Martin “Rekkles” Larsson has sizzled through the 2015 EU LCS Summer Split.

Yet only a few months ago, the Swedish AD carry wasn’t even sure if he was going to fit in on Fnatic. Moving back to his old team, complete with a new coach and new teammates, meant that he needed a new attitude.

“I didn’t expect it to be the same as last year, but I didn’t expect it to be this new of a feeling either, so it was definitely hard to adjust to begin with,” he says. “I think I showcased this in my performance in the first few weeks, where I was a bit shaky with the team.”

To iron out the kinks, Rekkles didn’t spend all of his time in front of a computer practicing, like he’d done in the past. He recalls how there were plenty of areas he wanted to focus on improving in-game, but he put them aside in an effort to mesh with Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten, Seung-Hoon “Huni” Heo, and Yeu Jin “Reignover” Kim. He’d already formed a strong brotherly bond with Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim during his previous stint on Fnatic, so Rekkles put more effort into hanging out with the new members. But instead of playing Solo Queue, he asked them out to eat or simply to talk.

“I really wanted myself to be a part of the team as soon as possible and for them to feel like I was part of it as well, because I knew that would eventually lead to a better atmosphere or a better situation than if I just sat in front of my computer for 16 hours every day and focused on playing League.” For Rekkles, if he was ever going to trust his teammates on the Rift, it was important to get to know them better beyond just their play styles.

“I believe that a personal relationship with a teammate is very important to be successful, so if that ended up with me playing slightly worse in Weeks 1 and 2, then I was totally fine with that.” Of course, playing “slightly worse” meant going 14/1/15 in Week 1 and 13/5/8 in Week 2, resulting in a stellar 8.3 KDA. Still, he admits he wasn’t playing confidently in those games. To the AD carry, creating and maintaining those bonds with his new teammates was a long-term, crucial investment. And it’s already paid off.

By Week 4, Rekkles was feeling comfortable with everyone on Fnatic. “I felt like they knew me really well, too, which translated into trust,” he says. “When we played Origen, there were a lot of really close calls in the game where trust was needed to end up on top.” Take the early team fight below for example, in which Rekkles hops around Origen on a half-dead Kalista.

Instead of safely backing away from the scuffle once his health dropped even further, he faithfully trusted the confident calls of YellOwStaR to re-engage on his opponents. It resulted in four kills for Fnatic. And it commenced a snowball that saw them topping Origen with a 16,000 gold lead by game’s end.

“I feel like if this game was Week 1 and the same situation would have ended up happening, I wouldn’t have made the same decision, because I wouldn’t have that trust built up with my other team members,” he says. “So it felt like the first game where I could put all these hesitations about my decisions aside and trust my team blindly and focus on performing as good as I possibly could myself.”

Lasting Bonds

Since that game, Rekkles and Fnatic have gone on to surpass already-lofty expectations. With a massive champion pool, they play their own aggressive style and punish the mistakes of their opponents. Under the strong leadership of YellOwStaR, they’ve earned a 12-0 record in the EU LCS. And the support player’s guidance is something Rekkles is very appreciative of.

“YellOwStaR is better than any support I’ve played with; it’s just difficult to pin down one specific area where he outshines everyone else, because I feel like he’s very good at pretty much everything. He’s mature and a great leader for the team,” says Rekkles. “I think of all the supports or teammates I’ve been [played with] during the past three years. He has definitely helped me form who I am today as a teammate and as a person.”

The Rematch

Now, heading into the Week 7 EU LCS Game of the Week against Origen, Rekkles looks back at how he’s grown since their first encounter back in Week 4. “I think I’ve improved on pretty much everything, from raw gameplay to communication,” he says. “However, I’d probably say the biggest thing I’ve improved on has to be my ability to showcase more diverse gameplay.”

While he’s certainly learned a lot in only a short amount of time, that doesn’t mean Rekkles believes the game against Origen will be an easy win. “I’d definitely consider Origen a top-tier team this time around,” he says. “I think we’re quite similar in terms of playstyles. Both teams have strong individual players and can snowball heavily if the enemy team makes a couple of mistakes,” he says.

“I think there’s a lot of things to look out for in this game,” he says about the rematch. “Close team fights, good drafts from both teams, and a lot of blood to be spilled.”

“I’m always excited to play teams who are willing to fight back for objectives, or make a strategic decision instead, because it highers the quality of the game and you have to constantly think many steps ahead to keep up with your opponent.”

He continues, “I think this game will come down to whichever team performs better as five, rather than one player outclassing his lane opponent.” It all comes back to trust and teamwork.

We’ll see how Origen fight back against Rekkles and Fnatic when the teams face off in the EU LCS Game of the Week this Friday, right here on Lolesports.