Fnatic bombed out of the LEC Winter Split 2023 as many changes are happening and some turmoil behind the scenes.
Coming into this year, Fnatic had a decent amount of expectations. Despite not being the most individually talented roster in the LEC (that belongs to G2), Fnatic still looked like a really solid roster. The addition of Rekkles brought in many fans and anticipation for some success. However, things did not go as planned to say the least.
The team spiraled out of control in the LEC 2023 Winter Split as they failed to make the Groups Stage. Not being one of those eight teams really hurt the team and the fans. However, that led to more finger-pointing by the fans, and more information about the dysfunction behind the scenes started to come out.
Since their run ended quite early in the Winter Split, Fnatic started making changes. There is a lot to discuss regarding this, so let’s start going through them step by step.
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Fnatic in LEC 2023 Winter Split
Before going straight into the news of roster changes, let’s briefly describe how Fnatic performed in the Winter Split. Most people, including myself, were stunned at how bad Fnatic looked. In a bot lane-focused meta, their bot lane lost almost every game, while the drafts were not as good.
However, there were not just bot lane issues. Top lane was constantly on Gragas/tank duty, while the mid-jungle of Fnatic never found success. Thus, Fnatic struggled quite a bit.
Fnatic ended the split at the 9th spot out of 10 teams. They would have been lower if Excel was not a dumpster fire. So, in short, Fnatic has a lot of work to do to improve in the Spring Split.
LEC 2023 Spring Split Changes For Fnatic
Since their last split ended in a disaster, Fnatic is set to make a number of changes. Here are the changes for Fnatic in LEC 2023 Spring Split.
- Top Lane: Wunder OUT, Oscarinin Promoted from Fnatic TQ. (rumored)
- Support: Rhuckz OUT, Advienne Promoted from Fnatic TQ. (rumored)
- Coach: Crusher OUT, Nightshare IN.
Top Lane
Fnatic is making the change from Wunder to Oscarinin for Spring Split. At this point, most people have probably seen the Reddit threads or Twitter posts about why getting rid of Wunder was the wrong decision. While he was probably the best player for the entire Winter Split, it didn’t feel like he helped Fnatic win more games.
Switching to Oscarinin could be a strategic move, as they want more carry potential in the top lane. While Wunder is still a solid player, Fnatic probably wanted more of an x-factor in the top lane.
Support
It was apparent from most reports that Rhuckz was not the right fit for Fnatic. He was not working out with Rekkles, and he did not quite offer much in terms of teaming up with his jungler. Overall, it was just not the right situation for him.
Bringing in Advienne is another risk as well. While he has been in the LEC before with XL, he did not find success there. Maybe a second chance in the LEC with a different type of ADC will help him. Time will tell whether this works out.
Head Coach
The Head coach is being changed from Crusher to Nightshare. Nightshare is the twin brother of Freeze, the coach of Evil Geniuses in the LCS. While Nightshare’s coaching career has not been great until now, maybe this is the job of fixing his image as a coach. One thing that works for Nightshare is that he has coached Humanoid before in the ERLs.
As for Crusher, he was a talent coach in the ERL circuit, but maybe it was too early for him in the LEC. He should get a chance to coach in the ERLs and potentially come back to the LEC in the future after getting more experience under his belt.
Grabbz was considered as a candidate, but he declined the job, according to the reports. That seems fair, considering Rekkles said he did not work well with Grabbz in a previous instead a while back. Also, with how dysfunctional Fnatic seems, he is justified in declining the position.
All in all, Nightshare is now the Head Coach of Fnatic, and he has to work alongside Hiiva to fix the problems in the team and roster.
The Rekkles Video About Fnatic in LEC 2023 Winter Split
Rekkles posted a video on his Youtube channel talking about Fnatic in the last split.
He spoke about how the team practices were not going well and how that started the downfall of Fnatic. Also, Rekkles mentioned that every loss depleted their confidence, making things worse than the team making uncharacteristic mistakes. He acknowledged that the bot lane did not perform well enough, and they were not clicking as a duo.
While that was some standard info known by most in the know in terms of the esports realm, a few statements were telling. Rekkles said they were one of the last teams to start practicing, and the practices themselves were not great. That signals either commitment issues from the players or coaching staff problems. Given Crusher was let go, and it could very well be that.
Secondly, he categorized the Fnatic roster as a team of individuals that should not be playing together. That is a very odd statement to make, considering in the same video, Rekkles said that he got along well with everybody and even Rhuckz. That could mean that he is saying that the administration of the team was done poorly.
He also told the fans not to bash the team players for performing poorly. For the future, Rekkles said that he wants better practices, more scrims, etc., which will help improve the team.
What To Expect From Fnatic in Spring Split 2023?
My approach to this would be not to expect anything at all. The team is coming in with a Rookie and a relatively new player as a pro in the LEC. Unless the coaching staff that comes in can change the culture behind the scenes, there should not be a major improvement in the team. Only time will tell how this works out. If Fnatic does not perform better in Spring Split 2023, this team is probably not making Worlds 2023.
