Fnatic Bench Emypros and Hunt for Korean Toplaner, It’s Claimed

Fnatic are set to bench Greek toplaner Panagiotis ‘Empyros’ Tantis from its LEC roster ahead of the Summer Split.

This is according to a report from Sheep Esports, who claim the organisation are now looking for a new toplaner.

Fnatic were eliminated from LEC Spring Playoffs qualification a month ago after losing 2-1 to Team Vitality.

In that series, rookie Empyros had a disastrous final game, falling three levels and 3k gold down to Kaan ‘Naak Nako’ Okan in the first 15 minutes.

Now it appears that his tenure with the team is over after just two splits in his first season in the top tier.

Fnatic Look to Korea to Boost Their LEC hopes

According to Sheep Esports, Fnatic are now looking to Korea’s second tier, LCK Challengers League (LCK CL), and have held talks with multiple Korean toplaners.

Fnatic already has another contracted toplaner in Spaniard Óscar ‘Oscarinin’ Muñoz Jiménez, who was benched at the start of the year and was unable to find a new team.

This means that Fnatic will potentially have three toplaners on its books, despite struggling financially after starting the year with the smallest coaching staff in the LEC.

The team also has former LEC toplaner Andrei ‘Odoamne’ Pascu, who joined Fnatic’s coaching staff midway through the season to try and help the team’s topside.

This will be the second year in a row that Fnatic has imported a Korean for the Summer Split, after signing now-NAVI midlaner Yoon ‘Poby’ Sung-won from T1 Esports Academy to take them to Worlds.

Fnatic have attended the last nine LoL World Championships, having not failed to qualify for the international tournament since 2016.

However, the organisation is currently likely to miss out, having failed to even make the LEC’s top six this split.

Will this change be enough to turn Fnatic into LoL Worlds contenders? Share your thoughts with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.

Meanwhile, the LEC top three is set after Karmine Corp eliminated GIANTX from the LEC Spring Playoffs.

Fnatic Look to Korea to Boost Their LEC hopes

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