Rekkles publicly apologized for his performance during the LEC Winter Split as he was unable to lead Fnatic into the playoffs, marking the first time in the franchise’s history that they have missed the playoffs.
Following a disappointing showing at the LEC, Fnatic’s returning attack-damage carry Erik “Rekkles” Larsson released a statement to address the fans. The 26-years-old League of Legends pro apologized to all of his fans in a video released to his social media accounts, outlining his thoughts on Fnatic’s defeat against SK Gaming, which ended the team’s campaign at the LEC Winter 2023.
— Martin Larsson (@RekklesLoL) February 6, 2023
“It’s been really rough, and I really wanted to say sorry for not being able to deliver. I haven’t played well. I don’t think I have been able to contribute much to the team’s success.”
Rekkles added in the video that he will have more time for streaming and engaging with fans now that his team will be away from the LEC action for a few weeks. Meanwhile, Fnatic also issued an official statement on Twitter to address fans’ disappointment regarding the team’s early exit. In addition to accepting that the team’s performance wasn’t its best, the European organization also pledged to take note of their play and return stronger in the future split.
Fnatic failed to reach the playoffs for the first time
After a promising 2022 season in which the European team qualified for the League of Legends World Championships and finished third in both the Summer and Spring LEC standings, Fnatic entered the 2023 season with high expectations. Although there was a lot of anticipation and hype surrounding the squad’s performance, especially after Rekkles was signed to replace Elias “Upset” Lipp, it seems to have had the opposite impact when the new team was put to the test.
Our Winter run ends there. Thank you for all the support as always. We'll be back, bet on it. pic.twitter.com/I2IBXmO940
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) February 6, 2023
Rekkles’ return turned out to be a complete disaster, as both the player and the team appear to be in their worst shape ever. After only winning two of their nine games throughout the course of the three-week regular season, Fnatic was unable to advance past the group stage. Rekkles, who is known for posting impressive stats, failed to deliver consistent performance in the Split and did not meet the standards set for him.
Ashamed. Only responsible person for this situation is myself but no time to lick our wounds. It's very early in the year and I can confidently promise this is not the Fnatic you will see for the rest of 2023. We will fix this and be back at the top fighting. #alwaysfnatic
— Javier 'Dardo' Zafra (@dardo_lol) February 6, 2023
As one of the most popular and proficient attack damage carries in Europe, if not the entire world, the 26-year-old professional, who had been a former LEC MVP, struggled to achieve the level of performance that is expected of him on the LEC stage.
In case you still need clarification about Fnatic’s elimination, the LEC changed its format for 2023 to winter, spring, and summer seasons with three stages within each. Only the top eight teams advance to the group stage, which has a best-of-three series structure with a double-elimination bracket.
Header: Rekkles/ Twitter
