Twistzz Reveals Why He Left Team Liquid and Joined Faze Clan in 2021
A year later, Twistzz shares the reason behind switching from NA to EU.
Cover-Credits:
The last time Team Liquid actually played good Counter-Strike was in 2019. Since then the team has witnessed a lot of changes and the biggest among them was the transfer of Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, as he left the organization in January 2021 for FaZe Clan.
Twistzz's move from North America to Europe seems to have elevated his overall game, as he made the following statement in a recent interview with Dexerto, "I was struggling in only North America, and looking back now I'm like, these players aren't on my level".
Additionally, he also points out why exactly he left Liquid in the first place, a decision which he did not take overnight. Twistzz actually wanted to extend his contract and improve the team at that point in time, however, some pieces simply did not fit well together.
Twistzz reveals the actual reason for him leaving Team Liquid in 2021
One of the most talented CS:GO players from Canada, Twistzz, has had a fairly decent year with FaZe Clan in comparison to his time with Team Liquid through 2020. Reflecting on his time with the North American organization and more importantly, the reason as to why he left the team, Twistzz in a recent interview with Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett opened up about the situation in great detail.
Twistzz starts by mentioning that the problems within the team began to grow after Liquid signed Jason "moses" O'Toole as their new CS:GO coach in August 2020, during the online competitive phase.
I think people were way too stubborn for change and I guess they didn't really respect Jason (moses) either. For him to command people or enforce changes. Anything that was said got shut down."Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken - Interview With Dexerto
According to Twistzz, the players on Liquid were not ready for a change in any kind or manner. The player also said that he was suffering when it came to individual gameplay at that point in time. On a lot of maps, he felt like something new had to be done in order for him to find motivation and come out of that slump.
A few position changes were tried with Twistzz adapting and learning, but things reverted back to how they were just after one week according to the player. Others on the team were not too comfortable with the changes. It was then that the 22-year-old started feeling restricted and it impacted his game negatively.
At some point I even wanted to try AWPing because we had a bad AWPing situation and as I was secondary most of the time, I thought of learning and doing it for the team.Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken - Interview With Dexerto
Twistzz reveals that Liquid's game structure was very confusing. Despite him being given a lot of lurking positions, he was expected to provide support as well. He said that the team could not figure out the problems related to its role situation at that point of time, but he now realizes that it was because "people were stubborn."
Towards the end of 2020, Twistzz, during a meeting with Liquid in October, allegedly stated that he was willing to extend his contract if their bootcamp at the time went well. But it ended up being his last one with the team.
It (bootcamp) was a miserable environment for everyone. No one feels good about this. It's also weird because people know things are happening with the roster, but no one's talking about it, everyone's silent. It's a very awkward environment.Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken - Interview With Dexerto
Finally, Twistzz spoke with moses and Steve "jokasteve" Perino at the same time and provided them with two scenarios where he would continue to stay with the team:
Liquid relocated to Europe as this is where all the CS:GO action would take place.
Liquid made a roster change, with a person on the team that Twistzz wasn't particularly happy with.
As neither of those demands was possible, Twistzz did not extend his contract with Liquid. Following this, he joined FaZe Clan by permanently shifting to Europe a month later.
FaZe Clan finished 2021 as the 11th ranked CS:GO team in the world as per HLTV. After having further bolstered their lineup through the addition of Robin "ropz" Kool, FaZe could be a top contender this season.
