How will Fnatic perform if Bwipo swaps to the jungle?

With recent rumors of Fnatic top laner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau swapping to the jungle for the 2021 LEC Summer Split, thousands of fans are left wondering how Fnatic will end up performing if the move becomes reality. 

The rumors about Bwipo swapping to jungle have been circulating the League of Legends community for a few days now and will likely change Fnatic completely if they end up being true. To prepare for the unexpected role swap, many fans have started to wonder how Fnatic will be with Bwipo in the jungle and potentially an LEC rookie for the top lane in Adam “Adam” Maanane. 

There’s no doubt that Fnatic’s identity will change once again with Bwipo in the jungle, but how will the team perform and what are the expectations? 

How good will Bwipo be in the jungle?

A team with a recent role swap will always be expected to go through growing pains, even when it’s Fnatic.

Bwipo has always been a player that can take on unorthodox picks and pull them off in the top lane. The one he is most known for is Rengar, who Bwipo pulled off against FunPlus Phoenix at the 2019 World Championship after terrorizing solo queue with the pick. 

Having the skill and courage to pull off unexpected picks on the professional stage is a clear sign that Bwipo has knowledge of champions from other roles than his own. In this case, Bwipo would have to pull out his jungle knowledge if he were to swap to the role and play it in the LEC. 

It’s not expected that Bwipo will enter Summoner’s Rift and be a top jungler in the LEC, but with time there is potential that he can become one of the best as he has been in the top lane since joining Fnatic in 2018. While Bwipo has had some inconsistencies, he should never be underestimated in any role. The same goes for his game knowledge which has proven to be very deep, after appearing as a guest analyst on the LEC and other large broadcasts. 

For now, it’s hard to say which champions Bwipo will be focusing on in the jungle but it’s fair to assume that he will go for some meta champions. In a recent stream by LEC caster Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, he finds an account that could very well be Bwipo’s jungle account. 

The account has been duo queueing a lot with Fnatic support Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov and even played jungle a month back. The account has games on Viego, Volibear, Graves, Rumble, and other strong junglers that could potentially be meta when the summer split starts. 

If this account does in fact belong to Bwipo, fans might have gotten the first look at what is to come. 

Leadership and communication would be key for Bwipo

Instead of raw skill, Bwipo might end up as a jungler with his main strengths somewhere else. Even though Bwipo is a mechanically gifted player, his core strengths in the jungle will likely be through his leadership and great communication. 

After former Fnatic bot laner Martin “Rekkles” Larsson joined G2 Esports for the 2021 season, Fnatic has lacked a clear leader on the map. The lack of leadership might have affected Fnatic’s poor performance in the recent split, but Bwipo might be able to fill that gap in the future. 

Bwipo has likely acted as a leader even from the top lane, but doing it from the jungle will likely have a bigger effect on the team. As a jungler that moves around the whole map, Bwipo will be able to lead his team from all angles. Having a complete overview from the top lane can be hard, which is why the jungler is often the one calling the shots in the early stages of a game. 

This leadership could be key for Fnatic if Bwipo swaps to the jungle and maybe even make Bwipo a bigger asset to the team than ever before. Bwipo has also been known as a vocal player, which fits the jungle role perfectly. 

With all this in mind, fans shouldn’t expect Fnatic to go out and dominate the summer split. With some potential drastic changes to the team, it’s expected that Fnatic might need a split to find a new way of playing the game. This could mean that Fnatic won’t even make it to the 2021 World Championship, as the competition in Europe is harder than ever.  

No roster moves for Fnatic are official yet but it is to be expected that there will be changes for the upcoming summer split. Only time will tell if it will be with Bwipo in the jungle.