FalleN, Stewie2K & Grim Benched by Team Liquid

Following weeks of speculation, Team Liquid has finally confirmed the news that Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Jake “Stewie2K” Yip and Michael “Grim” Wince have all been removed from the organization’s active CS:GO roster. General manager Steve Perino broke the news via a video posted on Twitter, with the futures of the trio being very much uncertain as a result of the decision.

Liquid is expected to undertake a significant roster rebuild ahead of the 2022 season, with the team having missed out on a spot at the PGL Stockholm Major Playoffs last month, coming as a bitter blow to the org. It has been a period of uncertainty for Liquid, with the team having played the BLAST Premier Fall Final, IEM Winter and BLAST Premier World Final without even practicing together.

Why Liquid Chose to Bench the Trio

More details surrounding the future of Liquid’s CS:GO roster will become clear in the coming weeks, with FalleN, Stewie2K and Grim likely to be exploring their options during this time too. Stewie2K was the longest-standing of the three, with the former ELEAGUE Boston Major winner having joined the org in December 2018. The 23-year-old American played a crucial role in Liquid’s winning streak in 2019, when the org won the IEM Sydney, DreamHack Masters Dallas, ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals and ESL One Cologne. As a result of such results, Liquid also won the Intel Grand Slam Season Two.

Meanwhile, Grim only joined Liquid in August 2020, having replaced Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella in the process. Cannella switched to VALORANT as a result. During his time with Liquid, Grim’s only championship win came at the online cs_summit eight in May this year. The same can be said of FalleN, who arrived at Liquid in January 2021, in order to replace Russel “Twistzz” Val Dulken. FalleN also acted as in-game leader following his arrival.

Many rumors are currently circulating regarding which direction Liquid will go in next. However, it appears that nitr0 will return, while negotiations are believed to be taking place to bring in Richard “shox” Papillon from Vitality, as well as Joshua “oSee” Ohm from Extra Salt. The trio would compete alongside Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and Keith “NAF” Markovic, who have kept their positions on Liquid’s active roster.

What the Future Holds for FalleN, Stewie2K and Grim

Elsewhere, it looks like FalleN has already taken steps following his benching, with the Brazilian working on forming a new team. Meanwhile, Stewie2K has already been linked with a switch to Evil Geniuses, where he would play alongside Timothy “autimatic” Ta once again, while Grim is a target for Complexity.