VALORANT: Team Liquid, a Resilient Path to Champions (6/16)

From September 12 to October 5, the Champions — VALORANT’s World Championship — will take place in Paris. To mark the occasion, Sheep Esports is presenting one of the 16 qualified teams each day, leading up to the start of the tournament. This Monday, the countdown continues with the introduction of Team Liquid, 1st seed from VCT EMEA.

In February, Liquid got off to a strong start at the VCT Kickoff EMEA 2025, reaching the regional final. They took Team Vitality to five maps, but ultimately lost 3–2 and finished as runners-up. Nevertheless, they secured the second EMEA seed for Masters Bangkok. Here, Liquid defeated Sentinels 2–1 but lost 0–2 to both EDward Gaming and G2 Esports. Their 1–2 Swiss record placed them joint 7th–8th, bringing their run to an end.

Returning to EMEA league play, Liquid performed more consistently in Stage 1. Their results earned them third place in the regional standings, behind Fnatic and Team Heretics, securing the No. 3 seed and qualification for Masters Toronto. However, international ambitions were complicated by logistics. IGL Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin faced visa issues and was replaced at short notice by Canadian player Erik “penny” Penny. In the Swiss stage in Toronto, Liquid lost 1–2 to Bilibili Gaming and MIBR, but then defeated Paper Rex 2–0. This overall 1–2 record resulted in a joint 11th–12th place finish, eliminating the team from the event.

Stage 2 provided a fresh start. In the regular season, Liquid topped Group Omega with a score of 4–1, just ahead of Fnatic with the same score on round differential. They confirmed their form in the playoffs by defeating GIANTX 2–1 in their opening match in Berlin. This victory, combined with other results, notably NAVI’s triumph over Heretics, secured their place in the Champions stage based on cumulative points. Liquid finished the league stage with 16 points, securing their place in the regional finals, and won Stage 2 of the VCT EMEA 3-0, where we saw Liquid mentally sharp, mechanically sharp, and decisive on complex rounds.

Riot's mid-year rotation significantly altered team's preparation. Patch 11.00 on 24 June introduced Corrode to the competitive pool, while Patch 11.04 on 19 August removed Icebox and reintroduced Abyss. In practice, teams had approximately 24 days between 19 August and the start of the Champions on 12 September to refine their plans for Abyss and abandon their work on Icebox.

During VCT EMEA Stage 2, which ran from 16 July to 31 August, Ascent was played 18 times, followed by Bind (17), Sunset (17), Haven (16), Lotus (15), and Corrode and Icebox (12). Of these, Corrode was more defence-oriented, with an attack win rate of 37% and a defence win rate of 63%, whereas Icebox was closer to balanced, with attack and defence win rates of 46% and 54% respectively. These baselines set the scene for what will now carry forward to Paris, with Icebox out and Abyss back in.

For Team Liquid specifically, recent vetoes and picks indicate the adjustment path. On 8 August against Fnatic, Liquid removed Icebox and left Corrode as the decider, signalling a low priority for Icebox and growing comfort with Corrode under Patch 11.00. On 31 July against Apeks, they actively selected Corrode, winning by a margin of two to one.

Earlier in the season, on 17 May, Team Heretics chose Icebox against TL in the Stage 1 lower final and won by 13 rounds to 2. With Icebox now removed and Abyss returning, the immediate effect is to de-emphasise a demonstrated weak point while capitalising on the Corrode repetitions accrued in Stage 2. This shifts the focus towards refreshing and stress-testing Abyss protocols within the limited pre-Champions window.

Liquid's identity is embodied by nAts, who now wears the IGL mantle while remaining one of the scene's best Sentinels/Controllers, a rare combination enabling him to script and close rounds. He has publicly stated that he is taking on calling duties again this season, a change that has improved Liquid’s clarity in tight series mid-round.

On defence, his agent pool centres on Cypher/Viper. With Vyse, he turns sites into information engines with layered tripwires and cams, or provides slow-burn denial and post-plant insurance with Viper. He buys the extra beats to rotate and spring retakes, and Vyse adds lane denial and trap-enabled crossfires that punish late hits. The net effect isn’t flashy entry stats, but rather tempo control: he starves opponents of clean timings and then flips the map with well-timed lurks or utility-based squeezes. All these qualities enabled him to lead his team as IGL to the title and be crowned VCT EMEA champions and MVP of the VCT EMEA final.

On the offensive, his calling emphasises low-error defaults that allow Georgio “Keiko” Sanassy and Kamil “kamo” Frąckowiak to apply pressure to the space, while he protects the backline and sets the round's second punch. This involves late flanks, trap pops and post-plant lineups that convert thin advantages into round wins. With Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko mid-round flexibility joining the core, nAts has more options to pivot comps and win conditions without sacrificing structure. If Liquid make noise in Paris, expect it to resemble an nAts round, prioritising information, followed by map control, squeezing in the last 30 seconds and maintaining composure in chaotic situations.