It’s another day, and another loss for Team Liquid at ESL Pro League Season 21, this time at the capable hands of MOUZ in a 2:0 series that only ever looked like going one way. Here, we all saw the ugly side of Team Liquid, but it isn’t always like this.
The truth is, Liquid are sort of Counter-Strike’s ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ team right now. From day to day, you never know which version of the team will show up, producing a level of inconsistency that is incompatible with success at the top level. Personally, it’s giving me whiplash just watching them. But why? I’m going to put forward a few theories as to why they’re struggling so hard at the moment, and maybe even provide a few solutions.
Liquid’s T-sides are only getting worse
Whenever Team Liquid face a top team, they tend to struggle across the board. However, it’s their T-sides that often lead them to their downfall. Far too often, Liquid look flat, and tactically leagues behind the top five teams in the competitive CS2 scene. This makes them predictable – if they don’t find an early pick, Twistzz will call an execute at a bombsite picked at random, at times with tons of utility left over. They’re lacking depth, falling flat whenever anything beyond a plan B is required.
I hate to say it, but we’ve seen enough of Twistzz as IGL to suggest that this isn’t going to change under his leadership. It doesn’t feel like a new coach would solve the issue, either. Individually, Twistzz is still among the best riflers in the game, and it’s not exactly controversial to say he’s being wasted trying to force this limp IGL stint.
We’ve already seen plenty from ESL Pro League S21 to back up my above points, but nothing illustrates it better than the final half on Nuke in the 2:1 bracket loss against MOUZ. Liquid, faced with an 8:4 half, could not muster a single T-side round to stay in the series. You could actually see the ideas run out in real time.
No round is unloseable for Liquid
Don’t you just hate it when your teammates peek one by one in man-advantage situations? It is perhaps one of the most frustrating things in all of Counter-Strike, even in your 12k Premier matches. So imagine how Liquid fans feel, having to watch their players frequently give up man advantages in the silliest ways possible. For Liquid, the idea of an unloseable round simply doesn’t exist.
Sometimes, it even feels like Liquid players forget the win condition of certain rounds. If you have the bomb planted, the other team HAS to defuse it in time to win the round. Yet, all too often, I see Liquid giving away these free kills, not setting up crossfires, not covering each other – I could keep going, but you get what I mean. Fundamental mistakes that you’d hate to see your FACEIT teammates making.
Because of this, teams feel like they can get away with murder against Liquid. A team may look for a 2v4, where against another team, they might have saved. Then, because of Liquid’s poor fundamentals, they throw, leading to a vicious cycle in which the unloseable round just isn’t a thing. If I’m frustrated, I can only imagine how North American Liquid fans must feel.
ultimate embodies Liquid’s inconsistencies
Liquid’s back-and-forth Jekyll and Hyde-esque form is embodied best by their young AWPer, ultimate. Young Roland from Poland has had a tough first year in Tier 1, having to bounce back when teams started to really figure out his style. But even still, he remains one of the most inconsistent AWPers in Tier 1. One match, he’ll dominate and single-handedly take Liquid across the finish line, and the next, he’ll completely fall off the server.
I mean, let’s just look at some of his matches from ESL Pro League. As Liquid take down Eternal Fire in an impressive 2-0 series, ultimate drops an excellent 36-bomb on Train to ensure the win. It’s an AWPers map, sure, but it’s still a good performance. Then, they face MOUZ just a day later. He goes 12-17 and 8-15 across both maps, failing to find any impact as Liquid fall to the 2:2 bracket.
If Liquid are to get back on top, they need better from their AWPer. It’s not quite as simple as saying “Get good,” either. Sure, he may need to do better at times, but he could also be a partial victim of Team Liquid’s haphazard set-ups. If the IGL issue highlighted above was resolved, it’s possible the new skipper could find better ways to set up the obviously talented ultimate. For an example, think of what siuhy managed to do with torzi once upon a time.
Now, Liquid drop to the 2:2 bracket at ESL Pro League Season 21, with one last chance to reach the Playoffs. Given their form so far, it’s impossible to say what version of Liquid will show up on the day.
