Today, League of Legends European Championship team Fnatic posted a roster update just a week out from the start of their 2019 Summer Split. The biggest news in the update is the promotion of Daniel “Dan” Hockley to the main roster as a 6th-man and substitute.
Dan joins the Fnatic LEC roster after a full split on the London-based Fnatic Rising (Academy) team. There, Dan helped raise the Fnatic Rising stock up quite a bit with a fairly decent, but ultimately disappointing overall performance at the 2019 European Masters tournament where Fnatic Rising would lose in the Semifinals to SK Gaming Prime.
Joining Unicorns of Love back in 2014, Dan has been around competitive and high-tier League of Legends for more than 5 years, and brings his young attitude and dedication to the LEC for the first time.
What does this mean for current Fnatic jungler and fan-favorite Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen? Well, for now, it doesn’t change anything. The addition of Dan to the LEC roster may just light the fire under Broxah needed to get the still young jungler to the next level. It seems, however, that the move has already begun to take a toll on the athlete’s mental state.
In a public social media post yesterday -- a day before the team officially announced Dan’s move to the LEC line-up -- Broxah went into some details on how the decision made by the organization has shaken his courage and confidence.
“Over the past month I have been trying to accept this decision, but it is something that I have and am still having a difficult time with,” writes Broxah. “In self-reflection, I think that my individual performance in spring split was solid overall and that I have always been an important asset to the team as a whole. Given that, I have been dealing with a lot of frustration lately.”
It’s not easy to make organization decisions like this, and there’s no envy in Fnatic’s need to shore up the future or push young stars beyond their current situation. Broxah has been on the LEC roster since the Spring of 2017, and in those two years, he has played a rather major role in the continued dominance of the squad, both domestically and internationally.
Broxah and Fnatic won back-to-back EU Championships in 2018 before going all the way to the Worlds 2018 finals -- where they would eventually lose to the World Champion Invictus Gaming team. Given his success, there’s some understanding when it comes to his frustration or disagreement with the clubs choices.
“This is something, though, that I am doing my utmost to turn into additional motivation and drive to prove my worth to myself, my coaches, my team and the fans,” added Broxah. "I can guarantee that, despite not fully agreeing with the decision, this will only inspire me to work harder than ever.”
The 2019 LEC Summer Split kicks off on June 7th where Fnatic will begin their journey towards a better finish and ultimately a better playoff performance. Expect to see Broxah in the jungle chair for the entire split, barring any injury or crazy failure to perform.
