ex-Fnatic top Adam says Upset leaving Worlds was "unjustified"

Nicholas James Published 24/11/2021

Fnatic’s run at the 2021 World Championship was by all accounts the perfect storm of unfortunate events. One of the team’s former players is going on the record with just how bad things really got.

AD carry Elias “Upset” Lipp departed right before the tournament began due to an “urgent family matter” and subsequent social media drama played out around Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau and his romantic partner. It appears that more of this was connected than initially appeared, as ex-top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane alleges in a lengthy Twitlonger post.

In the post, which is written in French, Adam calls Upset’s departure from Worlds 2021 completely unjustified, and says that as far Adam knows there was no urgent family matter. Adam also alleges that Upset tried to recruit Barney “Alphari” Morris to replace Adam on the team during this year’s offseason. Adam appears unhappy with the way his time at Fnatic ended, and says it was Adam’s decision alone to depart the team even though it wasn’t his first choice.

Why did Adam leave Fnatic?

Adam’s debut year with Fnatic after catching the world’s attention in France’s LFL has been wildly successful. Adam rapidly became one of the best top laners in the league, falling only in the LEC finals to domestic champion MAD Lions. According to Adam, the regular splits were fine for Fnatic and he remains proud of his accomplishments in the professional scene at his young age. Worlds 2021 is where everything appears to have turned sour, however.

In the Twitlonger post, Adam says that Upset notified the rest of the team that he would be leaving for an unspecified reason. Adam says that to this day, Upset has not clarified the exact reason for his leaving Worlds. Adam contends that Upset appears to have abandoned a year of hard work to be with a lonely spouse without any emergency need, and Adam makes it clear that he doesn’t agree with Upset’s decision.

At the same time, Adam says that during the offseason Upset specifically tried to have him replaced by Alphari, who was then departing Team Liquid. Having heard rumors of Luka “Perkz” Perkovic and Alphari seeking a team together, Adam says that Upset tried to have Alphari join Fnatic, something Adam clearly sees as a betrayal of trust after Upset’s absence from Worlds.

All of this remains unsubstantiated as Adam dropped the news a mere hour after his departure from Fnatic was officially announced. It’s clear Adam is unhappy with how his time at Fnatic ended, and he isn’t afraid to let that be known.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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