Editorial: The coaches and players Liquid needs to pursue

After a disappointing first half to 2024, Liquid will undergo another rebuild, their third in just under two years. Departing the organization are dual IGL AWPer Casper "cadiaN" Møller, anchor Felipe "skullz" Medeiro, and coach Wilton "zews" Prado.

Those removals mean Liquid are in the market for a lot of exceptional players: AWPer, IGL, lurk, coach, Liquid could use them all. With the roster lock for BLAST Fall Groups falling on July 8th, Liquid will need to make these moves quickly to prepare for the coming season.

With that being said, let's take a look at the market and see what free, or not so free, agents Liquid could pick up to bolster their squad ahead of the second half of 2024.

Coaches

Starting off the list, Liquid could take a peek at one of the most influential and renowned coaches in Counter-Strike history, Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik. Removed from BIG earlier this year, this is the perfect opportunity for Liquid to pick up a coach with some heft behind his name.

As the godfather of many of the best IGLs in Counter-Strike throughout the years, gob b would be a perfect choice if Liquid need to pass the leading baton to someone unfamiliar with the role, say Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken.

Continuing with the European theme, Liquid could pick up Apeks' Torbjørn "mithR" Nyborg for an air of experience and strong player development. With nearly a decade of coaching experience, mithR clearly has the resume for the role. Add in a year coaching a young MOUZ roster and two years for a literal academy team, mithR can easily help bring any young talent Liquid sign up to speed.

Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu makes a strong case for the role. Continuously a coach for the past eight years, peacemaker has the reps underneath his belt, and clearly has no issue working with North American teams based on his history. In fact, the Brazilian coach even worked with Liquid back in 2016, though none of the players from that roster remain tied to the organization. Being out of the Counter-Strike scene for over a year is a small worry, but peacemaker has never failed to make himself useful in the past and doubtlessly he will find a way to provide value again if called up to bat.

Finally, in the spirit of 2019, there's always the chance Nick "nitr0" Cannella comes back to the organization that earned him his fame and fortune. The most decorated North American IGL in history, nitr0 certainly has the credentials for the role. For an organization that has only been internationally relevant with nitr0 on the roster, it's an alluring prospect.

nitr0 also possesses a "leader of men" vibe that Liquid has clearly lacked. For the past few roster iterations, the emotional leadership of the team was split between coach, Twistzz, YEKINDAR when he was IGL, and Casper "cadiaN" Møller during his time. It would be immensely helpful for the emotional center of the team to reside within one player: the always-steady Captain America.

Players

Honestly, you knew I was going to suggest Justin "jks" Savage before you even click on the article. He's the best free-agent player available, period. It's all the better that he's a tried and true anchor playing some of the hardest roles in the map. With no disrespect to the Brazilian, the difference between jks and skullz on the server will be a massive boost to Liquid.

jks was removed from G2 for a lack of communication. With two certified yappers on the team in Twistzz and YEKINDAR, it's all the better that jks keeps to himself. jks doesn't fix all the problems on this team, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

On the topic of anchors, Josh "JBa" Barutt deserves a shout. He's been tearing up NA CS's domestic circuit on Wildcard and has developed to be quite a stud. Plus, at just twenty years old, he can be the youthful source of energy on a team that sits at an average age of 25. Even more important, though, is JBa's nationality: American. With only Keith "NAF" Markovic and Twistzz representing the Americas on the roster, Liquid need to pick up another player from the Americas (or one from Asia) to continue playing in the Americas RMR. JBa checks all the boxes, and while a bit of wildcard, what do Liquid have to lose after two failed projects?

To pick up the big green, Olek "hades" Miskiewicz is the best AWPer on the free market. Sure, he may have been benched from ENCE twice, but AWPers are slim picking nowadays and hades has the chops to become a star. His biggest enemy is himself, battling the inconsistency that has plagued his career and cost him his first stint in ENCE to Álvaro "SunPayus" García.

Speaking of the Spaniard, French streamer KRL claimed that Falcons are looking to remove SunPayus from their ranks. If this move comes to fruition, chasing SunPayus is a no-brainer. Liquid has never had a problem paying for talent, and when someone who is so clearly just in a rut pops on the radar, they have to spring at the opportunity.

KRL also claims that Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer will be out of Falcons alongside SunPayus this summer. While Falcons have not achieved all that much, Snappi is by far the best IGL Liquid can feasibly pick up. A potential synergy with teammate SunPayus only sweetens the deal (even though it would make the team majority European), but even without the Spaniard, Snappi is an alluring idea. Snappi has consistently made his teams more than the sum of their parts. What can he do when the sum itself is already so great with Twistzz and NAF?