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Mikyx and Upset set to join Fnatic for 2025 season

Mikyx and Upset set to join Fnatic for 2025 season

League of Legends
3h
Foo Zen-Wen

11-time domestic champion Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle, formerly of G2 Esports, is set to join rival EU organization Fnatic for the upcoming 2025 season, reports have indicated. The 26-year old support was released from G2 Esports following the organization’s elimination from Worlds 2024 in the Swiss Stage at the end of October.

Meanwhile, Karmine Corp’s prodigy, Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert is finally of age, meaning, he will be claiming his promised spot on the roster. This left Elias “Upset” Lipp also teamless. The German AD Carry has decided to rejoin forces with his old organization, hoisting the Fnatic banner one more time for the 2025 season.

G2 Rebuild

Both Mikyx and Martin “Yike” Sundelin were allowed to explore their options after a consecutive year of not achieving top 8 at Worlds. Despite their domestic success, G2 has made clear their intentions with regards to international competitiveness, with their willingness to remove 2 of their 5 players from a winning domestic recipe, in order to better raise their international strength.

Back to Roots for Mikyx

In 2016, Mikyx got his first break as a Support player, playing as a substitute for Fnatic just a year after entering the professional pool. He would only sit on the bench for 3 months before he was picked up by Splyce and then Misfits Gaming.

At the time, Mikyx wasn’t yet known as one of the most accomplished Support players in the game and certainly one of the most storied in EMEA. After a long tenure with G2 and a brief run with Excel in between, it appears Mikyx and G2 are parting for good this time.

And now, he is set to return to one of his first organizations, not as a rookie anymore, but as a seasoned veteran, looking to turn around one of the most storied European organizations (who themselves have seen better years).

Mikyx is looking to write a history outside of Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther’s shadow. Meanwhile, Fnatic is looking to step away from the mediocrity that has plagued the roster for the last several years, and look to properly challenge G2 for the EU crown. It’s a match that’s well suited for both.

Upset Seeks to Reclaim his Legacy

In 2021, Upset was Fnatic’s answer following the departure of their long-time star AD Carry Carl Martin Erik “Rekkles” Larsson. Upset quickly proved his mettle, leading the charge on Fnatic. The team qualified for Worlds that same year as the 2nd seed from Europe, but outside circumstances forced Upset to withdraw from the tournament at the last minute.

He would run it back with Fnatic in 2022, qualifying for Worlds again. But this time, he did not make it past the group stage. He would depart from Fnatic following their elimination. In 2023, Upset was part of the new Vitality project, alongside other talents such as Yangbo “Bo” Zhou and Luka "Perkz" Perković. Despite a strong initial start, that project failed to really get going, and Upset departed the roster after only a year.

The next time he surfaced in 2024, he was with Karmine Corp. But it was always known that he was on borrowed time. Karmine Corp had promoted from the LFL with a prodigy, Caliste. However, Riot’s rules on age requirement prevented Caliste from playing with the team for a year. Upset was the (temporary) solution.

Despite the ticking clock, no one could have expected how badly the Karmine Corp project would run in 2024, placing dead last in Winter and Spring before a resurgence in Summer. Hence, coming into this off-season, Upset’s personal stock, despite being one of the best ADCs in the region historically, is at an all-time low. Another perfect pairing for Fnatic.

The Final Piece for Fnatic

With earlier reports that both Oh “Noah” Hyeon-taek and Yoon “Jun” Se-joon were done with Fnatic after the 2024 season (the duo is headed for GIANTX for the 2025 season), Mikyx and Upset will be looking to join hands with Fnatic. 3 redemption stories have now been set in motion with this move. There are few organizations in LoL with the story Fnatic does, but time will tell if they have what it takes to truly return to the heights the fans remember.

 

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Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games. Edited by Strafe.


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