Fnatic will play the PGL Arlington Major 2022 with three substitutes in a special exemption to standard rules. The substitutes will replace Marc “Raven” Fausto, Armel Tabios, Jaunuel Arcilla, who were unable to obtain a US visa. Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong and Djardel “DJ” Mampusti will head to Arlington, Texas, to compete without their usual teammates. The substitution was announced on PGL’s official Twitter on July 26th.
The news comes a day after it was revealed that Fnatic and Talon Esports had struggled getting all its members a visa ahead of the Major. Now, with all avenues exhausted, Fnatic will play with a trio of currently unannounced substitutes.
Normally, a team is only allowed one substitute during a Major or DPC series. PGL and Valve have granted special exemption to Fnatic. This has some precedent—At the Stockholm Major, Mind Games played with three substitutes before they were disqualified.
Additionally, as per DPC rules “Any team that competes in a Major tournament with a sub will incur a 40% penalty on DPC Points earned from that tournament.” It’s uncertain whether Fnatic will incur this penalty.
Fnatic, however, will probably not be the only team playing in Arlington with subs. On a recent Twitch steam, Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko, stated that Enzo “Timado” O’Connor would stand in for Entity if his US visa was denied. Pure, a Russian national, was the subject of controversy earlier this year when he appeared to draw a symbol supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a match. Pure has since apologized for his actions.
Talon’s’ Worawit “Q” Mekchai had also been denied a visa on July 25th. However, his current status, and whether Talon will need a substitute, remains to be seen.
The PGL Arlington Major 2022 kicks off on August 4th. Although, now it seems certain that it will once again be a depleted major. Once again, multiple teams will compete without their full rosters.
