Hylissang Reportedly Joining MAD Lions

As reported on Tuesday, November 8, Fnatic’s long-standing League of Legends support player Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov will be joining MAD Lions for the 2023 season.

If the reports are correct, Hylissang will part ways with Black & Orange after nearly five years with the organization.

One of the most recognizable Western League of Legends players and an iconic member of Fnatic, Hylissang, is reportedly leaving the Black & Orange this offseason.

The rumors of Hylissang leaving the team began at the start of the offseason, but it wasn’t until earlier this week that reputable sources revealed that the 27-year-old is nearing the exit doors.

If the reports are correct, Hylissang will leave Fnatic after four years and ten months, and one of the iconic players of the organization. Hylissang joined Fnatic in December 2017 and has been the team’s starting support ever since, helping the European esports organization reach unprecedented heights – including the grand finals of the 2019 LoL World Championship.

Interestingly, Hylissang signed a new contract with Fnatic in 2021, extending his stay to November 2023. Still, after Fnatic decided to freshen up its LoL division, namely the bottom lane, the organization supposedly didn’t include Hylissang in their future plans.

The reports of Hylissang leaving Fnatic come just a day after it was unveiled that Fnatic will re-sign their iconic ADC player Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, who will rejoin his old team after two years. But even though Rekkles has spent most of his career playing alongside Hylissang, he’ll supposedly get to play with a new teammate in the bottom lane in 2023.

Fnatic have yet to officially confirm Hylissang’s departure, nor has Hylissang commented on the recent rumors. However, we can expect more information about Hylissang and his future in the coming weeks.

According to reports, Hylissang will leave Fnatic and join MAD Lions as a replacement for Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser, who is set to join Team Vitality.

Moreover, MAD Lions are nearing the signing of ADC Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság from Vitality, who will rejoin MAD Lions after one year.

Hylissang kicked off his esports career in 2014 with Unicorns of Love, with who he competed in EU LCS and has achieved reasonable success.

With UoL, Hylissang finished the 2015 Spring playoffs and the 2015 EU Regional Finals in second place, adding another runner-up finish at the 2016 EU Regional Finals and EU LCS 2017 Spring Playoffs, as well as a title from IEM Season 11 Oakland.

After proving himself at Unicorns of Love, Hylissang got picked up by Fnatic for the 2018 season, when he teamed up with Rasmus “caPs” Borregaard Winther, Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau, Paul “sOAZ” Boyer, and Rekkles.

Joining Fnatic, marked a huge step for Hylissang, who would enjoy a lot of success over the next four years. During his stay, Hylissang won two LEC titles, reached the semifinals of MSI 2018, and made it to the grand finals of the 2018 LoL World Championship.

But despite the team’s success in earlier days, Fnatic haven’t achieved the results expected of them in 2022. Last season, Fnatic were one of the top teams in Europe but failed to win a single title – finished the spring and summer split in fourth place.

But most notably, Fnatic failed to show up at the LoL World Championship 2022, where they finished the first round of the group stage with a 2-1 record, only to flatter in the second half and exit the tournament in ninth-10th place with a 2-4 record.

Following a disappointing performance at Worlds, Fnatic were expected to make roster changes, and as of now, two changes have already been confirmed. Besides parting ways with ADC Elias “Upset” Lipp, Fnatic are now also looking to replace its support player.

Unfortunately, it remains to be seen who’ll replace Hylissang in the bottom lane.