Exactly three months to the day since he signed for Fnatic along with his nubris team mates, André "iddqd" Dahlström has stepped down from the starting roster in a move that has shocked fans.

Since joining the Fnatic organisation the roster has secured top three finishes at both ESL's Atlantic Showdown and ELEAGUE's Overwatch Open, scooping over $36,000 in prize money, and recently qualified the DreamHack Winter 2016 £50,000 main event.

Dahlström played a crucial role in the team's successes. Having originally made a name for himself as one of the world's best McCree and Tracer players in IMPULSE 11 and then Rogue, he would later expand his hero pool often playing the Mei to Bud's Reaper in the recent Ana meta.

iddqd at work

iddqd at work (Credit: Fnatic)

It is hard to question his performance and reading the first paragraph of the Fnatic announcement there is a preamble that suggests he may not have gelled fully with the roster, particularly under pressure:

"Three months ago we put together an Overwatch squad made up of players who were all looking to prove themselves in an up and coming scene. When you gather six players with different backgrounds, there’s always some getting used to required and while everyone might seem compatible at first there is no predicting how things evolve when you add the pressure of performing at the highest level.

Today, we are announcing that we will be holding tryouts for the DPS spot currently held by André “iddqd” Dahlström. Iddqd takes a step down from his starter position but will remain part of our organisation until further notice. We will also still see him representing Fnatic and Team Sweden at the Overwatch World Cup during Blizzcon."

The implication that iddqd has some character flaw that holds him back from achieving greatness despite his incredible skill set is an intriguing one, given further weight by similar circumstances in which he was released by Rogue even after they had won TaKeOver, the first major tournament in Europe.

When asked to comment on the news iddqd declined, offering that he had "nothing to say, really" on account that "I respect every single member on my ex-roster and they're all loveable people." Echoing a similar statement he gave at the time of parting ways with Rogue he said "I'm looking forward, that's my only vision." - and for a player of his calibre there certainly will be many opportunities on the road ahead.

For now iddqd remains contracted to Fnatic with the expectation that interested parties will have to buy him out if they wish to acquire his services. Fnatic themselves are already looking for his replacement, announcing DPS tryouts in the same breath as his departure. It is noteworthy that are specifically looking for a DPS player - it seems they are not intending to shuffle roles within the existing roster.

The post Overwatch Open era we find ourselves in has heralded a number of high profile roster changes. There are quite a few experienced DPS free agents floating around and always the possibility that Fnatic could move on a currently contracted player or even pluck an unknown talent from the leaderboards à la Kyb or Zaprey. Will they look for someone with a more projectile orientated hero pool? Will they favour a North American on the suggestions that Fnatic could be moving to a team house?

All questions will be answered in good time - the announcement suggests a two week period for applicants to hear back - and for now you can look forward to see iddqd competing with Team Sweden at Blizzcon's Overwatch World Cup. Fnatic have a month until DreamHack Winter and may still be announced next week as the "MSI Team" for the MGA finals in London in December.

The Fnatic roster is now:

  • Scott "custa" Kennedy (Support)
  • Oliver "Vonethil" Lager (Support)
  • Casey "buds" McIlwaine (DPS)
  • Warsi Faraaz "Stoop" Waris (Tank)
  • Matthew "coolmatt69" Iorio (Flex)
  • Robert "Roflgator" Malecki (Coach)