Nemesis sparks fan backlash over Fnatic Upset comments

The day before Groups Day 1 began, the LEC’s Fnatic announced that Elias “Upset” Lipp will not be playing in the tournament. Fnatic’s statement made clear it was a family emergency. In response, former Fnatic player and current streamer Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek made tone-deaf comments doubting the veracity of Fnatic’s explanation, causing some backlash.

Worlds 2021 Roster Update pic.twitter.com/UojSgt1iBe

— FNATIC (@FNATIC) October 10, 2021

Nemesis draws heat from League of Legends fans

Fnatic tweeted on October 10 that Upset was having an “urgent family matter” that meant he would have to return home and couldn’t play in the group stage.

Shortly after the statement, screenshots from a Discord chat Nemesis was participating in were posted on Reddit. In it, Nemesis casts doubt on Fnatic Upset having a genuine family emergency. This response immediately drew pushback from fans, who saw Nemesis’ comments as petty and tone-deaf. Using past grievances with an organization to speculate on another player’s private life rubbed many fans the wrong way.

Nemesis, who used to play for Fnatic, claimed that the organization used to make excuses for internal conflicts similar to Fnatic’s statement. But even inside of the screenshots, members of Nemesis’ community find the comments off-putting. Laughing at Upset’s misfortune and doubting the truth was a step too far for many fans, and the responses made that clear.

Nemesis continued to double down on his aspersions after the threads had become popular, saying he didn’t know anything concrete didn’t excuse the accusations from many fans. Nemesis clearly stated he does not believe public statements in this vein, and seemed to dismiss the community backlash as unreasonable.

Nemesis has yet to address the community’s response in a capacity more formal than Discord. He had previously tweeted trying to laugh it off, but promptly deleted the thread and has made no comment since. However he chooses to respond, he’s already lost a lot of goodwill with the community.