LoL: Rekkles slams Worlds seeding after Fnatic draw ‘group of death’

League of Legends star Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson has slammed Riot’s seeding system ahead of the 2019 World Championship, after Fnatic was placed into a stacked Group C alongside powerhouses SK Telecom T1 and Royal Never Give Up.

European runners-up Fnatic entered the Worlds draw in Pool 2, after falling to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of G2 Esports in the LEC final in Athens. Their second-rung status saw them draw the ‘group of death’ alongside Korean champions SKT, and perennial Chinese giants RNG.

While many could see it as a chance to prove Fnatic deserves its current status as one of the best teams in international League of Legends, the team’s veteran AD carry Rekkles believes the fact that one of the top five teams will be punted in groups is “fucking stupid.”

Rekkles will be attending his fifth World Championship with Fnatic.

“Haven’t we been here before? I feel like I see this group every year, and normally it’s never me, but not it’s me. Isn’t it always this fucking group?” the Fnatic star asked during the team’s live-streamed discussion of the Worlds pools.

 

• Read more: League of Legends 2019 Worlds groups decided

“In 2016, Splyce had it, and 2017 [G2 Esports], right? Then Vitality had it, and now we have it. Every year this group exists, and it really triggers me … holy shit, it’s so unlucky. Tell me again how this is not fucking unlucky, and how it’s a good thing? Now is a good time.”

For mobile users, the video segment starts at 8:27.

Rekkles’ main concerns stem from the fact that he considers RNG, SKT, and his own team among the contenders for the title. With how Riot’s draw system works, one of the major players in the championship won’t be moving on from Berlin’s group stage.

“It’s so unbalanced. SKT, RNG, and us, we’re probably top five in the tournament, I think, in terms of team strength, and we’re all in the same group. It’s just fucking stupid,” he said.

“All three of us are better than Griffin, probably, and then G2 is up there as well with us three, and you put IG in there as well, or maybe FPX. You have three of them in the same group, it’s just fucking retarded.”

Group A and C are considered by many to be the toughest pools in the Worlds draw.

Overall, however, Fnatic’s backroom staff and star players have welcomed the major challenge they’ll now face when they step on stage at the Verti Music Hall from October 12.

If the European titans can escape the community-branded ‘group of death,’ they will have already made a key step towards securing their second international LoL title, after already eliminated one of the top contenders for the Season 9 throne.

 

• Read more: Riot reveals how many LoL comics are planned for 2020

“You have to see it from another angle,” head coach Joey ‘Youngbuck’ Steltenpool said of the tough group. “If we make it out of this group, we’ve actually done something. It’s not like we’ve beaten Phong Vũ Buffalo and Flash Wolves. We’ve actually beat the good teams.”

Fnatic head coach Youngbuck believes their Worlds draw is a chance to prove their quality.

That mentality didn’t fill Rekkles with confidence, however. The Swedish marksman is now set to face ADC superstars like Jian ‘Uzi’ Zi-Hao and Park ‘Teddy’ Jin-seong, and he joked he’ll need all the help he can get: “Hylissang, I hope you’re ready to bang it, because I’m ‘bagging it.”

Keep up to date with all the tournament action with our 2019 World Championship hub.