YEKINDAR Talks About Difference in Mentality Between Virtus.pro and Liquid

The latest member to complete Team Liquid's CS:GO roster for the ongoing IEM Cologne 2022, Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis, spoke on a lot of topics during the press conference held ahead of the group stage, including the difference in mentality between Virtus.pro (VP) and Liquid.

According to YEKINDAR, the overall team vibe in Liquid is very relaxed which also translates to how they approach the game. Back in VP, the working environment was very professional, going on to desibe it as "We were robots, teammates who had to win."

But he did not see this difference in mentality as a disadvantage or an advantage and went on to point out both the pros and cons of functioning in either system.

YEKINDAR talks about the difference in mentality he observed between VP and Liquid

Despite being counted amongst the best entry fraggers in the world, Liquid instead of signing him directly wanted to try out YEKINDAR and hence picked him as a stand-in for the IEM Cologne 2022.

Liquid might not have won its opener against Team Spirit, but it was quite evident that their level of performance has already elevated quite a bit, meaning the addition of YEKINDAR seems to be playing out well for now.

During the press conference, one of the things highlighted by the Latvian rifler was the big change in mentality that he had observed between VP and Liquid. While he agreed that the North American teams were certainly behind the curve and had a lot of catching up to do, he was surprised to see how friendly the team's overall working environment was like.

"When I came here, I saw a different attitude to CS than the one I was used to." said YEKINDAR, "They (Liquid players) are more friendly with each other. I had a 'professional' environment in VP, where we were like robots, teammates who had to win. Here, there are jokes being cracked all the time, some life stories being shared, and conversations."

The 22-year-old expressed that one reason behind this huge change in mentality was because North American players relied more on their individual skills. This has its own pros and cons, like here in Liquid he felt more relaxed but also less pumped, whereas in VP it was the other way around.

Team Liquid has now dropped to the lower bracket of 'Group-B' where it awaits its opponents. Liquid's match is set to take place tomorrow on 9^th July at 16:00 IST.