Liquid have endured a rollercoaster ride since revamping their roster three months ago. They kicked off life with Johnny "JT" Theodosiou and Georgi "Jorko" Mitev with wins over Vitality and G2, and a second-place finish at Stake Pulse Beat I, but consistent results have been hard to come by since.
Their recent run of form, which saw them exit 1win Private Club without a map win before upsetting MOUZ here in Bucharest, highlights the team's inconsistency.
"In Serbia we were making a lot of mistakes," Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski told HLTV when reflecting on why Liquid went from a last-place exit to an upset victory over MOUZ.
"Our communication wasn't the best, there was a lot that we could have done better there. The teamwork was just breaking down, and that gave us a focus point for this event. And we had good scrims, a good talk afterwards, and yeah, we just played a lot better in this one because of those losses."
EliGE says he hopes Liquid can take their recent lessons and use them to raise their floor level, because their upcoming run of matches is incredibly important for the future of the team.
"[It's] very important that we get wins here because there are invites that go out after this tournament. So we need to just keep the foot on the gas pedal and play as well as we can because all of the points matter right now."
You can listen to the interview here.
So first, congratulations on a big win. Just talk me through your first reactions.
Just really happy, us getting this win is really big for us. That's a lot of VRS points, especially since we were losing, we went 0-2, 0-2 at 1win right beforehand. So just getting a big win against MOUZ and us playing well on top of that makes me really proud.
Why do you think it's the case that Liquid have maybe been struggling a bit for consistency in these tier-two LANs, but then you come here and play like that against MOUZ?
I would just say that the LAN that we just played in, in Serbia, is just highlighting our weaknesses. I think that all the teams are very close to each other, I think there's just a select few that are super elite that are very hard to crack.
In Serbia we were making a lot of mistakes. Our communication wasn't the best, there was a lot that we could have done better there. The teamwork was just breaking down, and that gave us a focus point for this event. And we had good scrims, a good talk afterwards, and yeah, we just played a lot better in this one because of those losses, I guess. Now it's just going to be up to us for that floor or this floor, I guess... I would like for this to be our floor is what I mean.
Obviously it was a very close series throughout, every half of Counter-Strike played was super close. That first map, just considering MOUZ are such a top team and you're not quite at that level at the moment, was it tough to bounce back after a first map like that, where you end up losing in OT?
No, I wouldn't say so. It feels a little bit bad that we kind of wasted a 1v5 god clutch from NAF, but it doesn't feel that bad. We have not really played too much Ancient. We've been kind of doing... I wouldn't say a seven-map pool, but we've been kind of ready for Ancient to pull it out in like a moment like this. So we had a good pick ban, we expected all the maps that were played and we were prepped on all the maps that were played.
Us getting as many rounds as we did against a team that actually plays Ancient is really good for us. So I'm pretty confident about it. Even though we lost, it just kind of sucks that we don't win when a teammate 1v5s, but I think that was why it was easy for us, since that was kind of like a free map for us, you know? If we win it, that's great. If we don't, well, whatever.
It felt like throughout the series you were making good adjustments. Like I say, it was super close, always back and forth, no one really put together any big streaks. Those type of adjustments in game, how much do you put it down to prep, knowing what MOUZ do, and how much do you put it on just figuring things out on the fly?
Well, it's always a combination of both. With prep, you're always kind of confirming that it's true first. So we come into the game with a sort of game plan, and we're like, we know that they like to do these things, but we always need to confirm that they're going to do it. Because they can come in with their own game plan and we go in, play the first two rounds and be like, "Okay, they're doing what we expected." I'd say that's pretty much how we're approaching the prep.
In terms of the adjustments, we're also using that prep. Even if they haven't done what we're expecting in those rounds, we still know that it's in their back pocket and their preferred way of playing. So even if they start first one or two rounds with something specific, they'll probably go back to what they're comfortable with after.
In general, now you've had a bit of time with JT and Jorko on the team, how is this version of Liquid shaping up compared to the version before with siuhy and ultimate?
Well, there's still inconsistency, obviously. Since we came into this season pretty good, we did good at the Blast Bounty, and then we didn't really have a lot of tier-one tournaments afterwards. It was more tier-two grindy tournaments that we had to play. There was also a big gap in between there. So there's been a lot of time, but there's also just been necessary losses for us to highlight our mistakes. Because when you're playing practice, you can be like, "Yo, this is a mistake, we gotta fix this. Yo, this is a mistake, we gotta fix this." And until it gets punished in the match, then that's when it gets taken seriously.
That's kind of what I would say this season has kind of been. Where it is serious, we do need to fix this, and the losses that we had even right before this tournament kind of highlight that.
I'd say just overall for the season, our floor still isn't that high. I think that we have good players, we have a good way that we want to play, but we still have to have good teamwork with each other. We still have to play good Counter-Strike. Even if we have the plans that we want or the structure that we think is good, if we're not ping-ponging back and forth with each other and making plans, or when things go wrong, trying to adjust something, then you're going to lose. It doesn't matter what structure you have or how much time you've had to practice, you do have to show up well on that day, and it's going to be onto us, like I said earlier, where we have to make this level our floor. That's going to be the goal.
Do you have in your head kind of an idea of the timeline? When do you want to be at the point where this is the best version of Liquid?
I've never really thought about it, honestly, because I try to just stay more present of what's next, what's next.
Take each day at a time?
Yeah, take each day at a time. But if I was to think practically, then I'd say even the first or second month of next year. But also people's thoughts change as we play these important tournaments. We have a big tournament now, we have Beijing after, we have the Major after that. So I think that we'll also see how that feels. I think it's all about, are we on the good direction? Is it improving? And just take it from there.
Like you say, you've got this run of tier-one events now, after a bit of a break of not playing any. Did you set any goals or expectations for these tier-one events? Anything you wanted to achieve? Or was it just, like you say, take each day as it comes?
Well, I would've liked to do better at the tournaments that we just played at. At Pulse, I think they were very disappointing. So the expectation for those, at least me personally, was I thought that we would at least be playoffs in those and be fighting for at least like a second place, third place, fourth place. So definitely a lot under expectations.
Then for these tournaments, this one, we do need to do well. We need to at least get playoffs, so that is an expectation for me, to an extent. Of course one day at a time and all that, but they're very important that we get wins here because there are invites that go out after this tournament. So we need to just keep the foot on the gas pedal and play as well as we can because all of the points matter right now.
MOUZ
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Adrian 'xelex' Vincze
Dennis 'sycrone' Nielsen
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiPast 3 months
Vitality
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
William 'mezii' Merriman
Rémy 'XTQZZZ' Quoniam
Liquid
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
Georgi 'Jorko' Mitev
Viktor 'flashie' Tamás Bea
Georgi 'Jorko' MitevPast 3 months
G2
Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač
Guy 'NertZ' Iluz
Artem 'r1nkle' Moroz
Nikita 'HeavyGod' Martynenko
Matúš 'MATYS' Šimko
Eetu 'sAw' Saha
Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouPast 3 months