Liquid’s EliGE at BLAST Fall: ‘The team doesn’t really get along’

While the rumblings of large-scale North American roster shuffles have been growing louder and louder, Team Liquid have come into the spotlight as their Counter-Strike fans await the inevitable dissolution of the team. The top roster in NA throughout the past few years, Liquid recently missed playoffs at the PGL Major amid conversations about the team not gelling.

Today at the BLAST Premier: Fall Final media day, in separate interviews with Pley.gg,  Team Liquid’s Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and Jake “Stewie2K” Yip both addressed the team’s internal turmoil and upcoming roster moves.

“We all know we’re going to be making changes,” EliGE said, confirming earlier statements he’d made on his Twitch stream. “It’s not going to be our roster that we’re sticking with.”

EliGE is the longest tenured member of Liquid, having played with the team since 2015. The expectation is that, whatever changes are implemented, EliGE will remain on the roster. The same can’t be said for Stewie2K or Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, who were both named in reports from RushBMedia and Jaxon as Liquid members looking to be leave the organization.

“The team doesn’t really get along,” EliGE said. “And no, it’s not just me against everyone.”

EliGE pointed to the difficulties of travelling as well as unresolved issues that led to the friction between team members. Stewie2K echoed the statement in his own interview with Pley.gg, comparing the clashing of personalities to the star-laden Los Angeles Lakers roster in the NBA.

“You put a team together which have so many stars and they are supposed to succeed on paper,” Stewie2K said. “But look at the Lakers now, they are not really succeeding and performing in the way they should. That’s the same for us.”

Liquid at the BLAST Fall Final

Team Liquid have not practiced together since they were eliminated from the PGL Major. Stewie2K was quick to temper expectations for the team’s fans as they head into the first matches of the BLAST Fall Final.

“For the fans, I want them to know that we have almost zero to no expectations at this event and that’s why we haven’t played together going into the tournament,” he said. “Changes are going to happen soon, so there’s really no need to continue practicing. We are going to use what we have used all year long.

The BLAST Premier: Fall Final kicks off tomorrow, Nov. 24, 2021. The games will be played in an offline setting and eventually in front of a live audience at the Copenhagen Royal Arena. Team Liquid’s first match is against Team Vitality at 6:00 a.m. ET.