Former ENCE Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen is practicing with the Team Liquid VALORANT team as Adam “ec1s” Eccles’ replacement, according to sources with knowledge of the move.
Jamppi, who is set to join his first professional VALORANT roster, expressed his desire to move to Riot Games’ first-person shooter following his indefinite ban by CS:GO developers Valve on Jan. 26. He is set to replace ec1s, who has been a part of Team Liquid’s roster since the organization’s entrance to VALORANT in August 2020.
The move follows Team Liquid’s early exit from the Champions Tour Europe Stage 1 tournament, which concluded Feb. 21. The organization failed to qualify for the main event following a 2-1 defeat to Alliance in the round of 16.
The European side has failed to take down G2, Heretics and FunPlus Phoenix in the past, arguably three of the best teams in European VALORANT, according to VLR.gg. But Team Liquid remains a prominent team in VALORANT, with former CS:GO player Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom leading the roster.
During his short stint with ENCE, Jamppi produced some inconsistent results. In June, ENCE finished in the top two of the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 European Showdown alongside Team Vitality. However, the roster would later finish eighth place alongside OG in the European finals, losing to G2 Esports.
This would be Jamppi’s first VALORANT team following his abrupt departure from CS:GO in January. Based on his style of play, Jamppi could play some form of duelist or controller for Liquid, but he has not announced any preferred agents or roles.
If Jamppi completes the move to Team Liquid, the roster will be as follows:
- ScreaM
- James “Kryptix” Affleck
- Dom “soulcas” Sulcas
- Travis “L1NK” Mendoza
- Jamppi
- Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield (coach)
If the move goes through, Jamppi could have to help Team Liquid reach VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: Europe Stage 1 Challengers 3 through an open qualifier. The event takes place from March 6-7.
