After a disastrous start to its 2023 League of Legends EMEA Championship campaign, crashing out of the Winter Split Regular Season in ninth place, Fnatic appears to be throwing caution to the wind with regards to roster changes. According to multiple reports, we’re going to see a very different team when the Spring Split rolls round.
As per Blix’s Alejandro ‘anonimotum’ Gomis and Marián ‘Eros’ Stoica, support Rúben ‘Rhuckz’ Barbosa and head coach Gonçalo ‘Crusher’ Pinto Brandão will not be reprising their roles for the LEC’s next phase. While details regarding Crusher’s potential replacement are thin right now, the report on Rhuckz stipulates that Fnatic is currently “exploring several options”, including academy player and former Excel Esports support Henk ‘Advienne’ Reijenga.
Both Crusher and Rhuckz made the step up from Fnatic’s academy outfit – Fnatic TQ – at the end of last year. However, things clearly haven’t worked out for the LVP SL graduates so far, with leadership evidently feeling that a shakeup is required in order to stay competitive going forward.
And it isn’t just the fresh blood that’s being scrubbed out, either. Top lane star Martin ‘Wunder’ Nordahl Hansen is also set to get the chop – at least according to a report from Brieuc ‘LEC Wooloo’ Seeger. While a replacement for the Dane, who joined Fnatic in December 2021, has yet to be decided, LEC Wooloo notes that Fnatic TQ toplaner Óscar ‘Oscarinin’ Muñoz Jiménez is the most likely candidate.
With the Spring Split just weeks away, this new-look Fnatic side – should it materialise – won’t have long to develop its synergies before being thrown to the fires of the Rift. The move can be considered risky, though if there’s no chance of improvement for the existing squad, then perhaps it’s a necessary one.
