Media: No r1nkles in Liquid's plan
Richard Lewis hinted during a stream this week that Liquid were interested in acquiring star AWPer Artem "r1nkle" Moroz from Ninjas in Pyjamas. It is important to note that Lewis said this information was from a reliable source, but he had not personally vetted the rumors himself; "I'm just being a garbage clickbait Lewis."
The young NIP AWPer has turned heads since the Swedish team finished their rebuild. He has posted a 1.11 HLTV Rating so far this year. He has been particularly impressive as of late, finishing YaLLa Compass 2024 with the third highest rating of the entire tournament at a 1.24 HLTV rating. Liquid announced the benching of IGL and AWPer Casper "cadiaN" Møller from the starting lineup this week. Naturally, the American-Dutch organization is on the lookout for a new sniper to wield the big green.
Dust2 Sweden spoke with NIP in regards to rumor after it began to circulate in Swedish media. r1nkle will not be Liquid's newest member, according to the organization. "He doesn't want to go anywhere, he loves his team, and of course we want to keep him," said NIP's Director of Esports Erik Wendel.
Wendel did not immediately discredit Liquid's attraction in the youngster either, writing "there is not much to say other than that we signed one of CS's great future players, there are many teams that have their eyes on him but he belongs in NIP."
Liquid will need to sort their full five by the roster lock of BLAST Fall Groups 2024, which goes into effect on July 8th, three weeks before the start of the event. Liquid, then, are on a short timer to figure out what to do, with cadiaN already on the bench and Felipe "skullz" Medeiros potentially moving back home.
