League of Legends pro player Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson has today confirmed his departure from London-headquartered esports organisation Fnatic.
(Update: December 11th 2023, Rekkles has joined T1’s Challengers academy team):
In a detailed post, Rekkles said he’s sad things couldn’t work out this year and that it feels weird for him to say he’s teamless now.
The news comes after Rekkles rejoined Fnatic late last year, before Fnatic had a disastrous start to the year in the Winter 2023 LEC. This led to Rekkles being benched and role-swapping to support.
Today, as the organisation prepare their Worlds 2023 run, Rekkles leaves Fnatic.
Fnatic said: As Rekkles looks to continue his journey on the Rift, taking on a new challenge and aiming to write a new chapter in his story, we wish him the best of luck and our sincerest thanks as he departs Fnatic.
“We’re extremely grateful for his effort and commitment across the last decade and only carry the fondest memories of his contributions to our organization. He’s cemented himself as a true Fnatic legend, and we can’t wait to see where his career takes him next. Thank you for everything Martin. Once Fnatic, always Fnatic.”
Rekkles responded, saying: “It’s been a bumpy ride and I’m really sorry for all the mistakes I did during our years together, but I choose to remember the beautiful memories. I hope you guys, those who are a part of Fnatic now and have been a part of Fnatic before, do the same.
“We created so many amazing moments together and I want all of us to remember those. The good times. The big games. The titles. I always felt like there was so much negativity around me playing for Fnatic after what happened with Elements. Same thing when I came back 2023. I don’t want this to be what comes to mind when you think of me and Fnatic.
“If it’s possible in your heart, try to remember me as someone trying his best. Doing whatever it takes. Wanting his teammates to succeed. Anyways, thanks for everything. I’m really happy with how my life turned out and so much of it is thanks to Fnatic and everyone supporting the team. Much love.”
Rekkles leaves Fnatic: His statement in full
In a detailed post on his Facebook page, Rekkles said: “Hey hey! As you may or may not have heard, I’m no longer a part of Fnatic. It saddens me that we weren’t able to make things work this year, but also makes me happy to see them succeed during summer and qualify for Worlds. With Trymbi and Noah both doing really well since joining, it makes no sense to consider a change for the 2024 season.
“Where does that leave me? Teamless. For the first time since 2012. That feels so weird to say. 2012. Teamless. I’m kind of scared and excited at the same time. Scared because there is no certainty in what happens next, excited because anything can happen next.
“In a dream scenario that’s me playing support in the LEC, at least that’s what I’ve been grinding for the past five months. I don’t think I was ready for summer and therefore declined offers, but as of late I think I’ve reached a level of play on support that’s relatively high.”
Rekkles
“Obviously I’m open to playing ADC as well, but I think my persona, skills as a player and view of the game is better utilised on the support role than the ADC role.
“Basically, I think I can bring more to a team on the support role than the ADC role and in the end that’s all that I want. Doing as much as possible for my team so that we win games. That’s always been the goal and always will be.
“I would like to believe that regardless if X person enjoyed working with me or not, they at least know that I made every decision based on what I thought would give us the highest chances of winning from my perspective. That’s not always going to be the same decision X person would make and I definitely can do a better job at meeting in the middle, but it doesn’t come naturally for me.
“I’m a very “black or white” person and struggle with anything “grey” and that goes for everything in life, not just League of Legends related things. To sum it up shortly, I’m a “rigid” person (it took me a while to find this word so google it if you need to) and that comes with it’s really good parts and really bad parts. Just know that my intentions are pure.
“With that said, I would like to thank Fnatic for allowing me to make this transition and supporting me while I laid the groundwork for what is hopefully to come a very exciting chapter in my career. Bye bye!”
Rekkles leaves Fnatic as Worlds 2023 icon lets players add FNC to their name
The news comes as the new Worlds 2023 summoner icons are added to League of Legends, allowing Fnatic fans to add FNC in front of their summoner name when selecting it.
The same goes for other icons, with fans adding C9 to the start of their name when buying and selecting the Cloud9 icon, for example.
There’s also a Worlds 2023 Pass for 1650 RP, which will give 200 Tokens and 4 Worlds 2023 Orbs in addition to unlocking premium Worlds 2023 Pass rewards. With the new Event Pass experience, all missions are available to all players.
There’s also a Worlds 2023 Pass Bundle for 2650 RP, which includes all the items mentioned above plus Akali, her new Coven Akali skin, and the Coven Akali Border Icon & border. Then the Worlds 2023 Premium Pass Bundle (3650 RP), which includes all of the above and the exclusive Coven Akali Chroma and Lavish Brutality emote.
Proceeds from in-game Worlds 2023 goods will also go towards the esports teams taking part at Worlds 2023.
25% of the pass bundle, 50% of the premium bundle, 75% of Worlds 2023 Renekton and 100% of proceeds from the team icons/emotes will go towards teams.
There’s more info on Worlds 2023 passes and rewards on the LoL website.
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.
