Player profile: Hylissang

Hylissang began playing videogames when he was nine, and started to get into strategy games at age eleven, in 2008, when he discovered Heroes of Might and Magic III, which two years later led him to World of Warcraft. In 2011 Hylissang began playing League of Legends.

From the very beginning Hylissang stood out in the European server, and was therefore invited to join the initial roster of the newly-formed Unicorns of Love, team with which Hylissang would take his first steps in competitive League of Legends; he did so alongside players like Vizicsacsi and Vardags, who would also leave their mark in Europe.

Up until that point, Hylissang was mostly a mid laner, but Unicorns was in need of a support and the Bulgarian decided to change to the bottom-lane role.

In their first year Unicorns of Love managed to qualify themselves for the 2015 LCS after a masterful Challenger Series and after winning against Millenium in the decisive match. Thus the era of the unicorns began and Hylissang arrived at the LCS to stay.

Surprise sparked the public after Unicorns got fifth place in the regular season, which qualified them for the playoffs. They got to the final and  lost 2-3 against a Fnatic that was still in its prime.

During the second split of the year they secured a deserved fourth place thanks to some great games Hylissang played with Leona, Annie and Alistar, champions with whom he was feared.

In the playoff Unicorns fell again to Rekkles´ Fnatic, this time in the semifinals, which left them with one final chance to reach the world championship; they lost the opportunity to Origin. The two teams which defeated Unicorns then went on to reach the semifinals at Worlds, proving the unprecedented levels of talent European players had.

2016 was practically the same as 2015 for Hylissang and the rest of the unicorns, getting stuck in both splits at the middle of the table and almost reaching Worlds; the chance to enter was this time lost to Splyce. It was also a hard year for Hylissang, as he had to watch how his teammates, bar Vizicsacsi, moved somewhere else.

It wasn’t until the end of 2016 that Unicorns saw some success. At IEM Season 11 Oakland they managed to come out victorious against the best teams from other regions that had also been left out of Worlds.

From there they arrived at the LCS, ending the first split with 11 victories and only 2 defeats. Regrettably, Unicorns lost the playoff final against G2, team which was beginning its famous European takeoff.

In summer the unicorns ended the split in second place, but at the playoff they placed fourth after losing to Misfits.

Despite the apparent setbacks, the work performed by Hylissang did not go unnoticed; it was an old rival, Fnatic, who saw enough potential in him to make him join their star-filled roster.

Results followed thereafter. In 2018 Fnatic won everything at the European level, and at the international one they reached the semifinals of the MSI and the Worlds final stage, being bested in both by powerful Chinese teams RNG and Invictus Gaming, who in those years took away the prior hegemony South Korean teams had enjoyed.

By 2019 Hylissang had already consecrated himself as the most influential support player in Europe, and his bot lane with Rekkles was the most dreaded of all.

Still, that year G2 had snatched their former mid laner Caps. Across 2019 and 2020 Fnatic witnessed how Ocelote´s organization trampled all over them in three consecutive European finals. Fnatic had gone from winning it all to seeing itself overwhelmed by G2, and, despite reaching quarter finals in both world championships, it became quite clear the team needed to implement a few changes; this situation was only aggravated after G2 yet again managed to snatch Rekkles, making way for the arrival of ADC Upset along with that of Adam and Nisqy for top and mid; Bwipo, previously a top laner, changed his role to that of a jungler.

Such shuffling seemed risky, yet it turned out positively for Fnatic. In 2021 the team finally exacted revenge upon G2 and Rekkles by taking away their spot at Worlds.

After an inconsistent year Hylissang and Fnatic achieved their objective of qualifying for the world championship, which was particularly surprising due to the fact they successfully went through three bo5 matches in a single week, getting to the fifth game in each of them.

Hylissang would leave Fnatic in November 2022.