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After various regional successes, a second place at the SI 2021, and a semi-finals exit at the Mexico Major, few expected Liquid to make changes. The team looked to be on the right track, even if it was not able to replicate its own title-winning highs. However, the legendary ‘Siege' powerhouse was about to make some significant changes.
Everything started with the surprising exits of João “HSnamuringa” Deam and Thiago “xS3xyCake” Reis, two very experienced and pivotal players in the team. Even more shocking were their replacements, Gabriel “AsK” Santos and Pablo “resetz” Oliveira.
“We saw other teams signing younger players, and we saw that only us and NiP weren’t doing this,” said Team Liquid’s analyst Marcelo “mcunha” Cunha in an interview with SiegeGG.
The Liga Six and Copa do Brasil have given young talents the chance to show off against BR6 rosters, which has led to players signing for top-flight organizations. Team Liquid’s new recruitments are no exception, as resetz had stepped up to the BR6 Black Dragons roster from the team’s academy, while AsK had been playing for Team oNe’s academy.
The reason behind these additions was their “gun-skill”, as their “inexperience” and “communication issues” are aspects of the game that Liquid believes can be “improved”.
“When we wanted to change Sexy, we wanted a support that could play IGL,” said mcunha. “AsK, a wunderkind, does that,” he explained.
Meanwhile, resetz was the perfect pick as “he can play around verticality, has an incredible gun skill and can play as an entry”.
According to mcunha, that was a very needed change as “Nesk was the only entry”, which “forced Sexy, the support, to take that role” when Nesk died early in a round. Sometimes, he explained, the team “did not even enter the building” when that happened. With resetz, Team Liquid now has two entry players.
Despite the departures of two big Brazilian names, Liquid is confident that these two signings can massively improve the team. With the squad already qualified for the SI 2022, the players can focus on building synergy and fitting all the roles together.
Another key factor behind what could be a future roster of international champions is the experience that the core trio has, as Paluh, Nesk, and psk1 have played on the biggest stages of the game.
“It is great to have both Paluh and Nesk, they help me and Silence to get the best out of resetz and AsK, because they are amazing at releasing their pressure,” said mcunha.
Overall, the new signings have enjoyed a great start at the team, which has been taking its first steps in its own region. However, the real challenges come now: with the Copa Elite Six Stage 3 around the corner, Team Liquid will be looking to secure a Sweden Major invitation to test how the roster performs at an international stage.
“We should give it some time, however we have been performing well on the short-term. Our humble objective is to start a new dynasty, like G2 had,” said mcunha.
The analyst went through the players and sees no reason why they can not achieve that goal, as “Paluh and Nesk are two of the best in the world, psk1 is a support with gun-skill, and the team has now two wunderkinds”.
The Copa Elite Six Stage 3 group stage draw will be held after the conclusion of the last BR6 match on the 10th of October between Team Liquid and Santos e-Sports, which will start at 5pm BRT (+7 UTC).