ESL One Raleigh is now in full swing, with the second day of the round robin group stage coming up in just a few hours. The preliminaries have produced more or less the results we’ve been expecting since before the tournament started, with a few day one pleasant surprises from the likes of Nigma here and there.
PGL Wallachia Season 3 winners Team Liquid are in the mix at Raleigh, playing with a stand-in for Michał “Nisha” Jankowski in the form of Jonathan “Bryle” de Guia. So far, they have won three games and lost only one in the group stage, their record tied with ESL One Bangkok champions PARIVISION for joint second place.
And speaking of PARIVISION, Liquid’s next match happens to be against them, which will be the second top tier squad they’ll be facing off against in Group A. The first was Team Spirit, whom they split their best-of-two series with. It’s clear that although Liquid have gotten off to about as good a start as they could have hoped for at ESL One Raleigh, they’ve got more work to do if they want to start in the upper bracket.
But with their star midlaner out due to visa issues, could they still win it all in North Carolina once the competition is all done and dusted?
Gelling with Bryle
Bryle subbing in for Nisha is going to be the x-factor for Team Liquid in this tournament. By x-factor, I mean it’s highly likely that his performance will be what makes or breaks the team’s run here. This is especially true when you consider the fact that we put them at the very top of our power rankings for ESL One Raleigh, which should now come with an asterisk due to their stand-in situation.
I’m not gonna mince words here, although this is not to disparage Bryle and how well he’s played right off the bat: he is, strictly speaking, a downgrade compared to Nisha.
Bryle has proven himself a capable position 2 player over his now-eight year career, landing himself and his previous teams in grand final matches in major tournaments in the past. But Nisha is much more accomplished; his resume speaks for itself, and loudly at that.
Fortunately for them, Bryle seems to have taken this all in stride. They’re off to a nice 3-1 start in terms of maps, and he was even a close second to Michael “miCKe” Vu in terms of being the MVP in their first game against Talon Esports. He played a mighty fine position 2 Tiny in that game, looking like he didn’t even need much time to get to grips with Liquid’s playstyle and communication.
The SabeRLight- Quotient
Of course, I also have to address Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek’s presence within the squad. It’s now been seven months since he arrived in Team Liquid, and although it took a while for them to finally win a LAN with him, it did finally come to fruition at PGL Wallachia. And in his own words, SabeRLight- finally won his lanes, and it was truly “over for these jebronis” [sic].
Once I stop losing lanes its over for these jebronis
— SabeRLighT- (@jonas_volek) February 25, 2025
His signature Night Stalker was of note in that tournament, as he was able to leverage his expertise on the hero to really make an impact for Liquid when it mattered most. Even though he only managed to get his hands on the hero once in the grand final match against Tundra Esports, it was his performance in the second game of that series as Night Stalker that allowed Liquid to put the match in a stranglehold.
It’s pretty safe to say at this point that SabeRLight- has found his place in the team. They wouldn’t have made it as far as they did at Wallachia otherwise, anyway. Having an International-winning squad behind you the whole way certainly helps, but winning tournaments at the highest level requires each player to pull their weight.
When I spoke with SabeRLight- back in February, he was already starting to feel more comfortable:
“[…]I’ll settle in even more over the coming months or years, but I think the way they operate and lead this team is the same way I [personally] would like to be led — so it feels very effortless to be a part of Team Liquid.”
And that’s exactly what SabeRLight- has been doing thus far. He’s found his groove as an offlaner for Liquid, and this is just what the team needs after losing one of the best offlaners of all time in Neta “33” Shapira. The question of whether or not SabeRLight- fits in this roster has already been answered, and his play will come in handy at ESL One Raleigh and the rest of the season.
Consistency is Key
It’s not a stretch at all to say that Liquid’s consistency over the year so far has been kind of suspect. They placed second at ESL One Bangkok versus PARIVISION as I mentioned earlier in this article, then proceeded to look like a shell of themselves at FISSURE Playground Belgrade, BLAST Slam II, and DreamLeague Season 25.
They redeemed themselves at PGL Wallachia, but then went back to their losing ways at FISSURE Universe Episode 4. Granted, DreamLeague and FISSURE Universe were both online tournaments, and we know that Liquid is a different beast in an online setting, so it’s fine not to put too much weight into those two events in particular.
Still, they’ve had a real up and down season thus far, and they would definitely like to place within the top 4 at every tournament they attend from here on. ESL One Raleigh will be another big test of their composure and decision-making this year, which they’ll need to sharpen ahead of TI14.
If they can at least place third here, with a stand-in replacing their best player, I would call that a successful run. They’re certainly capable of more, but given the circumstances, my expectations for them are slightly lower than if they were able to field their full roster. But, first things first: they need to stay alive in the group stage before they can even think about the grand finals.
