Cover-Credits:
In a post-match interview, Team Liquid’s captain Aydin "iNSaNiA" Sarkohi expressed his excitement about the recent addition of Michał “Nisha” Jankowski, and expressed his thoughts the departure of former team members Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen and coach Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka. He stated that while Nisha has been performing well and fitting well with the team, they still miss the impact and contributions of the former members. He also mentioned that the team's coach and another team member have been filling in the role of shot caller left by MATUMBAMAN's retirement.
“Nisha’s been great!” - iNSaNiA’s thoughts on Nisha’s instant impact
During the winner’s post match interview, Liquid’s iNSaNiA was asked by panel host Natalie "NatTea" Mahoney about his feelings in regards to Nisha’s instantaneous impact upon joining the team. While Nisha noted with a smile that it has been a pleasure to have Nisha within the team, he also noted the team is still trying to come to terms with the departure of Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen and coach Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka from the team.
“Having Nisha is…he is not the best player in the team but he’ll do. [laughs] But on a real note, I’m very happy with Nisha’s performances. Nisha’s been great and fits well into the team and I think it’s currently nice times around the team on the outside. But of course, we do miss MATUMBAMAN & Jesse [JerAx] because we had those people leaving last year after having made quite the impact at TI11. So there’s mixed feelings at the moment, but Nisha’s been great! ”
Panelist Alexandra "Sheepsticked" Roberts then proceeded to ask iNSaNiA about the chemistry within the team following MATUMBAMAN’s retirement as the latter was seen by many as the shot caller within the team. He noted that both Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg & coach William “Blitz” Lee had been filling in the void left by the Finnish carry.
“William [Blitz] obviously has a huge influence in our drafts and has been instrumental towards our recent successes, both at TI11 and in the current DPC. But in game, it was zai who picked up where Matu left off as he and Blitz were constantly discussing the drafts and zai’s the one who would lead us into executing it.”
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As of now, Team Liquid are currently joint first place alongside Gaimin Gladiators and Tundra Esports but many are already predicting them as one of the guaranteed teams to earn direct qualification to the upcoming Lima Major at the end of the first tour. Team Liquid’s next opponents will be Entity on 16th January.
