 50 scv's into his mmm army and slay the absolute shit out of everyone. Best of luck to naama and fnatic in the future!!
On July 18 2012 03:03 NovemberstOrm wrote: we are now happy to add another European player to our roster, alongside NightEnD and Harstem (Academy). Naama will also join the rest of the SC2 team in the Fnatic Gaming House, located in Korea, later this year.
I'll wait to see if they use him in GSTL. I'm growing pretty apathetic to news that foreigners are going to Korea, since most don't actually do anything there.
On July 19 2012 07:00 s1ege wrote: utterly surprised that they chose to not pick up someone like Genius or an oGs guy or violet or someone that's Korean
Well it may sound silly, but people like watching foreign players that they know. Many fans in Europe like Nanma. I myself love it when idra or huk or Kas are doing well and going up against koreans. It is the best kind of finals. I think teams should have a mix of both foriegn and korean players. EG for exampe is really popular and while they have a team of potenial champions, they also have players that are usually in the news for good reasons.
EPT
LOL
that was quick! You only said u was leaving AL like monday? xD
). Anyway good luck to him.
