Team Liquid would bench Rainwaker

After a disastrous run in the ESL Pro League S18, Team Liquid seems to have made a radical decision regarding its Counter-Strike lineup.

According to different reports in the last hours, the organization sent Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov to the team’s bench after only two months in Liquid’s starting lineup. Moreover, this move comes just a few days before the start of the BLAST Fall Showdown, so the team will have to adapt to a completely new player in just a few days.

On the other hand, Rainwaker has not performed at the expected level since he joined Team Liquid when they decided to expand their borders by forming an international lineup.

Team Liquid benches Rainwaker

According to a report from Ryan Friend, an esports journalist from Dust2.us, Team Liquid decided to bench Rainwaker ahead of the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown.

Report: @TeamLiquidCS bench European ahead of @BLASTPremier Showdownhttps://t.co/WLYnE88HLt

— Dust2.us (@dust2us) October 1, 2023

In addition, the report details that Team Liquid will play with Damian “daps” Steele, its current Head Coach, in the next tournament that starts on October 4. On the other hand, it is highlighted that Rainwaker is not “completely dissociated” from Team Liquid, but what is certain is that he will not play in the tournament organized by BLAST. Also, remember that, after the bad results recently, Team Liquid is adjusting its lineup so that it may be that, shortly, Rainwaker will return to the starting lineup.

About Team Liquid

As we know, Team Liquid was always the most popular North American team in the Counter-Strike scene. However, they decided to change their roster and let go of two of their legends, Nick “nitr0” Cannella and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, to form a lineup with a European majority.

Since that time, this team has not performed well in the Tier 1 tournaments they have participated in, and the team did not even make it far in the ESL Pro League S18, Gamers8, and also failed to advance from the Play-In Phase of IEM Cologne 2023.

Right now, Team Liquid may be in a big dilemma, as Rainwaker’s talent is undeniable, so letting him go could be a big mistake. In addition, there is also the fact that, currently, few players in the free agency can replace the European in the team and have the necessary level of play.

On the other hand, let’s remember that the CS NA scene is really hit, and there are very few talented players right now in free agency.

Team Liquid needs to wake up as soon as possible

There is no doubt that Team Liquid needs to wake up as soon as possible since, in the blink of an eye, they could be surpassed, even by Complexity Gaming, a team with an all-North American lineup.

In addition, in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, the team needs to give a good image and go as far as possible; otherwise, it could mean other changes in the lineup in the coming weeks.

Header: Team Liquid