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Fnatic top laner Paul “sOAZ” Boyer will not be playing with the team for the remainder of the EU LCS playoffs due to a hand injury, according to a video he posted on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
hey guys, it's a really unfortunate circumstance but i won't be playing any of the games during playoffs due to a hand issue. i will still travel to copenhagen with the team to help them as much as possible and hopefully lift the trophy with them ! pic.twitter.com/E9zwYQEzPq
— Paul Boyer (@sOAZIZGOOD) March 28, 2018
According to his video, Boyer has a hand injury and will have surgery in the next couple of days. Unfortunately, this will prevent him from playing for around two and a half weeks, though he will still travel with the team during when they play in Copenhagen, whether that’s for the Finals or the third place match.
Boyer’s replacement will be Fnatic’s back up toplaner, Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau, who played two matches during the 2018 Spring Split with the team — both wins. This will be Rau’s first experience with an LCS playoff series of any kind.
During his announcement, Boyer at no point mentions that he has any plans to retire or leave the team, indicating that he is likely to return to the starting roster of Fnatic as soon as he is able to compete again. Boyer has had one of the longest professional careers of any active League of Legends player, starting professionally in 2010 on Against All Authority, and playing on and off with Fnatic since the summer of 2012.