Fnatic reportedly signs new League top laner, Bwipo’s future uncertain

Alan Bernal
fnatic league of legends lec bwipo

Fnatic have reportedly signed League of Legends top laner ‘Adam’ Maanane, as the LEC team continues their roster shuffle with Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau’s future on the team unclear.


  • Fnatic signs European Masters 2021 Spring Champ Adam
  • Bwipo rumored for jungle role change
  • Fnatic jungler Selfmade bought out by Vitality

New top laner raises questions for Fnatic’s Bwipo

Bwipo has been a top laner for Fnatic since 2018, but there’s about to be another listed player in the position according to a Dot Esports report.

Fnatic have reportedly signed Karmine Corp’s Adam for roughly $291,800 and is expected to be the starting top laner in Summer 2021. Details on his salary are unknown.

Adam was a standout on Karmine and helped the team finish 1st place in La Ligue Française (LFL) Spring 2021 regular season, 1st place in LFL Spring 2021 Playoffs, and 1st in the European Masters Spring 2021 without dropping a series.

A previous report from Dot revealed that a deal was agreed to transfer Fnatic’s jungler Oskar ‘Selfmade’ Boderek to Team Vitality. Bwipo is open to role change to the jungle if need be, but also said he doesn’t want to be on Fnatic if he can’t perform well.

Bwipo has been struggling in his recent form. The team were fifth in both the LEC Spring Playoffs and in the regular season standings.

Karmine Corp’s 19-year-old Frenchman, Adam, has been linked to a Fnatic move.

Fnatic are coming off two of their worst splits since EU LCS 2016 when the org finished in fifth as well.

Individually in Spring 2021, Bwipo hasn’t been playing the worst in his career, but is failing to reach some of the marks he did in 2019.

He’s said that he “has other options lined up” should he feel the need to make the move after the Summer 2021 split. Bwipo’s contract with Fnatic is up at the end of 2021 and he’s recently turned down a contract extension from the org.

Fnatic Spring 2021 roster (rumored):

  • Top – Adam ‘Adam’ Maanane
  • Jungle – Gabriël ‘Bwipo‘ Rau
  • Mid – Yasin ‘Nisqy‘ Dinçer
  • Bot – Elias ‘Upset‘ Lipp
  • Support – Zdravets ‘Hylissang‘ Iliev Galabov

About The Author

Alan is a former staff writer for Dexerto based in Southern California who covered esports, internet culture, and the broader games/streaming industry. He is a CSUF Alum with a B.A. in Journalism. He's reported on sports medicine, emerging technology, and local community issues. Got a tip or want to talk?