The League of Legends roster changes just keep coming ahead of the official start of free agency and this time it’s one of the mainstay supports of the LEC swapping colors.
After nearly four years on Fnatic, Europe’s Pyke god will reportedly join up with Elyoya on MAD Lions for the 2023 Spring Split, according to a report from independent reporter Alejandro Gomis.
After another Worlds run saw Fnatic fall just short of knockouts, many expected some sort of roster moves to eventuate.
Early-on, rumors floated around that Fnatic was trying to acquire Elyoya from MAD Lions. Others expected the return of Europe’s most decorated ADC—Martin “Rekkles” Larsson—to the black and gold, which now seems a reality just under two weeks away from the start of free agency.
Hylissang played six splits alongside Rekkles starting in the 2017 LEC Spring Split all the way up to Fnatic’s 2020 Worlds run. That final campaign saw the bot-lane duo fall one game short of sending Fnatic to another World’s semifinals in a quarterfinals barnstormer against Top Esports.
Despite past success, Rekkles and Hylissang will not reunite.
According to League reports, Hylissang will swap to MAD Lions, who failed to make it out of Play-Ins to end their 2022 season. Funnily enough, Hylissang and Fnatic eliminated MAD from the LEC Summer Playoffs in the semifinals just a few short months ago.
Hylissang will join veteran LEC AD carry Carzzy in the bot lane. The Czech star is returning to MAD after a less-than-successful stint on Team Vitality’s “superteam.” Carzzy had reportedly narrowed down his next destination to two teams, Fnatic and MAD. It seems the two wanted to play together for the upcoming 2023 LEC split and weren’t worried about where. The pair landed on MAD instead of Hylissang’s longstanding org.
Hylissang was the longest-tenured member left on Fnatic. He had played eight splits with LEC’s longest-standing org. Fnatic is reported to likely replace Hylissang with Rúben “Rhuckz” Barbosa, who spent the last year on Fnatic’s academy team, Fnatic TQ.
With Elyoya reportedly staying with MAD alongside Armut and Nisqy, it looks like MAD might have their roster solidified before free agency even begins. This is by far the most veterans MAD have ever rostered.
This will be just the third League team Hylissang has joined across his near decade of pro play.
