It’s no secret that Fnatic’s 2019 LEC campaign has gotten off to a slow start, as the team has yet to find a win – stumbling its way through two lackluster weeks of play. A roster that retained four of its five starters from last season has yet to gel on stage, and as the team struggles to regain its foundation, the rest of the league has forced Fnatic into the cellar. As the team sits in a fairly deep hole with just about a quarter of the split in the books, question marks have begun to surround Fnatic as a whole.

However, if there’s one piece of the Fnatic roster that is unquestionably forming into the cornerstone of the team in the early stages of 2019, it’s the roster’s freshest face, Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek. Nemesis, the only new member of the Fnatic starting five coming into 2019, has been quietly putting on an incredible performance in this early portion of the season – well, at least as incredible as one can possibly be when their team has yet to find a win. While fans and critics alike have already pointed tremendous amounts of fingers up and down the Fnatic roster, it’s clear that Nemesis is immune.

He’s already proven to be a solid addition to the team. One could even argue that he’s been the best player on the roster thus far. Despite a rough start to Fnatic’s season, Nemesis has been stalwart. After four games, he leads all LEC mid laners in KDA at 7.7, while topping the charts in Dth/G, as he is the only mid laner in the league with a number below 1.0, posting a mark of 0.8. Additionally, Nemesis ranks at least in the top 3 among LEC mid laners when it comes to DMG%, DPM, and FBP.

In the DMG% department, Nemesis only sits 0.3 percentage points behind Fabian “Exile” Schubert’s number of 29.1% with a mark of 28.8%, while his FBP of 50% is tied for highest among mid laners alongside Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten. Additionally, Nemesis is posting a DPM of 522, good enough for second in the league – just behind Rasmus “Caps” Winther.

In fact, the former Fnatic golden boy is tearing it up with G2 Esports, as he leads all LEC mid laners in KPG, APG, CSM, GPM, DPM, VSPM, GD@15, and CSD@15. And still, what’s interesting is that while Caps and Nemesis are polar opposites in terms of win-rate thus far, they’re both able to contend with each other on a raw statistical level. Of course, the advantage is going entirely to Caps as of now, but to count Nemesis out and cast him away would be foolish.

Sure, Fnatic losing Caps to its biggest rival this offseason was definitely a major loss, but Nemesis has done well so far to fill the biggest shoes in the LEC. And now, with a 4-loss deficit staring his team in the face with a little under two months left to play in the Spring Split, Nemesis will need to be the one to spearhead the operation as Fnatic must now bounce back with a vengeance – and fast. And this week might just serve as the perfect opportunity for the team to do just that. With a matchup against the fellow basement-dwelling Rogue, Fnatic has a great opportunity to get its first win.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t get easier from there. With Misfits and G2 standing on the horizon, Fnatic faces a daunting mountain to climb. And still, with a proven roster filled to the brim with Worlds-caliber talent, and a mid laner who is already proving that he can roll with the big dogs in Europe, there’s no reason why Fnatic can’t turn things around – it’s not like they don’t have the opportunities.

Photo Credit: Riot Games, Lolesports