In League of Legends, the Swede Martin “Rekkles” Larsson (28) has had an incredible career. He has played for Fnatic, the big European team, since 2012. But the “good” times seemed to have been over for Rekkles five years ago. But now, at the age of 28, he probably has his best chance yet to become world champion, as a substitute player for the legendary team led by Faker.
This was the rise of Rekkles: The bot laner Rekkles was considered the big star in European LoL for many years. He began his career in May 2012.
Rekkles was the bot laner for fan favorite Fnatic, who dominated the LEC in the early years of LoL. Rekkles was the star of the team, being the first player to reach 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 kills in Europe.
The Swede has participated in 6 World Championships, won the European title 4 times, was voted MVP of a split 4 times and still holds the record for most pentakills by a European, with 10.
Rekkles currently plays in the 2nd team of T1, Faker’s team:
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Since 2019, Rekkles has been in some kind of funk
That was the case with Rekkles: With the rise of G2, when midlaner Caps moved from Fnatic to G2, things started to go downhill with Fnatic and Rekkles.
Ultimately, Rekkles himself moved to G2 in November 2020 to replace Perkz. But the guest appearance failed. The then boss of G2, Carlos “ocelote” Rodriguez, later took Rekkles to task: He did not follow instructions and only had a small champion pool.
After the failure at G2, Rekkles moved to the French regional league before returning to Fnatic for half a year in December 2022, but that didn’t work out either.
Rekkles’ career was mixed from 2019 to 2023. But in December 2023, he decided to make a complete fresh start.
Rekkles becomes a supporter and moves to the 2nd league of South Korea
This is the story now: Rekkles, originally a bot laner, retrained as a supporter and moved to the 2nd South Korean league to play in T1’s junior team at the age of 28. Rekkles is almost ten years older than three of his teammates there.
T1 is the legendary team around Faker. They became world champions in 2023, but in 2024 the team barely qualified for the LoL Worlds. T1 has now nominated Rekkles as a substitute player for the World Championship in Europe.
Rekkles with the junior team of T1. They played 7:11 and finished 6th in the league. In the playoffs they finished 4th:
So, in the unlikely event that a player gets injured, Rekkles could actually play at Worlds 2024. However, it is believed that T1 nominated him primarily because, as a European legend, he can give the team another boost.
The role of substitute player probably doesn’t exactly match the dream of a young Rekkles taking part in a World Cup, but the “King of the North” seems to feel comfortable in South Korea and is getting used to his role and somehow he is very close to Faker. That’s something too.
What are the chances of T1 winning the LoL Worlds 2024? This year, T1 is only one of the extended group of favorites to become world champion. Above all, direct rivals of Faker 2024 are clearly stronger than the old master and his crew: Who will win the LoL Worlds 2024? Two professionals finally want to replace Faker