Past Glory

EliGE and Twistzz were teammates for nearly 44 months, both wearing the Liquid jersey. At that time, Liquid was a top-tier team with a cabinet almost full of shining trophies. They won 9 championships together, including the 2019 ESL One Cologne title, and also achieved the Intel Grand Slam. Out of the four Majors they participated in, they reached the playoffs in three. However, less than a year after reaching their peak, they parted ways due to internal issues and have not played for the same team since. This might be the main tragedy of current North American CS.

The Rise of EliGE

In 2016, Liquid decided not to continue with Oleksandr Kostyliev | s1mple, despite his excellent performance in Majors. This decision meant that Liquid needed to find a true star player, which was exactly what they were lacking at the time.

Nick Cannella | nitr0 initially acted as a shadow in-game leader, mainly voicing the coach peacemaker's strategies. But with Valve's restrictions on coach communication, other tournament organizers followed suit. Thus, Liquid's X-factor became EliGE, who, unlike the boisterous s1mple, would silently fume and stop communicating.

The Arrival of Twistzz

Although EliGE's performance was becoming increasingly brilliant, Liquid still struggled. It wasn't until Misfits player Twistzz joined the team that things began to change. The 17-year-old showed promise but was far from his later peak form.

Liquid spent most of that year in turmoil, with the only highlight being a semi-final appearance at EPL S5. After the off-season, Liquid decided to relieve Peter Jarguz | stanislaw from his in-game leader duties, reinstating nitr0. This move paid off, as Liquid consistently reached finals and became title contenders. They finished as runners-up at the 2017 ESG Tour Mykonos and ESL One New York. In the New York semi-finals, they defeated SK but lost in the finals to Nikola Kovač | NiKo and Finn Andersen | karrigan's FaZe team.

A Successful Combination

NAF's addition in 2018 completed Liquid's puzzle. That year was all about Liquid challenging Astralis, but they mostly fell short. Twistzz gradually reached his peak form, earning the MVP award at the 2018 ESL One New York despite losing the final 2-3.

2019 was EliGE's breakout year, and his partnership with Twistzz made Liquid a consistent championship contender. It wasn't until the latter half of 2019 that internal friction resurfaced after a series of mixed results. Despite not being as stable as in the first half of the year, they still reached the finals twice, at ECS S8 and the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals.

Parting Ways

With the advent of the pandemic era, Liquid's online performance was mediocre, failing to display the dominance expected of a North American powerhouse. Twistzz expressed dissatisfaction with certain roles within the team and eventually transferred to FaZe. EliGE, on the other hand, teamed up with FalleN and shox, but the results were disappointing. After YEKINDAR's arrival, EliGE was forced to adapt. YEKINDAR's aggressive style brought a more European flair to Liquid, leaving no place for EliGE.

In comparison, Twistzz from FaZe slowly found his rhythm and FaZe began their own dynasty.

North America Reunites

Now that EliGE has joined CoL, he is already one of the best North American riflemen, but there is no doubt that his teammates find it difficult to support EliGE's ambitions.

Twistzz also did not have an easy time after returning to Liquid, as Liquid under cadiaN struggled to compete for championships. Now Twistzz has become the new leader of Liquid, guiding the team forward. Interestingly, despite their outstanding achievements in CSGO, neither of them has won a major tournament in the CS2 era.

Rumor has it that when Casper Møller | cadiaN was still in Liquid, EliGE might have returned to Liquid and was even one of the candidates on paper, but it was vetoed by the internal influence within Liquid.

Now, although the two still offer each other warm encouragement on social media, the possibility of them playing for the same team seems very slim. We can only lament that these two top North American players find it difficult to fight side by side again.