Fnatic have progressed to the 2018 League of Legends World Championship grand final and ADC player Martin “Rekkles” Larsson is confident of victory.
A convincing 3-0 win vs Cloud9
Fnatic defeated Cloud9 in a convincing 3-0 semi-final earlier today, and will now face Invictus Gaming in the final on Saturday.
Every member of Fnatic performed well, both individually and as a team, but it was mid-laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther that was deservedly named the most valuable player (MVP). He put in a frightening performance with 6/1/5, 7/2/4 and 5/4/13 scorelines across the three respective games.
On a day like today, it’s hard to pick out one name. From @Bwipo, @BroxahLoL, @RekklesLoL, @FNCHylissang to @sOAZ – and every member of the backroom staff behind them – we came together to create history.
But your man @FncCapsLoL… He stepped and showed why he’s your @AMD MVP! pic.twitter.com/yZMqrVhKQ0
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) October 28, 2018
The victory means Fnatic are within touching distance of winning their second ever League of Legends World Championship, having secured the very first one back in 2011.
Since then, South Korea has taken the League of Legends mantle, with SKT securing three Worlds trophies and Samsung Galaxy claiming two, making this an unusual final with no Korean teams present.
It’s easy to forget that Fnatic are technically a London-based esports organisation. They might not have UK players and their teams are largely based elsewhere in the world, but their HQ is in London. So can they bring the Worlds trophy home?
It’s going to be a tough – but very exciting – encounter when Saturday rolls around. China’s Invictus Gaming actually started in the same group as Fnatic (group D) and defeated Fnatic in their first match-up, but Fnatic got revenge on them in their second match-up, and went on to beat Invictus again in the tie-breaker.
Invictus beat KT Rolster and G2 to reach the finals, while Fnatic defeated Edward Gaming and Cloud9, the latter of which have pledged their support to their victors:
❤️
The west is with you. #FNCWIN https://t.co/LMmLrm1tPf
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) October 28, 2018
Rekkles: ‘We’re all playing to win’
In a press conference following today’s semi-final, a cool, assertive and collected Fnatic ADC Martin “Rekkles” Larsson said it doesn’t matter that a Western team has reached the final.
“If we win, that would mean something,” he said, “but if we lose in the finals, people would forget about it in a year anyway. I don’t think anyone is satisfied… maybe the fans are, but for ourselves at least, we’re all playing to win.”
Rekkles also tweeted the picture we’ve used at the top of this article:
Catch me if you can pic.twitter.com/dCXXa59iXK
— Martin Larsson (@RekklesLoL) October 28, 2018
In the press conference, Rekkles also mentioned that during Fnatic’s last strong Worlds run back in 2015, the team was carried somewhat by former Fnatic player Huni, but now in this team, everyone is stepping up and performing.
“I see ourselves as the favourites for the finals,” he added. “I think we have no weaknesses at all. People can’t really prepare well against us, or do crazy things against us, because we answer everything.”
The final takes place on Saturday November 3rd at 7.30am GMT (UK) time.
We are one goal.
We are to show not why we’re the best western team, but that we are the best team in the world.
We are now one best-of-five away.
We are #alwaysfnatic.#worlds2018 pic.twitter.com/1Q9NuUSQsm
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) October 28, 2018
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
