Brollan to NiP is a rare move that would be beneficial to everyone involved

It’s rare a move works for the seller, the buyer and the player so succinctly.

While fnatic might lose a ‘franchise’ player and one they plan to build with in the future, the rumoured price of 600k EUR (and a little birdie tells me it might be a little bit more) would more than sweeten the deal, and now fnatic aren’t Swedish they don’t need to look inwards for new talent.

So, everything is sorted then.

What’s the catch?

NiP get a new player to build their brand off – the best Swedish talent, just like the good old days. Brollan is still super young, proven at a tier one level and an upgrade on what they have. Brollan himself would be safe from the tyranny of playing on a mostly English team.

It would cost them a hell of a lot of money, but the organisation that spent $1m on device clearly isn’t against wasting money.

fnatic, as long as they trust their scouting, can find an AWPer and a rifler for 600-700k who will see them evolve their own line-up and improve. NiP get stronger and more favoured in their fans’ eyes, fnatic get to rebuild properly after cutting smooya, and Brollan gets a new lease of life on the best team in his own country.

There is a slight catch, though.

If you’re going to spend that much money – especially after spunking 1m up the wall on device – you have to have something to show for it. While Brollan is a legitimate upgrade over any NiP player, does a team with Brollan/REZ/device as its core win a Major? Win a Cologne, or Katowice?

I’m not so sure.

Brollan is good. Very good, in fact, with glimpses of genius. But that’s exactly what NiP already are. device was supposed to be the elevating factor, and maybe when he’s back, having Brollan and REZ on this team begins to make sense. Stability augmented with innovation.

But it still doesn’t look better than NiKo/huNter/m0NESY. s1mple/b1t/electronic still clears them. Hell, YEKINDAR/FL1T is a better duo than REZ/Brollan, and sh1ro and Ax1le are probably better than their counterparts on NiP. They will have the added bonus of one of the best fragging IGLs in world CS right now, but it mightn’t be enough.

Oh, what we’d do for the good old days.

Brollan is the best player in Sweden, but that doesn’t mean what it once did. While it’s a big thing for NiP’s brand and fanbase to have the best talent in Sweden, it might not amount to anything.

fnatic made the brave move to step away from the Swedish heritage, seeing the dearth of talent coming a mile off, and now if they sell Brollan can reap the rewards of going international.

They would have to seriously back themselves to scout great talent with that money, but talent is out there that can replace Brollan/smooya and then some. 

But fnatic’s immediate cutting of smooya shows us all that they’re not desperate to, and not going to, win now. This is a developmental roster, and while Brollan would be one of the players you would want to develop, it makes perfect business sense to sell Brollan now.

You’ll never get this price for him again, and you have to trust that you can find as good, or slightly worse players with potential, and plan for the future.

For NiP, this is probably the best time to take Brollan, improve your roster and *maybe* become a real threat. That has to be the goal with so much money spent.

For Brollan, he never has to hear another soft Brummie accent mid-game again. That’s got to be worth it.