FNC Upset: "We have a huge problem thinking on stage"

A legendary staple of Europe, are heading into the 2026 LEC Summer Split with high expectations, especially after what has thus far been a troublesome year, with the organization unable to replicate its past results. Nevertheless, it’s now or never for the boys in black and orange, who are hoping to at least secure a top-three finish by the end of the split and improve considerably to vanquish their demons.

In an exclusive interview following their 1-2 loss to in their opening match, Fnatic AD Carry sat down with Sheep Esports to not only talk about Fnatic’s current problems but also reflect on his career and what motivates him to keep pushing forward after all these years.

Elias "Upset" Lipp: “I think we have a huge problem thinking on stage, to be honest. There's just a lot of autopiloting going on, with people not really knowing what to do. Our autopilot is just not enough to showcase good macro. So we are just feeling—I feel like people are very lost in game and don't really know what to do.

We have individually good players, but on stage it doesn't seem to work—at least it didn’t against MKOI. I’m not sure what’s the reason behind all this, but we just did not show good decision-making in any way, I would say.

Upset: Yeah, I mean, for sure people play better in scrims, but it's not an excuse, right? It's just the reality. People perform better in scrims than on stage, and it's because it has caused us to lose games on stage that we should win in scrims. We are just underperforming on stage.

Upset: Well, the key is based on two things, I would say. First, it’s much easier said than done, but the way we practice needs changes. We have to make sure that we have really good habits and that, even if we’re in stressful situations, it’s easy to recall what you’re doing and where you need to be on the map. You have to train for those aspects to be natural and happen on autopilot as well.

And the other one is just like working on your mindset. That's very difficult to do, since it's all done individually. Of course, we have people that help us with that, but in the end, you need to be able to feel confident on stage and play your best game in the moment. I think everyone has their own techniques. We are not a team full of new players. So I'm not sure exactly what causes those issues, but some of the things that I see in the stage games, it's just so different from what we should be doing.

Upset: That's a good question. It's a lot of time to cover. Let me think about it for a moment [pauses]…

I would say what stayed the same is my passion for the game. I just really love League of Legends in a way. It's been with me for more than half my life, so I'm very grateful for that. And I never lost the enjoyment of the game in itself. So I really still feel as passionate about the game as when I started, to be honest.

It is of course a stressful lifestyle, because of just being a public personality. You’ll be judged a lot since it's a competition—it makes sense. It was never very easy for me, this whole thing. Over time, I’ve learned to take more distance from it all. In the end, this is an entertainment product: some people will hate you, others will love you. It’s normal that each have their own opinions—it’s all part of it.

I already had learned that lesson by the time of my first tenure under Fnatic. From the first day you play in esports, this is one of the downsides you have to deal with. Luckily, this job also comes with a lot of other upsides too. I still feel really passionate, and I feel like I’ve developed and matured a lot over time.

Upset: The thing I like most is that I get to do something I enjoy for a living. Obviously, not every game I play is fun and all of that, but I'm very grateful that I got to choose something I'm passionate about to earn a good living with it. I'm very grateful for that. So that's the best part.

And also, I've met so many people through this career that helped me grow a lot, helped me learn more about myself, and a lot of fun as well. So these are the favorite parts of my journey in this job, I would say.

Upset: Yeah, I think it's very important because a lot of players lose their passion, let's say, and then they start treating their careers like a job.

Of course, like I said, there are salaries and stuff involved, for which we should all be very grateful, but I think there’s a lot of negativity involved today. If you don’t enjoy the game, it’s going to be a very difficult lifestyle to sustain, since you have to spend the majority of your day playing League of Legends—your free time is very limited.

So if you don't enjoy it and then there's also negative sides, that can definitely lead to burnout, right? And to you just becoming very miserable. So it's very important to keep passion alive. Which is not easy because the game has frustrating sides to it, and the nature of competition can also be very frustrating.

You’ve got to find a good balance so that you’re able to reset when things are getting too much and so you can come back freshly motivated.

There’s still partly some luck and personalities involved though. Some people just enjoy doing the same thing over and over again and some people get more tired of it.

Upset: No, I've probably had more difficulties than most players in terms of my competitive results because I'm a very driven person. I had a good career, but I haven't had the best career that I hoped for in a way. So these are the main difficulties for me, not about losing motivation to play, but dealing with falling down and getting back up again in a way, even though it sounds cliché. Those letdowns happen very regularly, especially if you don't win the split. It's always like… you need to find the positive things in it. You need to try to grow from it. You need to be grateful for what you do have, right?

Not every split that doesn't end in first has to be a horrible failure. So in the end, it's a lot about finding things you can be proud of, focusing on yourself in a way, making sure that you can be happy with what you're doing and that you find joy in it as well.

Upset: Yeah, I'm not entirely sure about it. If I had the perfect solution, I think we wouldn't have this issue at this point, but we definitely have to take a very close look at ourselves. Often, these moments where we lose games in these ways should show us a lot about ourselves, and we need reminders of what we are doing really bad, so we can learn from those things.

Obviously, it’s frustrating because we've been doing mistakes similar for a longer time, right? All we can do is really focus on ourselves, be humble, and try to grow. And if we show the best version of ourselves, I feel confident against all the teams, but obviously our big issues are our huge inconsistencies.

So, I don't want to cope too much about it, right? For now, we just need to put our heads down, work, try to figure out what we can do, and keep having hope so that we try our very best until the end, right? That's all we can do right now.”