Fnatic have finalized a buyout deal for former G2 Esports top laner Martin “Wunder” Hansen for the League of Legends European Championship 2022 season, according to a report by Dot Esports.
With this move, Wunder will replace the French rookie Adam “Adam” Maanane, who held the role through most of 2021 but will reportedly sign with Team BDS as they enter the LEC.
On Oct. 11, G2 Esports CEO Carlos “ocelote” Rodríguez Santiago declared on social media that the organization was looking to replace Wunder, among other members of the team, heading into 2022.
The two sides negotiated for weeks and settled below the initial 2 million Euro buyout for Wunder’s contract according to Dot Esports.
After playing with Splyce for nearly three years, Wunder joined G2 Esports at the end of 2017. He was a member of the historic lineup that defeated Royal Never Give Up in the 2018 League of Legends World Championship quarterfinal and helped lead the team to its first World Championship grand final berth in 2019. From 2019 to 2020, Wunder won four back-to-back domestic titles under the G2 Esports banner.
Despite a quiet year results-wise for G2 Esports, Wunder still managed to lead all top laners in creep score differential at 10 minutes at 3.0 and creep score per minute at 8.4, according to Oracle’s Elixir.
Fnatic look to rebuild with Wunder in 2022
Fnatic entered 2021 LEC summer split with former top laner Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau role swapping from top lane to jungle. Despite speculation on the roster’s performance going into the split, Fnatic managed to produce impressive results in 2021. Fnatic ended the LEC 2021 spring split in fifth place and ended the summer split regular season in fifth, as well, before reaching the summer playoff grand finals and qualifying for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship as the LEC’s second seed.
Fnatic were on track to be one of Europe’s strongest teams at Worlds 2021, but their path to success at the tournament was complicated when starting bot laner Elias “Upset” Lipp had to return home early due to an urgent personal matter. Fnatic ended their Worlds 2021 run with a 1-5 record as the fourth place team in Group C.
