Image via Ubisoft
In terms of results, you would never tell that Liquid has made two roster moves in its squad this year. A Six Invitational second place, First place in BR6 in Stages 1 and 2, and a semi-final finish at the Mexico Major are results that every team wishes to have.
But it was not enough for Liquid, who thought the best was still to come. In order to reach its prime, the blue roster dropped the highly-experienced duo Thiago “xS3xyCake” Reis and João “HSnamuringa” Deam and replaced them with the 18-year-olds Gabriel “AsK” Santos and Pablo “resetz” Oliveira.
Liquid’s analyst Marcelo “mcunha” Cunha revealed the reason behind this change in a SiegeGG interview before the Copa Elite Six Stage 3. The team wanted to rejuvenate the roster, with AsK being a “support who can also work as an IGL'' and resetz a “second entry with fragging power who can also play vertically.”
Working with two inexperienced players gets easier when the rest of the squad is formed by international champions and SI finalists. Liquid’s three-man core has been together since September 2019, one of these pieces being Year 5 best player Luccas “Paluh” Molina. The Brazilian player went through Liquid’s season in an interview with SiegeGG.
According to Paluh: “We made the change there because we knew we would have time to prepare for the Six Invitational, our goal. Even though we didn’t qualify for Sweden, we had time to improve, fix mistakes, especially in communication, sometimes we lost ourselves in callouts, we made it work against NiP in the Finals.”
Swapping one of the most talented supports and IGLs in the game for an 18-year-old with no top-flight experience is a huge gamble, especially in Siege. Liquid went big but wasn’t off to a good start, as the roster missed out on the Sweden Major following a resounding defeat against Ninjas in Pyjamas.
“It was difficult at the beginning, they are very different players in every single aspect. AsK has a way to think that he likes to adapt a lot, something our team was really weak at. We had really solid strats, but against teams like NiP we struggled a lot, because they adapt and change a lot. He coming in, he is our IGL, so he can organize the team really well in those situations,” Paluh admitted.
Despite his age, AsK seems to perfectly cope with his role. The now 19-year-old IGL is giving instructions to some of the best players in the region, so far being successful at doing so.
His adaptability in mid-rounds and his versatility makes him the perfect IGL for a squad that was struggling at making certain changes to the initial script. According to Paluh, the difference between Sexy and AsK is that the first “would choose a tactic and keeping it, so the team struggled when something new happened or we lost players mid-game” while the latest “coordinates really well and keeps the round moving, without losing the team in the round.”
To justify that, Paluh brought up the Six Invitational 2021 Grand Final, most precisely Consulate. Liquid lost that map 7-2, which saw NiP lifting the hammer minutes later. “They were aggressive, we lost a player, and we couldn’t coordinate very well.”
Liquid’s flop on Stage 3 was later on reverted in the Brasileirão Finals, where Paluh slayed MIBR by obtaining 45 kills. However, the team’s best game so far came a few days later, at the Grand Final – a BO5 match against Ninjas in Pyjamas. The young names stepped up for Team Liquid as AsK was elected as MVP of the match. Meanwhile, resetz ended with the second highest KOST (75%).
Team Liquid has one of the strongest squads in the game right now, in terms of experience, youthness, and quality. Both AsK and resetz already proved to have melted with the core, forming a hell of a squad.
Not only that, but the team has already been tested, passing with flying colors. Despite being together for just a couple months, the team has already played various BO3 series and a BO5 in front of a crowd. The experience in Paluh, André “NESKWGA” Oliveira, and Paulo “psk1” Augusto takes out the best from the young duo, which has already gone through ups and downs in its brief but intense stay in the team.
Lifting the Six Invitational hammer in Sweden is the next objective in sight, but Brazil’s dynasty might have its days counted. “I think the Six Invitational will be for a Brazilian team, but there will be a lot of changes, it is hard to say… I can see maybe NA getting a little bit better, EU has some good teams, APAC could surprise us,” Paluh said.
As far as Liquid is concerned, Paluh sees his team as “underdogs” due to the caliber of its changes. “We will bootcamp in Liquid’s heartquarters, we hope to have great scrims there, and improve,” he concluded.
Team Liquid aims to win its first international trophy since the OGA PIT Minor at the Six Invitational 2022, which will be played from Feb. 8 to Feb. 20.