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“Our new bot laner needs no introduction. After 2 years apart, we��re proud to welcome Martin ��Rekkles�� Larsson back to where it all started. Martin previously served with us as early as 2012, and has played amongst many of the highest performing and successful rosters we��ve ever fielded in the Rift,” Fnatic wrote.
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Rekkles, who started his career in 2012, has represented numerous top League of Legend teams including Alliance, G2 Esports, Copenhagen Wolves, and Karmine Corp.
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Fnatic also stated: “An absolute powerhouse on the bot-lane, he enters the team with a renewed drive and hunger for the game; his personal goals align with what we are looking to achieve in 2023 and we��re confident on what comes next. We know long standing fans of the Black & Orange will be extremely thrilled by this announcement, and we hope that the legacy behind the name will become obvious to all who have joined in more recent months.”
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Rekkles will join Danish top laner Martin “Wunder” Hansen, Spanish jungler Iv��n “Razork” Mart��n, Czech mid laner Marek “Humanoid” Br��zda, and Portuguese support R��ben “rhuckz” Barbosa, who was moved from the academy roster on December 15.
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The team will be led by the 30-year-old Portuguese coach Gon?alo “Crusher” Brand?o, who was previously in charge of the academy roster until he was promoted to serve on the pro roster alongside the Finnish strategic coach Aleksi “Hiiva” Kaikkonen, formerly from Misfits Gaming.
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“We’ve also promoted Gon?alo “Crusher” Pinto Brand?o to the Head Coach position as we approach the 2023 season. Working with the Fnatic TQ squad since January 2022, Crusher has helped the team lift their first trophy in Spring,” the team said.
“Joining Crusher, and our existing Strategic Coach Shaves is Hiiva, who will serve as the team’s assistant coach for the year. A former professional support turned coach, Hiiva brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the squad and will work closely with the team to up our game in every possible aspect.”
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The new roster will be making its debut in a pre-LEC showmatch which is scheduled for Friday, December 16, at 12:30pm CT. The team will be facing off against the Spanish team KOI, with the latter pegged as $1.53 favorites with GG Bet. Fnatic are paying $2.40 for the win.
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“Along with our Fnatic TQ squad, the 2023 roster will take to the stage tomorrow evening to face off with KOI in a pre-LEC showmatch at Gamergy, Madrid. We��ll begin the evening with a presentation from Javi ��Dardo�� Zafra, where more questions on the roster and our 2023 season will be answered. We hope you can join us for what will be an extremely memorable evening, and the start of a blooming rivalry with KOI,” the team said.
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Fnatic also took the time to announce the goals of the team for the 2023 season.
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The statement said: “2023 looks to be an extremely exciting year for Fnatic League of Legends, with dozens of narratives, stories and rivalries soon to unfold on and off the stage. With a revised LEC schedule, you��ll see more of us than ever. Through our consistent coverage and content of the team, we hope you��ll join us for the ride, as we aim for the LEC trophy lifts, and more, once again.”
[Sources] Teams have received a message tonight saying that Rekkles
is also open to exploring options in the support position pic.twitter.com/QzGFEGtRJN
— LEC Wooloo
(@LEC_Wooloo) November 5, 2022
The practice of professional League of Legends players switching their main roles over the offseason is probably not new to fans of competitive play in the game. There have been a few noteworthy examples of successful transitions in the pages of esports history, and Rekkles might just be another one of those players making history again.
There has been a list of AD carry that have switched to supporting roles. A select few marksmen have been successful in relatively new roles, such as Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in, who is now a star support for Team Liquid, and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen, who is currently playing the support position for Cloud9. Rekkles’ game experience and technical prowess should be sufficient to enable him to adapt into the support role, but the situation will greatly depend on the squad that he lands on.
According to the reports, several organizations have received information about the 26-year-old player’s ambitions for the upcoming summer; hence, the public is hopeful that soon enough the player will join a new family with his intended role switch.
This revelation comes in the wake of his rumored exit from the well-known French organization Karmine Corp, which he joined in November 2021. Karmine Corp made history by successfully signing Rekkles to a two-year deal for a buyout price of more than one million dollars from G2 Esports.
Since the inception of his career in 2012, the young talent has graced many esports organizations such as Fnatic, Copenhagen Wolves, Alliance, G2 Esports, and a list of others. Rekkles also has a couple of awards up his sleeve, as he has won four LEC championships, four MVP honors, and multiple All-Pro medals during his career, making him one of the most legendary players in the history of the league. Additionally, he was the first player in the LEC to surpass 2,000 kills in his career. The majority of his professional career was spent as a member of Fnatic; however, in 2021, he made the shocking choice to switch teams and join G2 when his contract expired in 2020.
Following in Rasmus “caPs” Borregaard’s footsteps from 2018, he made the decision to leave Fnatic and join G2 Esports, where an opening had been created for an AD Carry after Luka “Perkz” Perkovi? had departed the team to compete in the LCS. As a result, a strong team was assembled, consisting of players who were widely recognized as being among the very best in Europe.
In the spring split of the 2021 season, Rekkles and his new team at the time, G2 Esports, finished in first place in the regular season. Sadly, during the playoffs, they were defeated by the MAD Lions in their second best-of-five match, and as a result, they were placed in the losers bracket.
The vast majority of fans and analysts expected that G2 would be a major contender for the LEC championship and even thought that the team’s squad would be able to compete successfully on the international scene. After nine months without winning a single championship, it became clearly obvious that the team’s overwhelming strength was not enough to combat the synergy difficulties that plagued them, despite the fact that they were loaded with seasoned superstars.
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