YEKINDAR is the key to figuring out Liquid's new fifth

One of the most interesting storylines heading into IEM Cologne is Liquid's recent hiring of Mareks "YEKINDAR" Galinskis as a stand-in, and how he will fit into a squad that has undergone some dramatic changes recently. Even though it is doubtful that YEKINDAR will be able to join Liquid permanently due to the current sanctions against Virtus.pro and its parent companies, his trial could indicate who Liquid will be looking for in the future to replace Richard "shox" Papillion.

YEKINDAR and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski are both prolific entry fraggers that are the best from their respective regions. With both players having clashing roles, it begs the question of how Liquid will accommodate and fit each player into roles that give them the best chance in this event. If YEKINDAR is moved into that entry position, it would imply that Liquid is looking to shake up roles after a stagnant 2022. Liquid could move EliGE to the second player in on site as T, or even wilder and unlikely, remove him from the roster.

Two entry fraggers

YEKINDAR is currently known as one of the best entry fraggers in the game, and during his time on Outsiders he had an absurd 1.21 opening-kill rating. Interestingly, Liquid also have an incredibly aggressive player, as their current entry-fragger, EliGE, has the highest opening-kill rating, 1.19, on the team since Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella joined earlier this year.

The combination of two entry fraggers is something that has rarely worked in the past, the most notable example of which being the role-clash between Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye and Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. This seems to indicate that during Cologne there will be a role change on the team unless the new head coach, Damian "daps" Steele, decides to play YEKINDAR in shox's roles on both T and CT sides. On the CT-side, it wouldn't be insanity if YEKINDAR was slotted into these roles, but for the T-side that is a different issue entirely.

Role change

As an aggressive lurker in recent times, shox hasn't played with the passive nature we used to see in him when he became one of the top five clutch players of all time. The recent form of shox is an entirely different player to YEKINDAR and it would be a waste of one of the world's best talents if he was sloppily placed in shox's T-side roles. In my opinion, it is far more likely that YEKINDAR slides to the entry role while EliGE will become the second man on T-side. This way, you utilize two aggressive players whilst also trying out a system that could lead to Liquid being successful in the long run. So what does this mean for Liquid going forward as they look for a new fifth?

Something isn't working with this core, so this shows that in the future there will be changes, and their new fifth could potentially be an entry fragger. The other possibility is that their current IGL will play as an entry fragger, giving more space for his riflers to act as stars. It will be extremely interesting to see what roles they put YEKINDAR in, as that may indicate what kind of player they will aim to get in the player break. If he played in roles other than shox's it would show an interest from Liquid to try new things in order to thrive and finally turn away from a system that isn't working.

A new coach

This event could be a fantastic opportunity for daps. This could be a chance for the new coach to toy with how he wants to construct his system with the players he has now, whilst also having the opportunity to work with a world-class player. My only hope is that YEKINDAR is used in roles that force Liquid to change their style from what we have seen recently, so we can get a taste of what Liquid will look like if they change the roles of their players. daps now has the chance to be true to his word and not be a "yes man", and I truly hope he takes it.

So, what should we expect from Liquid?

When you have one of the best entry fraggers in the world on your team you should have high expectations. So many IGLs would dream of having YEKINDAR even just as a stand-in, and Liquid must capitalize on having him in the lineup. However, this is a stage of rebuilding for the team and they should be focusing on using YEKINDAR to figure out what kind of player they want to slot into this team. If utilizing YEKINDAR as an entry fragger, with EliGE in a new role is successful, it could be extremely helpful in creating a new identity for Liquid going forward. A winning identity.