Fnatic Benches Star Player Rekkles in EU LCS Summer Split
In a surprising move, Fnatic has decided to bench their long-time ADC Martin “Rekkles” Larsson for the second week of play in the EU LCS Summer split. They will be substituting in toplaner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau for the upcoming match against H2k Gaming.
Strategic Reasons for the Change
The decision to bench Rekkles comes after a disappointing performance in week one, where he struggled to adapt to the new meta. In an official statement, Fnatic’s coach Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool mentioned that the change was made for “strategic reasons”.
During the first two games, Fnatic experimented with a gold funnelling composition that required Rekkles to play a more supportive role, using champions like Janna and Karma. This shift in the meta proved to be challenging for Rekkles, as he is used to being the main playmaker and receiving all the resources from his team mates.
Bwipo Stepping Up as Replacement
Bwipo is not new to filling in for star players on Fnatic. He previously substituted for Paul “sOAZ” Boyer during the end of the Spring Split and part of the Mid-Season Invitational. Bwipo also played a significant role in Fnatic’s only win so far this season, against Schalke 04.
Fnatic had a shaky start to the Summer Split, losing their first match against Misfits but bouncing back with a win against Schalke despite being at a significant gold deficit. Today, they will face H2k in their opening match of the second week, marking the first time since 2015 that Rekkles will not be in the starting lineup since rejoining the roster from Alliance.
Stay tuned to see how this roster change affects Fnatic’s performance in the upcoming matches.
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