European esports organisation Fnatic has signed top laner Panagiotis ‘Empryos‘ Tantis ahead of the 2026 LEC season.
The Greek top laner joins following an eleven-month stint competing under the Gentle Mates banner in the tier-two ecosystem.
Announced on December 15th, 2025, Empryos will reportedly be reunited with mid laner Vladimir ‘Vladi‘ Kourtidis in the starting line-up of the seven-time European champions. The player previously competed alongside Vladi on Riddle Esports in 2022 during the NLC Summer Split. At the time, Empyros was known as Jaxplank,
Throughout 2025, Empryos competed in the Ligue Française de League of Legend (LFL), scoring third-place finishes in Spring and Summer Splits. The player also scored a top-eight placement at EMEA Masters 2025 Spring.
“2026 will be an interesting year,” said Empyros in his first interview as a Fnatic player. “I’m really confident in myself playing versus the best top laners, and this year, I would like to go to Worlds as a rookie. I will be there and play for you, and we are going to win and lose as a team.”
The signing of Empryos is the latest change to Fnatic’s League of Legends roster during the off-season. On December 10th, the organisation parted ways with mid laner Yun ‘Poby‘ Sung-won as part of its rebuild ahead of LEC 2026 Versus, the first split of the year.
Fnatic In 2025
Fnatic’s 2025 campaign showed signs that it can still compete among Europe’s very best League of Legends teams. Third-place finishes in LEC Winter and LEC Summer, alongside a fourth place in LEC Spring, were solid performances, but weren’t enough to see the team secure consistent qualification to international events.
The sole international appearance for Fnatic came at the 2025 World Championship. Defeats to CTBC Flying Oyster, Hanwha Life Esports, and Movistar KOI sent the team home without a win to its name and a disappointing top-16 finish.
With Empryos impressing in the LFL, it will be interesting to see if he can continue his solid performances on Europe’s biggest stage.
