YEKINDAR on being at IEM Chengdu: "It feels nice. The atmosphere is amazing."

Liquid hasn't had the easiest start to the year. Since they rebuilt their entire roster, the organization wasn't in a place to automatically earn invites to the biggest events across the globe. With the team also missing out on the PGL Copenhagen Major, the squad did not have a slew of top-tier events to attend this spring.

Thanks to some issues regarding Complexity and M80, Liquid found themselves at IEM Chengdu and now have the opportunity to solidify a Top 4 appearance should they win their match on Wednesday morning.

After the first game against HEROIC, Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis spoke with Anastasija "Heccu" Tolmačeva on the broadcast to explain more about their play on Ancient, how it feels to be back on LAN, and the fact that they prepared for both teams. You can watch the full conversation at the bottom of the article.

This was a really, really good start. You also had a good start in the first half - six rounds in a row. We saw HEROIC against VP on this map and you kind of did the same thing. Were you trying to replicate that style to see if there was some sort of weakness that HEROIC has on Ancient?

I don't think so. Obviously, we watched, and we prepared. We watched the game against VP, we watched the game against FaZe, and we saw what was working against them, but you never know if they've learned something or changed something. We just had similar instruments that VP had and it was working. I think we got a little bit unlucky when we were going A, and we were rotating A, and everytime I was dying first and because of that we did not have enough space to close out the round. I am glad we showed a really good CT-side.

Would you say that the current Liquid is a different beast when it comes to LAN?

I'm not really sure, I haven't been to a considerable LAN in like six months. It feels nice. The atmosphere is amazing.

The next one is a best-of-three. It's either going to be G2 or 9z. Did you prepare for both teams?

Yes.

Liquid through to LAN playoffs for the first time with this roster, are scheduled to play a seeding match against MOUZ on Wednesday morning at 07:30AM for a spot in the semifinals.