After
Sheep Esports revealed on Thursday that
Team Liquid had decided to move Wayne “
wayne” Chang to the bench, the organization has already identified his replacement for
VCT EMEA Stage 2. According to
Sheep Esports sources, Nikita “
trexx” Cherednichenko, who previously played for Team Liquid last year before being replaced at the start of the season, is set to rejoin the roster. A verbal agreement between the two parties was reached on Thursday evening, after
Sheep Esports reported that the Russian player was among the options under consideration.
trexx has spent the opening months of the year without a team after being released by Team Liquid at the end of last season. He is now set to return to competitive play with the very organization he previously represented. Team Liquid will need a strong showing in the upcoming stage if they hope to keep their chances of qualifying for
VALORANT Champions 2026 alive.
Familiar circumstances
Interestingly, trexx's first stint with Team Liquid also began shortly before VCT EMEA Stage 2. Last year, he joined the team as a replacement for Maikls “Serial” Ždanovs following a difficult end to his tenure with Team Vitality. With trexx in the lineup, Team Liquid enjoyed a highly successful campaign, dominating much of the competition and ultimately securing their second VCT EMEA title.
However, the challenge proved considerably tougher at Champions. Team Liquid failed to advance beyond the group stage, prompting the organization to make several roster changes during the offseason, including parting ways with trexx.
The months that followed initially suggested that Team Liquid had made the right adjustments. The team opened its season with a top-three finish at Kickoff, earning qualification for Masters Santiago, before delivering an impressive group-stage performance during VCT EMEA Stage 1. Yet within a matter of weeks, the team's fortunes changed dramatically. Liquid were eliminated during the opening week of the Stage 1 playoffs after suffering back-to-back defeats, before losing two more series during the EWC EMEA Qualifier.
Those disappointing results ultimately led the organization to bench rookie player wayne in favor of a more experienced profile. By bringing back trexx, Team Liquid are turning once again to a player who helped deliver silverware just a year ago, hoping to replicate the success of their previous partnership.
