In Europe, the Fnatic team is a fan favorite in League of Legends. Before the season, they brought back the club icon Rekkles and threw the strong German ADC Upset out of the lineup. After 3 games, this looks like a misjudgment.
This was the situation surrounding Rekkles:
- The Swede, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson (26), is an icon in League of Legends and played for the Fnatic team on the bot lane from 2015 to 2020. In 2020, he unexpectedly left the team and switched to G2 Esports. Back then, he left huge footsteps.
- However, the young German ADC, Elias “Upset” Lipp (23), managed to seamlessly replace Rekkles in 2021 and 2022: He achieved brilliant statistics with a cautious and controlled playstyle and was able to keep the team on track, even when Fnatic couldn’t celebrate major successes internationally. For Rekkles, on the other hand, things didn’t go so well in exile.
- Before 2023, Fnatic decided to release Upset and bring Rekkles back to the team. After 3 games, this looks like a decision that shouldn’t have been made.
Fnatic loses 2023 two of the first 3 matches
How is it going for Fnatic now? In the current season, Fnatic has already lost two of the first 3 games: they suffered defeats against their archrivals G2 Esports and against Team Vitality. Both opposing teams are currently still undefeated and appear to be early title favorites.
Fnatic was only able to prevail against Team KOI (formerly Rogue).
The season start thus began for Fnatic with a fire baptism against strong teams, and the team could not pass this trial.
Rekkles lags far behind in individual statistics
This is how it goes for Rekkles: According to statistics, Rekkles especially had significant problems in the matches.
Even the KDA looks rather mediocre with 9 kills, 6 deaths, and 10 assists, but in the “gold difference after 10 minutes,” he was behind by 786 in the 3 matches. No other player in the LEC performed worse: Together with the ADC from Excel Esports, Patrik, Rekkles is placed last here (via oracleselixir).
Being so far behind the opponent in gold is fatal, especially for an ADC, because he is expected to collect a lot of gold and take over the match towards the end of a game.
The problem for Rekkles is the low “kill participation” of only 57.6% – he loses a lot of gold here.
As reported by Dotesports, Rekkles performed poorly especially in his first two matches with Fnatic. His early game is described as “awful,” having dealt the least damage among all marksmen in the LEC.
What is Upset doing? The German Upset, who has been pushed out by Rekkles, is currently without a team. He is increasingly streaming on Twitch, where he has an average of 2,800 viewers.
For him, the favorite for the championship in the LEC is already clear: He doesn’t want to exaggerate, but G2 Esports will win every match and certainly become champions, he writes with a wink.
For G2 Esports, 2023 is indeed going extraordinarily well. They have already won 3 games, and the new ADC Hans Sama seems to feel right at home with his desired partner.
The switch from a young ADC to an experienced veteran has worked:
