Team Liquid knocked G2 Esports down on their way to the EMEA VALORANT Champions Tour Last Chance Qualifier grand final. With a 2-1 win, Liquid looks confident, having only lost their first map in the LCQ during this series. So Travis “L1NK” Mendoza was relaxed in the post-game interview.
L1NK talked Team Liquid’s game plan with host Harry “JustHarry” Russell, but the strategy, it turned out, was quite simple.
“Go to [Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho]’s bomb site,” L1NK said jokingly, sparking a laugh from his teammates in the background. “But no, we just knew we had to play the same as we always played. We just played the same as every practice, we do the same things every time. We need to make sure we stay calm because sometimes we get a little overzealous, which happened in the third map.”
Team Liquid faces their first map loss on their way to the LCQ final
Liquid played some interesting compositions, such as a flashless comp on Bind in Game 2. G2 took that map, but according to L1NK, the loss was not due to comp issues.
“We just lost because the difference in how we played against Guild and how we played against G2 on Bind was massive,” he said. “We know it has nothing to do with our comp, we need to play after-plant situations better. That’s probably our weakest point, so have fun anti-stratting that.”
L1NK kept a straight face as he threw around cheeky remarks. He went on to talk about new teammate Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom, who joined Team Liquid ahead of the LCQ when James “Kryptix” Affleck announced his break due to personal reasons last month.
Nivera has so far proven to be a useful asset for Team Liquid in the LCQ, playing multiple agents in Viper, Killjoy and Sova. According to L1NK, Nivera’s role with a multitude of agents is exactly how they wanted to use him.
“We need someone who can do these jobs and he’s obviously showing that he can come in and do it pretty well,” L1NK said.
With their win over G2 Esports, Team Liquid goes on to the LCQ grand final, where they’ll face either G2 in a rematch or the winner of Guild and Futbolist for a spot at Champions.
