Fnatic welcome Empyros to their 2026 LoL roster

On Monday, December 15, Fnatic announced the arrival of Panagiotis “Empyros” Tantis, who joins the European League of Legends team as a new top laner.

Empyros joins Fnatic as one of three new members of the 2026 starting lineup, replacing Óscar “Oscarinin” Muñoz.

At the same time, Francesco “Shelfmade” Cardia was also considered but ultimately not picked up by the European squad.

The decision to sign the Greek player came very late in the offseason.

That was mainly because Fnatic decided to first sort out their mid lane and support situation, needing to find replacements for Yun “Poby” Sung-won and Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle, who were both let go.

The 21-year-old joins Fnatic with no experience competing in any top-tier leagues.

He has, however, grown his reputation as one of the top talents in the European Regional Leagues (ERLs), having spent the last season with Gentle Mates in the French league.

With Gentle Mates, Empyros hasn’t won a single trophy in the 2025 season.

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  The bookies' bookie

However, he placed third in Ligue Française de League (LFL) Spring and Summer splits, and ended the year with a ninth-16th place finish in the EMEA Masters Summer.

Despite his lack of experience in the highest tier of competitive LoL, Empyros puts on Fnatic’s jersey with pre-established synergy with the reported new mid laner, Vladimir “Vladi” Kourtidis.

According to reports, this was one of the key factors in Fnatic’s decision to pick the young player.

The Greek duo previously competed together at Riddle Esports and WLGaming Esports in 2022.

Empyros’s arrival also officially confirms the departure of Oscarinnin, whose three-year stay with Fnatic comes to an end, despite having signed a contract extending his contract with Fnatic until the end of 2026.

With a new top laner, Fnatic’s 2026 LoL roster is nearly finalized, still needing to announce a new mid laner and support, Vladi and Park “Lospa” Joon-hyeong.

Empyros is set to debut for Fnatic at the LoL EMEA Championship (LEC) 2026 Versus.