YamatoCannon to take over as League Fnatic Head Coach
Riot GamesJakob ‘YamatoCannon’ Mebdi is set to make his return to Europe as Fnatic look to appoint the Swede to the position of Head Coach.
As reported by Jacob Wolf, the ex-SANDBOX Gaming coach will be replacing current Fnatic coach Alfonso ‘Mithy’ Rodríguez.
The future of the Spanish Coach is currently uncertain but rumors hint at a possible move to North America.
Riot GamesFollowing his retirement from professional play, Mithy was appointed as the Head Coach of Fnatic at the end of the 2019 Season. He took over Joey ‘YoungBuck’ Steltenpool, the coach that led Fnatic to two LoL European Championship (LEC) titles and runners up at Worlds.
Under the leadership of Mithy, Fnatic was unable to challenge G2 Esports for the European Crown, falling short in two finals. Their run at Worlds was cut short in the quarter-finals after a 5-game series against TES.
Wolf reports: “FNATIC will sign Yamato as their new head coach, marking his return to coaching in Europe ahead of the 2021 Season.
So what happens with @mithygg? His future is undecided, according to sources, but one scenario is swirling around a lot behind-the-scenes.
If @G2esports and @Cloud9 can reach a buyout agreement for @G2Perkz, Mithy could end up an assistant coach for C9, reuniting with Perkz.
— Jacob Wolf 🐝 (@JacobWolf) November 12, 2020
The Spanish coach could be heading back to North America to work for Cloud9 as their Assistant Coach if the LCS team is able to finalize the transfer of Luka ‘Perkz’ Perković from G2 Esports. This means that Mithy and Perkz could be reunited with former teammate Jesper ‘Zven’ Svenningsen, with the trio being the core of the all-conquering G2 in 2016.
YamatoCannon’s coaching career in Europe is no laughing matter. His leadership was key in the development of teams such as 2016 Splyce and 2018 Vitality, two young and exciting teams that were able to reach the Worlds stage and whose players are now considered stars both in Europe and abroad.
While being a veteran in his role, Yamato has not coached in LEC since his departure from the Vitality organization in December 2019 and his only split in the LCK (Summer 2020) failed to achieve any success with SANDBOX Gaming finishing 7th.
LEC is heading into its transfer season as dozens of contracts for both players and coaching staff are set to expire beginning the 15th of November.
The London-based organization is looking to challenge for their first European title in two years and appointing YamatoCannon as Head Coach might be the first step to bring them closer to their goal.