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{{Short description|Dutch esports organization}}
{{One source|date=January 2011}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox sports team
| name = Team Liquid
| logo = Team Liquid logo.svg
| logo_size = 155px
| alt =
| caption =
| short_name = Liquid, TL
| location = [[Utrecht]], [[Netherlands]]<br>[[United States]] (LoL team, CS Team)<br>[[Brazil]] (Rainbow Six team, Free Fire team and Game Changers Valorant team)<br>[[Europe]] Alienware facility (Dota2)<br>[[Indonesia]] (MLBB ID)<br>The [[Philippines]] (MLBB PH)
| parent_group = aXiomatic
| founded = {{start date and age|2000}}
| folded =
| manager = [[Victor Goossens]] (co-CEO)<br />Steve Arhancet (co-CEO)
| partners = [[Alienware]]<br>[[Honda]]<br>IMC Trading<br>[[Kingston Technology|HyperX]]<br>[[Jersey Mike's Subs]]<br>[[Marvel Entertainment]]<br>[[Monster Energy]]<br>Secretlab<br>[[SAP SE]]<br>[[Twitch (service)|Twitch]]
| sport_label = Divisions
| sport = ''[[Age of Empires]]''<br>''[[Apex Legends]]''<br>''[[Artifact (video game)|Artifact]]''<br>''[[Clash Royale]]''<br>''[[Civilization VI]]''<br>''[[Fortnite]]''<br>''[[Counter-Strike 2]]''<br>''[[Dota 2]]''<br>''[[Garena Free Fire|Free Fire]]''<br>''[[Hearthstone]]''<br>''[[Heroes of the Storm]]''<br>''[[League of Legends]]''<br>''[[Mobile Legends: Bang Bang]]''<br>'' [[Rocket League]] ''<br>''[[PUBG]]''<br>''[[StarCraft II]]''<br>''[[Street Fighter]]''<br>''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''<br>''[[Tekken 7]]''<br>''[[Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege]]''<br>''[[Valorant]]''<br>''[[World of Warcraft]]''
| website = {{website|https://www.teamliquid.com}}
| footnotes =
| fanclub =
}}


'''Team Liquid''' is a multi-regional professional [[esports]] organization based in the [[Netherlands]] that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of ''[[StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty]]''.
{{Infobox e-Sports Club
| name = Team Liquid
| image = Teamliquid logo blue.png
| location = [[The Netherlands]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/about/ |title=About TL.net |publisher=Teamliquid.net |date= |accessdate=2011-02-06}}</ref>
| founded = [[2000]]
| dissolution =
| manager = {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Victor Goossens
| sponsors = [[The Little App Factory]]
| divisions = [[StarCraft (series)]]
| website = http://www.teamliquid.net/
}}
'''Team Liquid''' is a popular [[StarCraft]] news website and community, as well as a successful StarCraft team, founded by Victor Goossens and Joy Hoogeveen.


In 2012, Team Liquid acquired a North American ''[[Dota 2]]'' team, marking their first venture into multi-genre management.<ref name=LiquidDota>{{cite web | last = Horton | first = Samuel | url = http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/58110-Team_Liquid_ventures_into_Dota | title = Team Liquid ventures into Dota 2 | date = December 8, 2012 | publisher = [[SK Gaming]] | access-date = December 8, 2012 | archive-date = February 14, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130214090728/http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/58110-Team_Liquid_ventures_into_Dota | url-status = dead }}</ref> In January 2015, Team Liquid officially merged with [[Team Curse]] under the Liquid banner, bringing on Steve Arhancet, his supporting staff, and former Curse ''[[League of Legends]],'' ''[[Street Fighter]]'', and ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' teams. Their European ''Dota 2'' squad won [[The International 2017]], which had one of the largest prize pools for any esports tournament in history.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Payne|first1=Marissa|title=These five gamers just won $11 million playing 'Dota 2'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/12/these-five-gamers-just-won-11-million-playing-dota-2/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref> Team Liquid's ''League of Legends'' team has won five [[League of Legends Championship Series|LCS]] titles,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Gab |date=2024-04-01 |title=Team Liquid wins LCS Spring Playoffs, secures spot in MSI 2024 |url=https://gameland.gg/team-liquid-wins-lcs-spring-playoffs-secures-spot-in-msi-2024/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=gameland.gg |language=en-US}}</ref> and their ''[[Counter-Strike Global Offensive]]'' team was awarded the Intel Grand Slam prize in 2019 after winning four tournaments in just 63 days.<ref>{{cite web |title=Team Liquid - Intel Grand Slam |url=https://intelgrandslam.eslgaming.com/tag/team-liquid/ |publisher=ESL Gaming |access-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref> Team Liquid also has ''[[Rainbow Six Siege]]'', ''[[Garena Free Fire|Free Fire]]'' and female ''[[Valorant]]'' teams in [[Brazil]] as well as ''[[Mobile Legends: Bang Bang]]'' rosters in [[Indonesia]] and the [[Philippines]].
== History ==
The website was founded on May 1st 2001 by Victor "Liquid`Nazgul" Goossens and Joy "Liquid`Meat" Hoogeveen under the domain teamliquid.cjb.net. On September 22nd 2002 the website was moved to the current address of teamliquid.net with [http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=1 this post] signifying the grand opening. A day later the [http://www.teamliquid.net/poll/index.php?poll_id=5 very first poll] was posted as a vote for the website's name with the current name winning over other suggestions such as likwit.com.


{{TOC limit|3}}
==The Site==
The Team Liquid website primarily provides StarCraft [[Professional Gaming|pro-gaming]] news coverage, discussion forums for the [[Blizzard Entertainment]] games [[StarCraft]] and [[StarCraft 2]] and live video streams of events and games. With the launch of StarCraft 2, Team Liquid has grown into the largest StarCraft and StarCraft 2 community on the internet with over 85,000 active members and 7 million+ total posts. The website employs two full-time staff at their New York office to work on the site. <ref>[http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=171462 TeamLiquid HQ Announcement]</ref>


===Content===
==History==
The website was released on May 1, 2001, by [[Victor Goossens|Victor "Nazgul" Goossens]] and Joy "Meat" Hoogeveen under the domain teamliquid.cjb.net.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/about/ |title=About TL.net |publisher=Teamliquid.net |access-date=February 6, 2011}}</ref> On September 22, 2002, the website was moved to the address of teamliquid.net. A day later the very first poll was posted as a vote for the website's name with the teamliquid.net name winning over other suggestions such as likwit.com. On April 5, 2019, it was announced that the website would be moving to the domain tl.net, with teamliquid.net becoming an alias for teamliquid.com in the future.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tl.net/forum/general/545373-teamliquidnet-becomes-tlnet|title=TeamLiquid.net becomes TL.net|access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref>
The website has several features in addition to the forums, including –
*'''[http://wiki.teamliquid.net/ Liquipedia]''' – A StarCraft & Pro-Gaming wiki featuring articles about players, tournaments, strategy and other StarCraft Brood War & StarCraft II information.
*'''[http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd_select.php The TLPD]''' – A Player Database that records results from tournaments for players in Brood War and StarCraft II. The Database also calculates an ELO rating for players.
*'''[http://www.teamliquid.net/powerrank/ TL Power Rank]''' A subjective ranking of players in the [[StarCraft: Brood War professional competition|Korean Progaming Scene]].
*'''[http://www.teamliquid.net/fantasy/proleague/Standings.php?r=9 Team Liquid Fantasy Starcraft]''' – A [[Fantasy sport]] league based around the Korean Progaming Scene.
*'''Calendar''' – A calendar on the right sidebar displaying upcoming and past events in the community, such as shows and tournaments.
*'''[http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/ Live User Streams]''' – A list of current live first-person streams by pro-gamers and standard community members.


Although Team Liquid was primarily known as a ''[[StarCraft]]'' news site, there are many sub sections on the forums dedicated to other games as well. It was announced on August 30, 2012, that Team Liquid would be expanding to covering ''Dota 2'' news. On December 8, 2012, Liquid expanded their esports franchise into multiple games for the first time, with the recruitment of a North American ''Dota 2'' team.<ref name=LiquidDota/>
=== Tournaments ===
==== Team Liquid Starleague ====
* The two iterations of the TeamLiquid Starleague (or TSL for short) have been the biggest "foreign" (non-Korean) StarCraft tournaments. The [http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/2008_Razer_TSL The first TSL] sponsored by [[Razer USA|Razer]] in 2008 was highly anticipated at the time, sporting all of the world's top Brood War players. It was topped one year later with 2009's [http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/2009_Pokerstrategy.com_TSL TSL 2], which featured a total prize pool of over $20,000 and remains the largest non-Korean [[Brood War]] tournament to date.
* With the release of Starcraft II, Team Liquid announced a third installment, sponsored again by PokerStrategy.com with a prize pool of $34,700.<ref>[http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=180950 Pokerstrategy.com TSL 3 Announcement]</ref>
==== Team Liquid StarCraft 2 Open ====
* The TL Opens are one-day open single-elimination tournaments alternating between the US and EU battle.net servers. The eight TL Open events leading up to the TSL 3 also serve as a qualifier for the TSL.


On January 6, 2015, Steven "LiQuiD112" Arhancet joined Victor Goossens as co-owner of Team Liquid, officially commencing the merge between former Team Curse Gaming under the Team Liquid banner.<ref name=Merger>{{cite web | last=Farrelly | first=Steve | url = http://www.ausgamers.com/news/read/3492719/curse-gaming-folds-into-team-liquid-to-become-one-super-esports-organisation | title = Curse Gaming Folds into Team Liquid to Become One Super eSports Organisation | date = January 7, 2015 | publisher = [[AusGamers]] | access-date = January 8, 2015 }}</ref>
=== Community Events ===

*TL Attack: Modeled after a Korean TV show called "Bnet Attack", a professional player plays games against non-professionals while chatting with the hosts.
On September 27, 2016, Team Liquid sold its controlling interest to aXiomatic Gaming, an investment group including [[Golden State Warriors]] co-owner [[Peter Guber]], entrepreneur [[Ted Leonsis]], motivational speaker [[Tony Robbins]], basketball Hall of Famer [[Magic Johnson]], and AOL co-founder [[Steve Case]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/17651274/team-liquid-sells-controlling-interest-golden-state-warriors-co-owner|title=Warriors owner buys controlling interest in TL|date=September 27, 2016}}</ref>
*Liquibition: A King-of-the-Hill that is played in Bo7 mode.

On December 16, 2017, Team Liquid disbanded their ''[[Halo (franchise)|Halo]]'' roster.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2017/12/16/liquid-takes-a-step-back-from-halo|title=Liquid Takes a Step Back from Halo|website=www.teamliquid.com}}</ref>

In 2020, the organization introduced Blue, an anthropomorphic horse, as its mascot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/posts/teamliquid-enterprises-llc_weve-just-revealed-our-new-mascot-everyone-activity-6630978435693051904-1VN1|title=We've just revealed our new mascot! Everyone, meet Blue 😍|publisher=Team Liquid|via=[[LinkedIn]]|date=2020|accessdate=11 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Geracie|first=Nick|url=https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/10249/exclusive-team-liquid-graphic-designer-talks-creative-direction-for-new-mascot-blue|title=[EXCLUSIVE] Team Liquid Graphic Designer talks creative direction for new mascot, Blue|publisher=InvenGlobal|date=25 January 2020|accessdate=11 June 2024}}</ref> Blue has been featured in the organization's merchandising campaigns and collaborations.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sheehan|first=Gavin|url=https://bleedingcool.com/games/hyperx-reveals-brand-new-blue-keycap-from-team-liquid/|title=HyperX Reveals Brand-New "Blue" Keycap From Team Liquid|work=[[Bleeding Cool]]|date=17 July 2023|accessdate=11 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-wire-news-releases-pmn/hyperx-announces-exclusive-collaboration-with-team-liquid-for-custom-blue-mascot-keycap|title=HyperX Announces Exclusive Collaboration with Team Liquid for Custom "Blue" Mascot Keycap|agency=[[Business Wire]]|via=''[[Financial Post]]''|date=17 July 2023|accessdate=11 June 2024}}</ref>

==Ownership==
{{Infobox company
| name = aXiomatic
| logo =
| type =
| industry = Entertainment and sports
| fate =
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = <!-- if known: {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} in [[city]], [[state]], [[country]] -->
| founder = <!-- or: | founders = -->
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country =
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = [[Bruce Stein]] ([[CEO]])
| products =
| owner = [[Aerial Powers]] (co-owner)<br />[[Asa Butterfield]] (co-owner)<br />Jonathan Jablonowski (co-owner)<br />[[Hungrybox|Juan DeBiedma]] (co-owner)<br />[[Lex Veldhuis]] (co-owner) <br />Max Smith (co-owner)
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent =
| website = {{website|https://www.axiomaticgaming.com/}}
}}

'''aXiomatic''' is an entertainment and sports management company. Investors for the group include [[Peter Guber]], [[Tony Robbins]], [[Magic Johnson]], [[Ted Leonsis]], [[Steve Case]], and [[Eric Lefkofsky]].<ref>{{cite web|author=John Gaudiosi |url=http://www.alistdaily.com/strategy/axiomatic-ceo-details-esports-plans-beyond-team-liquid-acquisition/ |title=aXiomatic CEO Details ESports Plans Beyond Team Liquid Acquisition |publisher=Alistdaily.com |date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Magic Johnson, Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images |url=https://www.tsn.ca/johnson-joins-warriors-capitals-co-owners-in-deal-for-team-liquid-1.575577 |title=Magic Johnson joins Warriors, Capitals co-owners in deal for Team Liquid - Article - TSN |publisher=Tsn.ca |date=September 28, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref> The chief executive officer is Bruce Stein, the former chief executive officer and chief operating officer of [[Mattel Toys]], [[Sony Interactive Entertainment]] and [[Kenner Products]] (Hasbro).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://esportsobserver.com/esports-ownership-group-axiomatic-acquires-team-liquid/ |title=Esports ownership group aXiomatic acquires controlling share of Team Liquid |publisher=The Esports Observer |date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref> On September 27, 2016, aXiomatic announced that it had acquired controlling interest of esports organization Team Liquid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/17651274/team-liquid-sells-controlling-interest-golden-state-warriors-co-owner |title=Team Liquid sells controlling interest to Golden State Warriors co-owner |work=Espn.com |date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Lieberman |first=David |url=https://deadline.com/2016/09/peter-guber-ted-leonsis-lead-group-buy-control-esports-team-liquid-1201826800/ |title=Team Liquid: Peter Guber & Ted Leonsis Lead Buying Group For Esports Franchise |publisher=Deadline |date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-la-tech-20161003-snap-htmlstory.html |title=L.A. Tech: Sports titans jump into competitive gaming with e-sports acquisition |newspaper=LA Times |date=October 4, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref>

Other investors include [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] executives Lon Rosen and Tucker Kain, [[Golden State Warriors]] executives [[Rick Welts]] and Kirk Lacob, the [[Washington Nationals]] owners at [[Lerner Enterprises]], [[Chicago Cubs]] president of business operations [[Crane Kenney]], [[Donn Davis]], co-founder of [[Revolution LLC|Revolution]] and managing partner of Revolution Growth, Zach Leonsis, VP and general manager of Monumental Sports Network, [[Mark Ein]], founder and owner of the [[Washington Kastles]] and [[Washington Justice]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160927006174/en/aXiomatic-Acquires-Controlling-Interest-Team-Liquid-Leading|title=aXiomatic Acquires Controlling Interest in Team Liquid, a Leading Professional Esports Franchise|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en|access-date=August 14, 2017|date=September 27, 2016}}</ref> and former NFL player [[Dhani Jones]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Diamond Leung |url=https://www.si.com/tech-media/2016/09/28/team-liquid-esports-franchise-magic-johnson-peter-gruber |title=Magic Johnson's ownership group buys e-sports franchise |publisher=SI.com |date=September 28, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref>

It was announced that Victor Goossens and Steve Arhancet would continue their roles as co-CEOs of Team Liquid after the acquisition.<ref>{{cite web|author=Tech Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/warriors-wizards-co-owners-and-magic-johnson-buy-esports-team-2016-9 |title=Warriors, Wizards co-owners and Magic Johnson buy eSports team |publisher=Business Insider |date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref>

In December 2021, five players signed by Team Liquid became co-owners: basketball player [[Aerial Powers]], amateur ''Super Smash Bros.'' player (and actor) [[Asa Butterfield|Asa "Stimpy" Butterfield]], ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' player Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski, ''Super Smash Bros.'' player [[Hungrybox|Juan "Hungrybox' DeBiedma]], and [[poker]] streamer and competitor [[Lex Veldhuis]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Alexander |title='Joining a consultive team to the leadership': Why a leading esports organization is inviting its players to become investors |url=https://digiday.com/marketing/joining-a-consultive-team-to-the-leadership-why-a-leading-esports-organization-is-inviting-its-players-to-become-investors/ |access-date=December 16, 2021 |work=[[Digiday]] |date=December 15, 2021}}</ref>

In January 2022, Team Liquid signed the ''World of Warcraft'' guild Limit, making Limit's guild leader and team captain Max "Maximum" Smith a co-owner.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kelly|first=Michael|date=January 22, 2022|title=Liquid signs World of Warcraft guild Limit|url=https://dotesports.com/news/liquid-signs-world-of-warcraft-guild-limit|access-date=January 23, 2022|website=Dot Esports|language=en-US}}</ref>

In May 2024, it was announced that Team Liquid was a member of the [[2024 Esports World Cup|Esports World Cup]] Foundation Club Support Program, funded by the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabian]] [[Public Investment Fund]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fudge |first1=James |title=30 Teams Selected for the Esports World Cup Club Support Program |url=https://esportsadvocate.net/2024/05/30-teams-selected-for-the-esports-world-cup-club-support-program/ |access-date=May 9, 2024 |work=The Esports Advocate |date=May 6, 2024}}</ref> Later that same month, Team Liquid would sign two ''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' rosters in the form of AURA Esports and ECHO (renamed to Liquid AURA and Liquid ECHO, then to Team Liquid Indonesia and [[Team Liquid Philippines]] respectively), after they acquired STUN.GG, who owned both teams.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coloma |first1=AC |title=Esports: Team Liquid enters MLBB, partners with ECHO, AURA |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/5/21/esports-team-liquid-enters-mlbb-partners-with-echo-aura-1504 |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=[[ABS-CBN News]] |date=21 May 2024}}</ref>

== Websites ==

=== Main websites ===
*'''TLnet''' – Originally branded as "Team Liquid", the tl.net website primarily provides ''StarCraft II'' coverage but also has some coverage for StarCraft Brood War, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Heroes of the Storm, and Super Smash Brothers Melee. With the launch of ''StarCraft II'', TLnet has grown into the largest ''StarCraft'' community on the internet, with over 220,000 active members and over twenty four million total posts. The website employs four person full-time staff at their [[New York City]] office to work on the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tl.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=171462|title=TeamLiquid HQ|access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref>
*'''Team Liquid''' – Website focusing on Team Liquid esports team coverage.
*{{anchor|Liquipedia.net}}'''Liquipedia''' – Is a volunteer-run [[wiki]] covering various esports, beginning with ''[[Starcraft: Brood War]]'' and currently covering more than 57 esports titles''.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://liquipedia.net|title=Liquipedia.net|access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref> In 2023 Liquipedia started to branch into covering traditional sports with their Formula 1 wiki''.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://liquipedia.net/formula1/Main_Page|title=Liquipedia F1 wiki|access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref> In 2024, Liquipedia would host the game-focused Dota 2 Wiki, which previously was hosted on [[Fandom (website)|Fandom]], with an intent to merge both the esports wiki and the game wiki into a single, comprehensive Dota 2 wiki.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Šimić |first1=Ivan |title=Liquipedia expands into game wikis with Dota 2 |url=https://esportsinsider.com/2024/04/liquipedia-expands-game-wikis-dota-2 |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=Esports Insider |date=15 April 2024}}</ref>

== Rosters ==
{{Esports roster multi
|''Starcraft 2''|
{{Esports player | handle = Clem | first = Clément | last = Desplanches | nat = FR}}
{{Esports player | handle = Elazer | first = Mikołaj | last = Ogonowski | nat = PL}}
{{Esports player | handle = Cure | first = Kim | last = Doh-wook | nat = KOR}}
{{Esports player | handle = MaNa | first = Grzegorz | last = Komincz | nat = PL}}
{{Esports player | handle = SKillous | first = Nikita | last = Gurevich | nat = RU}}
|''League of Legends''|
{{Esports player | handle = Impact | first = Jeong | last = Eon-young | nat = KR}}
{{Esports player | handle = UmTi | first = Eom | last = Seong-hyeon | nat = KR}}
{{Esports player | handle = APA | first = Eain | last = Stearns | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = Yeon | first = Sean | last = Sung | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = [[CoreJJ]] | first = Jo | last = Yong-in | nat = KR}}
|''Counter-Strike 2''|
{{Esports player | handle = NAF | first = Keith | last = Markovic | nat = CA}}
{{Esports player | handle = YEKINDAR | first = Mareks | last = Gaļinskis | nat = LV}}
{{Esports player | handle = [[Twistzz]] | first = Russel | last = Van Dulken | nat = CA}}
{{Esports player | handle = jks | first = Justin | last = Savage | nat = AU}}
{{Esports player | handle = ultimate | first = Roland | last = Tomkowiak | nat = PL}}
|''Dota 2''|
{{Esports player | handle = miCKe | first = Michael | last = Vu | nat = SE}}
{{Esports player | handle = Nisha | first = Michał | last = Jankowski | nat = PL}}
{{Esports player | handle = 33 | first = Neta | last = Shapira | nat = IL}}
{{Esports player | handle = Boxi | first = Samuel | last = Svahn| nat = SE}}
{{Esports player | handle = Insania | first = Aydin | last = Sarkohi | nat = SE}}
|''Super Smash Bros.''|
{{Esports player | handle = Chillindude | first = Kashan | last = Khan | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = [[Ken Hoang|Ken]] | first = Ken | last = Hoang | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = [[Hungrybox]] | first = Juan | last = DeBiedma | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = [[Dabuz]] | first = Samuel | last = Buzby | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = ChuDat | first = Daniel | last = Rodriguez | nat = US}}
{{Esports player | handle = Riddles | first = Michael | last = Kim | nat = CA}}
|''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' ID|
{{Esports player|name=Aldhia Fahmi Aranda|handle=Aran|nat=ID|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Favian Bayu Putra|handle=Faviannn|nat=ID|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Yehezkiel Wiseman|handle=yehezkiel|nat=ID|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Sultan Muhammad|handle=AeronnShikii|nat=ID|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Leonardo Prasetyo Agung|handle=Kabuki|nat=ID|note=|sub=yes}}
{{Esports player|name=Christian Widy Hartono|handle=Widy|nat=ID|note=}}
|''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' PH|
{{Esports player|name=Sanford Vinuya|handle=Sanford|nat=PH|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Karl Gabriel Nepomuceno|handle=KarlTzy|nat=PH|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Justine Sadia Palma|handle=Zaida|nat=PH|note=|sub=yes}}
{{Esports player|name=Alston Pabico|handle=Sanji|nat=PH|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Frederic Benedict Gonzales|handle=Bennyqt|nat=PH|note=}}
{{Esports player|name=Jhonville Borres Villar|handle=Outplayed|nat=PH|note=|sub=yes}}
{{Esports player|name=Jaypee Dela Cruz|handle=Jaypee|nat=PH|note=}}
|''Rainbow Six Siege''|
{{Esports player | handle = nesk | first = André | last = Oliveira | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = Paluh | first = Luccas | last = Molina | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = resetz | first = Pablo | last = Oliveira | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = Lagonis | first = Lorenzo | last = Volpi | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = volpz | first = Gabriel | last = Fernandes | nat = BR}}
|''Rocket League''|
{{Esports player | handle = AcroniK | first = Bruno | last = Lopes | nat = PT}}
{{Esports player | handle = Oski | first = Oskar | last = Gozdowski | nat = PL}}
{{Esports player | handle = Atow | first = Tristan | last = Soyez | nat = BE}}
|''Valorant''|
{{Esports player | handle = Enzo | first = Enzo| last = Mestari | nat = FR}}
{{Esports player | handle = Jamppi | first = Elias | last = Olkkonen | nat = FI}}
{{Esports player | handle = nAts | first = Ayaz | last = Akhmetshin | nat = RU}}
{{Esports player | handle = Mistic | first = James | last = Orfila | nat = UK}}
{{Esports player | handle = Keiko | first = Georgio | last = Sanassy | nat = UK}}
{{Esports player | handle = Harmii | first = Nico | last = Harms | nat = DE |note = S}}
|''Valorant'' Game Changers|
{{Esports player | handle = daiki | first = Natalia | last = Vilela | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = Bizerra | first = Vitoria | last = Vieira | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = Joojina | first = Letícia | last = Paiva | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = isaa | first = Isabeli | last = Esser | nat = BR}}
{{Esports player | handle = bstrdd | first = Paula | last = Naguil | nat = CL}}
|''Apex Legends''|
{{Esports player | handle = YanYa | first = Saul | last = Ocampo| nat = MEX}}
{{Esports player | handle = Neazul | first = Luis Enrique | last = Ramos Suarez | nat = MEX}}
{{Esports player | handle = Jaguares | first = Alexis | last = Martinez | nat = MEX}}
|''Quake Champions''|
{{Esports player | handle = [[Rapha (gamer)|rapha]] | first = Shane | last = Hendrixson | nat = US}}
}}

== Tournaments and events ==
In addition to running a community site and team, Team Liquid also hosts a variety of tournaments and events.

=== Team Liquid Starleague ===
The two iterations of the TeamLiquid Starleague (or TSL for short) have been the largest ''StarCraft: Brood War'' tournaments outside of South Korea.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} The first TSL sponsored by [[Razer USA|Razer]] in 2008 was highly anticipated at the time, sporting all of the world's top ''Brood War'' players. It was topped one year later with 2009's TSL 2, which featured a total prize pool of over $20,000 and remains the largest non-Korean ''Brood War'' tournament to date.
With the release of ''Starcraft II'', Team Liquid announced a third installment, sponsored again by PokerStrategy.com with a prize pool of $34,700.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=180950|title=PokerStrategy.com TSL3|access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref> The tournament took place between March and May 2011. On April 25, 2012, a fourth installment was announced (TSL 4).

=== Team Liquid ''StarCraft II'' Open ===
The TL Opens are one-day open single-elimination tournaments alternating between the NA and EU battle.net servers. The eight TL Open events that lead up to the TSL 3 also served as a qualifier for the TSL.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== Team Liquid Legacy Starleague ===
Announced on January 1, 2013, Team Liquid would be hosting a series of online tournaments for "foreign" players of ''StarCraft: Brood War''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=390936|title=TeamLiquid Legacy Starleague|access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref>

=== Community events ===
*TL Attack: Modeled after a Korean TV show called ''Bnet Attack'', a professional player plays games against non-professionals while chatting with the hosts.
*Liquibition: A King-of-the-Hill mode that is played best of 7 games.
*TL Arena: A professional player will be matched up with inferior opponents. With each win he gains, another handicap is added that limits his game play options, until he loses or he has defeated a certain number of opponents.
*TL Arena: A professional player will be matched up with inferior opponents. With each win he gains, another handicap is added that limits his game play options, until he loses or he has defeated a certain number of opponents.


== Esports history ==
==Team==
===''StarCraft'' and ''StarCraft II''===
The clan Liquid was founded by Victor "Liquid`Nazgul" Goossens around the end of 2000. Approximately three months after leaving his previous clan, [i'm], Goossens made the decision to start his own clan. Liquid started with four members for the first months and grew to eight players over the following year. The members of the Liquid clan are handpicked by Goossens based on both personality and talent.
The gaming clan "Liquid" was founded by Victor "Nazgul" Goossens near the end of 2000, after he decided to leave his previous clan. Liquid started with four members for the first months and grew to eight players over the following year. The members of the Liquid clan were handpicked by Goossens.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}}

With the arrival of ''StarCraft II'', Team Liquid announced plans to become an active professional esports team. Shortly after, sponsorship by The Little App Factory was announced,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=138553 |title=Presenting TLAF-Liquid'! |publisher=Teamliquid.net |access-date=February 6, 2011}}</ref> which qualified them as a sponsored professional team. This allowed Team Liquid to pay their players a salary and send the team to events around the world. The team created a dedicated news site separate from the more community oriented site, announced and released on May 10, 2011.<ref>[http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2011/05/11/teamliquidpro-home-sweet-home Team Liquid - Professional StarCraft 2 Team - TeamLiquidPro: Home Sweet Home] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707182434/http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2011/05/11/teamliquidpro-home-sweet-home |date=July 7, 2014 }} May 11, 2011</ref>

On August 13, 2012, three players traveled to Korea in order to live in the OGS training house and compete in [[GOM Player|GOMTV's]] [[GOMTV Global StarCraft II League|Global ''StarCraft II'' League (GSL)]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=143731 |title=Homecoming: Liquid' to Korea! |publisher=Teamliquid.net |access-date=February 6, 2011}}</ref><ref name=forbes>{{cite news|last=Gaudioso|first=John|title=Pro Gamer Shawn "Sheth" Simon Talks MLG, StarCraft II and the Future of eSports|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudiosi/2011/09/23/pro-gamer-shawn-sheth-simon-talks-mlg-starcraft-ii-and-the-future-of-esports/|access-date=November 26, 2011|date=September 23, 2011}}</ref><ref name=tour>{{cite web|title=oGsLiquid House Tour|url=http://www.giantbomb.com/giant-bomb-in-korea-ogsteam-liquid-house-tour/17-3516/|publisher=Giantbomb|access-date=November 26, 2011}}</ref>
Of the three players entering the preliminaries, only one, Dario "TLO" Wünsch qualified for the first two GSL events. He was eliminated out in the Second and First rounds respectively.

The third GSL was the strongest showing of Team Liquid thus far. Three players, Hayder "Haypro" Hussein, Jos "Ret" de Kroon and Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh qualified for the main tournament. While Hussein lost first round and de Kroon in 2nd, Walsh made to the semi-finals, losing 0–4 to the eventual winner Jang "MC" Min-Chul.

In 2012, during GSL Season 2, members Song "HerO" Hyeon Deok and Yun "TaeJa" Young Seo made it to the Round of 8 of the Code S tournament, with TaeJa being eliminated while HerO advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament.

At the end of 2023, Kim "Cure" Doh-wook and Clément "Clem" Desplanches reached the semifinals of ESL SC2 Masters: Winter 2023 Finals, at Dreamhack Atlanta. Cure lost to Dark 3-1 while Clem defeated Serral 3-1 and reached the finals. In the grand final, Clem competed against Dark and beat him 4-1.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5kGvyxqG2A | title = Clem beats Dark in the grand final of ESL SC2 Masters: Winter 2023 Finals | date = 17 December 2023 | website = YouTube | publisher = ESL | access-date = 19 December 2023 }}</ref>

At the start of 2024, Kim "Cure" Doh-wook was eliminated in the Round of 8 of Master's Coliseum 7, losing 3-4 against Solar. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZhprdaKL1c | title = Cure lost to Solar 3-4 in the Round of 8 of Master's Coliseum 7 | date = 24 January 2024 | website = YouTube | publisher = HarstemCasts | access-date = 29 January 2024 }}</ref>

In February 2024, Clément "Clem" Desplanches reached the Quarterfinals in IEM Katowice 2024 but lost 3-0 against Serral. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfAG9bcPRNE | title = Clem lost to Serral in the Quarterfinals of IEM Katowice 2024 | date = 11 February 2024 | website = YouTube | publisher = ESL | access-date = 12 February 2024 }}</ref>

In February 2024, Kim "Cure" Doh-wook reached the Semifinals in IEM Katowice 2024 but lost 3-0 against Maru. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfAG9bcPRNE | title = Cure lost to Maru in the Semifinals of IEM Katowice 2024 | date = 11 February 2024 | website = YouTube | publisher = ESL | access-date = 12 February 2024 }}</ref>

Clément "Clem" Desplanches has assured his direct spot in the Esports World Cup 2024 in Riyadh by winning SC2 Masters Winter 2023. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://pro.eslgaming.com/tour/2024/02/esports-world-cup-to-become-the-2024-esl-sc2-pro-tour-championship/ | title = Clem qualifies directly to Esports World Cup 2024 | date = 2 February 2024 | website = pro.eslgaming.com | publisher = ESL Gaming GmbH | access-date = 14 February 2024 }}</ref>

Kim "Cure" Doh-wook has assured his direct spot in the Esports World Cup 2024 in Riyadh by reaching top 4 at IEM Katowice 2024. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://pro.eslgaming.com/tour/2024/02/esports-world-cup-to-become-the-2024-esl-sc2-pro-tour-championship/ | title = Cure qualifies directly for Esports World Cup 2024 | date = 2 February 2024 | website = esl.progaming.com | publisher = ESL Gaming GmbH | access-date = 14 February 2024 }}</ref>

Both Clément "Clem" Desplanches and Kim "Cure" Doh-wook stopped in the Knockout Round 3 of ESL SC2 Masters: Spring 2024. Clem lost 3-0 to HerO while Cure lost 3-2 to Shin. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxXSm6lfhA0 | title = Clem and Cure stop in Knockout Round 3 of ESL SC2 Masters: Spring 2024 | date = 1 June 2024 | website = YouTube | publisher = ESL | access-date = 4 June 2024 }}</ref>

===''Smash Bros.''===
In March 2014, Team Liquid announced that it had picked up two ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee|Melee]]'' players: [[Ken Hoang|Ken]], who is known as the "King of Smash" and KoreanDJ, who is known for being the first player to defeat [[Mew2King]] during his peak, thus starting its [[Super Smash Bros.|Smash]] team. After acquiring Curse Gaming, it also signed [[Hungrybox]], who is considered to be one of the Five Gods of ''Melee'', and Chillin, who was the first player to defeat Ken during his prime. On August 11, 2015, it picked up top ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'' player [[Nairoby Quezada|Nairo]], who was the only player to knock [[Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios|ZeRo]] out of a tournament, ending ZeRo's 55 win tournament streak at MLG World Finals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/08/12/a-new-challenger-approaching-liquidnairo|title=A New Challenger Approaching: Liquid'Nairo - Team Liquid - Professional Gaming Organization|access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redbull.com/us/en/esports/stories/1331756499798/zero-on-mlg-nairo-and-the-next-chapter|title=ZeRo on MLG, Nairo and the Next Chapter|first=Barrett|last=Womack|website=[[Red Bull]] |access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref> On September 28, 2015, Team Liquid announced that KoreanDJ resigned from the organization and retired from competitive ''Smash'', citing persistent hand and wrist pains.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/09/28/all-good-things-must-come-to-an-end|title=All good things must come to an end - Team Liquid - Professional Gaming Organization|access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref>

===''League of Legends''===
On January 6, 2015, Liquid acquired the [[Curse Inc.#League of Legends|Team Curse's ''League of Legends'' roster]], which consisted of Quas, IWillDominate, Voyboy, Cop, and [[Xpecial]]. The team finished the LCS Spring regular season in 6th place with a 10–9 record. On Week 5 and 6 of NA LCS Piglet was benched and replaced on the starting roster by [[KEITHMCBRIEF]] in an effort to try to improve their standings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/02/16/lcs-news-keith-moved-to-starting-roster-for-week-5|title=LCS News: KEITH moved to starting roster for week 5 Author|author= Bumblebee|date=February 16, 2015}}</ref> In the playoffs they beat [[Counter Logic Gaming]] 3–0, before losing to [[Cloud9 (esports)|Cloud9]] 3–2 and finishing in 3rd.

Team Liquid was very successful in 2018 and 2019, winning four LCS splits in a row. In the [[2018 NA LCS season]], Liquid had a roster of [[Impact (gamer)|Impact]], [[Xmithie]], [[Pobelter]], [[Doublelift]], and [[Olleh (gamer)|Olleh]]. At the [[2018 League of Legends World Championship]], Liquid went 3–3 in groups and failed to advance. In the [[2019 LCS season]], Liquid replaced Pobelter with [[Jensen (gamer)|Jensen]] and Olleh with [[CoreJJ]]. Liquid failed to make it out of groups at the [[2019 League of Legends World Championship]], however, as their 3–3 record was insufficient to advance. In 2020, Broxah joined the team as jungler, replacing Xmithie. The 2020 Spring Split went very poorly for Liquid; they finished ninth place out of ten. Doublelift was benched due to motivation issues and replaced by Academy ADC Tactical, and Doublelift was eventually traded to Team SoloMid for the summer split, with Tactical promoted to starter. Liquid finished third that summer split and made it to [[2020 League of Legends World Championship]], but again their 3–3 record was insufficient to advance to the quarterfinals. In 2021, [[Santorin (gamer)|Santorin]] replaced Broxah as jungler, and LEC import Alphari replaced Impact as top laner. The team once again got a 3–3 record in groups at the [[2021 League of Legends World Championship]]; this qualified them for a tiebreaker match with [[Gen.G]], but Liquid lost and failed to advance.

The 2022 season saw a major shake-up of the roster, as the Honda sponsorship allowed the creation of a "super team" of [[Bwipo]], Santorin, [[Bjergsen]], [[Hans Sama]], and CoreJJ. Despite high expectations and finishing third place in the regular season of the summer split, Liquid narrowly failed to earn a Worlds slot in the playoffs, a disappointment that caused a major controversy.<ref>[https://thegamehaus.com/league-of-legends/team-liquid/team-liquid-honda-strongly-considering-yeon-and-eyla-to-lcs-for-2023/2022/09/14/?amp=1 &#91;Sources&#93; Team Liquid Strongly Considering Yeon & Eyla to LCS for 2023]</ref> Hans Sama left the team at the end of the season.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Micheal |date=2022-09-19 |title=Liquid releases star ADC Hans sama from LCS team |url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/breaking-team-liquid-releases-hans-sama |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=Dot Esports}}</ref> On 26 September 2022 they also released Guilhoto from the head coach position.<ref>{{Cite web |first= |title=In one season, Team Liquid released head coach Guilhoto after the summer opener - Game News 24 |url=https://game-news24.com/2022/09/26/in-one-season-team-liquid-released-head-coach-guilhoto-after-the-summer-opener/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Other===
One week after the Curse merger, it was announced that Team Liquid acquired a ''[[Counter-Strike: Global Offensive|Counter Strike: Global Offensive]]'' team that previously played under the title "Denial eSports".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/01/13/introducing-counter-strike-global-offensive |title=Introducing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |publisher=teamliquidpro.com |date=January 13, 2015 |access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref>

On October 9, 2015, it was announced that Liquid would once again be fielding a ''Dota'' team, after being absence from the competitive DotA scene for more than a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/general/496233-liquid-reincarnation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108092434/http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/general/496233-liquid-reincarnation |archive-date=2020-11-08 |title=Liquid Reincarnation |publisher=teamliquidpro.com |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=October 21, 2015}}</ref>

On October 21, 2016, it was announced that Liquid would be fielding a professional [[Civilization VI]] team, captained by former world champion Civilization player MrGameTheory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Discovering New Land with MrGameTheory |url=https://teamliquid.com/news/2016/10/21/discovering-new-land-with-mrgametheory |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=teamliquid.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Good |first=Owen S. |date=2016-10-23 |title=Major esports team pushes into Civilization 6 by signing first pro |url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/10/23/13372408/civilization-6-pro-gaming-esports-team-liquid |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref>

On August 7, 2020, Team Liquid announced their entrance to the Valorant esports scene by signing the fish123 roster, soulcas, Kryptix, L1NK, ec1s. Alongside these four players, they also added ScreaM as the fifth player.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Liquid VALORANT|url=https://www.teamliquid.com/news/2020/08/07/liquid-valorant|access-date=June 1, 2021|website=www.teamliquid.com|language=en}}</ref> On February 24, 2021, Team Liquid parted ways with ec1s<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gursoy|first=Eren Merdan|title=Team Liquid Announces Valorant Roster Changes – ec1s Leaves The Team|url=https://gaimer.net/team-liquid-announces-valorant-roster-changes-ec1s-leaves-the-team/|access-date=June 1, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215836/https://gaimer.net/team-liquid-announces-valorant-roster-changes-ec1s-leaves-the-team/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and added Jamppi into the roster.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gursoy|first=Eren Merdan|title=Team Liquid Signs Jamppi For Their Valorant Roster|url=https://gaimer.net/team-liquid-signs-jamppi-for-their-valorant-roster/|access-date=June 1, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214601/https://gaimer.net/team-liquid-signs-jamppi-for-their-valorant-roster/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On April 23, 2021, Team Liquid announced changes to their Dota 2 roster on Twitter. Samuel "Boxi" Swann is taking a break from Dota to spend more time with his family. He will be replaced by Saeed Samail "SumaiL" Hassan.{{cn|date=July 2023}} On December 25, 2021, analyst and translator Leon "Arthur" Lee interviewed Team Liquid coach, William "Blitz" Lee, who talked about the formation of the team, MATUMBAMAN and Zai, captain iNSaNiA and opponents at the Dota Pro Circuit.{{cn|date=July 2023}} On 22 September 2022, they were announced as one of the 10 partner teams for the Valorant EMEA league.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Full list of the teams accepted to Valorant Partnership Program |url=https://blix.gg/news/full-list-of-the-teams-accepted-to-valorant-partnership-program |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=Blix |date=September 21, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

On May 5, 2023, Team Liquid became the first Dota 2 team to score the minimum number of DPC points and qualify for The International 2023.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

In May 2024, Team Liquid announced it was officially re-entering competitive ''[[Apex Legends]]'' play after signing the orgless team "Legacy" ahead of the 2024 [[Apex Legends Global Series|''Apex Legends'' Global Series]] (ALGS) Split 1 Playoffs LAN.<ref name=Lyons>{{cite web|last=Lyons|first=Ben|url=https://www.gamereactor.eu/team-liquid-returns-to-competitive-apex-legends-1387063/|title=Team Liquid returns to competitive Apex Legends|work=[[Gamereactor]]|date=May 3, 2024|accessdate=May 4, 2024}}</ref> It marked Team Liquid's return to the ''Apex'' scene, after leaving in December 2022.<ref>{{cite web|last=Snavely|first=Adam|url=https://dotesports.com/apex-legends/news/team-liquid-reportedly-return-to-apex-legends-with-instant-algs-contenders|title= Team Liquid reportedly return to Apex Legends with instant ALGS contenders |work=[[Dot Esports]]|date=April 18, 2024|accessdate=May 4, 2024}}</ref> The roster is made up of Saul "YanYa" Ocampo, Luis Enrique "Neazul" Ramos Suarez, Alexis "Jaguares" Martinez, and Steven "Pistillo" Rojas as the coach.<ref name=Lyons/>


==Sponsors==
=== Current Roster ===
On January 24, 2015, it was announced that [[HTC]] had become an official sponsor of Team Liquid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2015/01/24/htc-sponsors-team-liquid |title=HTC Sponsors Team Liquid |publisher=teamliquidpro.com |date=January 24, 2015 |access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Victor "Nazgul" Goossens – ''Playing Manager'' – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft#Protoss|Protoss]]''
* {{flagicon|SWE}} Hayder "Haypro" Hussein – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft#Zerg|Zerg]]''
* {{flagicon|US}} Tyler "Tyler" Wasieleski – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft#Protoss|Protoss]]''
* {{flagicon|GER}} Dario "TheLittleOne" Wünsch – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft|Random]]''
* {{flagicon|SWE}} Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft#Terrans|Terran]]''
* {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Jos "Ret" de Kroon – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft#Zerg|Zerg]]''
* {{flagicon|Canada}} Chris "Huk" Loranger – ''[[Species_of_StarCraft#Protoss|Protoss]]''


In June 2022, Liquid got [[Honda]] as a major sponsor for their ''League of Legends'' team. The League team was renamed "Team Liquid Honda" as a result.<ref>[https://hondanews.com/en-US/honda-automobiles/releases/release-db2492147c55da663fd32edfea01f316-team-liquid-honda-league-of-legends-team-naming-rights-deal-signals-expanded-relationship-and-evolution-of-hondas-commitment-to-gaming “Team Liquid Honda” League of Legends Team Naming Rights Deal Signals Expanded Relationship and Evolution of Honda’s Commitment to Gaming]</ref>
=== Move to Korea ===
With the arrival of [[StarCraft 2]], Team Liquid announced plans to become an active Pro-Gaming Team. Shortly after, sponsorship by The Little App Factory was announced,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=138553 |title=Presenting TLAF-Liquid`! |publisher=Teamliquid.net |date= |accessdate=2011-02-06}}</ref> which qualified them as a sponsored professional team. This gave Team Liquid a budget and allowed them to pay their players a salary and send the them to events around the world. On August 13th, three players traveled to Korea in order to compete in [[GOM Player|GOMTV's]] Global StarCraft II League (GSL).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=143731 |title=Homecoming: Liquid` to Korea! |publisher=Teamliquid.net |date= |accessdate=2011-02-06}}</ref>


==Management==
=== Performance in Korea ===
Victor "Nazgul" Goossens is a founding member, and currently co-owner and chief executive officer of Team Liquid. He originally competed in Brood War prior to forming Team Liquid.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Huddleston|first=Tom Jr.|date=August 21, 2018|title=How this 35-year-old turned the gaming fan site he started as a teen into one of esports' biggest franchises, worth multimillions|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/21/victor-goossens-founded-esports-champion-team-liquid-as-a-fan-website.html|access-date=December 1, 2020|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref>
Of the three players entering the preliminaries, only one, Dario "TLO" Wünsch qualified for the first two GSL events. He was knocked out in the Second and First rounds respectively.


Steve "LiQuiD112" Arhancet joined the Team Liquid staff when Team Curse merged with Team Liquid. Since the merge, Steve has taken the role of co-owner and chief executive officer and primarily manages the ''League of Legends'' team.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/interview-team-liquid-co-owner-steve-arhancet-discusses-the-rise-of-esports-and-what-s-next-for-the-sector/0144849 |title=INTERVIEW: Team Liquid co-owner Steve Arhancet discusses the rise of eSports - and what's next for the sector |publisher=Mcvuk |date=February 16, 2015 |access-date=April 9, 2015}}</ref>
The third GSL was the strongest showing of [[Team Liquid]] so far. Three players, Hayder "Haypro" Hussein, Jos "Ret" de Kroon and Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh qualified for the main tournament. While Hussein lost first round and de Kroon in 2nd, Walsh made it all the way to the semi-finals, losing 0–4 to the eventual winner Jang "MC" Min-Chul.


== Alienware Training Facility ==
=== Notable Results ===
In 2017 Team Liquid finished constructing its Alienware Training Facility in Los Angeles, which is designed to act as the training grounds for Team Liquid's CS:GO and League of Legends teams, as well as their esports headquarters. The facility houses non-players such as owner Steve "LiQuiD112" Arhancet and 1UP Studios, Team Liquid's in-house production studio, so that all departments of Team Liquid could work together. Team Liquid's sponsor Alienware supplied all the PC's to the Alienware Training Facility.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alienware Training Facilities |url=https://www.teamliquidpro.com/AlienwareTF/ |website=www.teamliquidpro.com |access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref>
* 3rd/4th – {{flagicon|KOR}} [[GOMTV Global Starcraft II League|Sony Ericsson Starcraft II Code-S January 2011]] – Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh
* 3rd/4th – {{flagicon|KOR}} [[GOMTV Global Starcraft II League|Sony Ericsson StarCraft II Open Season 3]] – Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh
* 1st – {{flagicon|USA}} [[Major League Gaming|MLG]] Dallas – Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh
* 1st – {{flagicon|USA}} [[Major League Gaming|MLG]] Raleigh – Chris "HuK" Loranger
* 1st – {{flagicon|UK}} PokerIdol.com SC2 EU Championship – Dario "TheLittleOne" Wünsch
* 1st – {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Assembly_(demo_party)|Assembly Winter 2011]] SC2 Championship – Jos "Ret" de Kroon<ref>[http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/32184-Ret_sweeps_the_Assembly_gold Ret Sweeps Assembly Gold] SK-Gaming.com</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.teamliquidpro.com}}
*[http://www.teamliquid.net/ Official Website]
{{S-start}}
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20010927040933/www.gijoy.f2s.com Archived copy of the 2001 site]
{{S-ach}}
*[http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/jobundberuf/0,1518,726088,00.html Article about Dario "TheLittleOne" Wünsch Return from South Korea] Spiegel.de {{de icon}}
{{Succession box
*[http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2010/11/05/131094855/major-leage-gaming-starcraft-liquidtyler-mlg Article about Tyler Wasieleski's experiences at MLG Dallas] NPR.org
| title = [[The International (Dota 2)|The International]] winner
| years = [[The International 2017|2017]]
| with = MATUMBAMAN, [[Miracle-]], MinD_ContRoL, GH, [[KuroKy]], and Heen (coach)
| before = [[Wings Gaming]]
| after = [[OG (esports)|OG]]
}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[The International (Dota 2)|The International]] winner
| years = [[The International 2024|2024]]
| with = miCKe, Nisha, 33, Boxi, Insania, Blitz (coach), Jabbz (coach), and kpii (coach)
| before = [[Team Spirit (esports)|Team Spirit]]
| after = TBD
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Team Liquid}}
{{League of Legends Championship Series North America}}
{{Professional Counter-Strike competition}}
{{Competitive Super Smash Bros.}}
{{Professional Dota 2 competition}}
{{Professional Heroes of the Storm competition}}


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[[Category:Electronic sports teams]]
[[Category:Electronic sports]]
[[Category:Team Liquid| ]]
[[Category:2000 establishments in the Netherlands]]
{{videogame-culture-stub}}
[[Category:American Internet groups]]
[[Category:Apex Legends teams]]
[[Category:Counter-Strike teams]]
[[Category:Defunct and inactive Overwatch teams]]
[[Category:Dota teams]]
[[Category:Dutch sport websites]]
[[Category:Esports teams based in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Esports teams established in 2000]]
[[Category:Esports websites]]
[[Category:Fighting game player sponsors]]
[[Category:Hearthstone teams]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Storm teams]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2000]]
[[Category:League Championship Series (esports) teams]]
[[Category:StarCraft teams]]
[[Category:Super Smash Bros. player sponsors]]
[[Category:Team Razer]]
[[Category:Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege teams]]
[[Category:Valorant teams]]

Latest revision as of 11:16, 15 December 2024

Team Liquid
Short nameLiquid, TL
DivisionsAge of Empires
Apex Legends
Artifact
Clash Royale
Civilization VI
Fortnite
Counter-Strike 2
Dota 2
Free Fire
Hearthstone
Heroes of the Storm
League of Legends
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Rocket League
PUBG
StarCraft II
Street Fighter
Super Smash Bros.
Tekken 7
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Valorant
World of Warcraft
Founded2000; 24 years ago (2000)
LocationUtrecht, Netherlands
United States (LoL team, CS Team)
Brazil (Rainbow Six team, Free Fire team and Game Changers Valorant team)
Europe Alienware facility (Dota2)
Indonesia (MLBB ID)
The Philippines (MLBB PH)
ManagerVictor Goossens (co-CEO)
Steve Arhancet (co-CEO)
PartnersAlienware
Honda
IMC Trading
HyperX
Jersey Mike's Subs
Marvel Entertainment
Monster Energy
Secretlab
SAP SE
Twitch
Parent groupaXiomatic
Websitewww.teamliquid.com

Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

In 2012, Team Liquid acquired a North American Dota 2 team, marking their first venture into multi-genre management.[1] In January 2015, Team Liquid officially merged with Team Curse under the Liquid banner, bringing on Steve Arhancet, his supporting staff, and former Curse League of Legends, Street Fighter, and Super Smash Bros. teams. Their European Dota 2 squad won The International 2017, which had one of the largest prize pools for any esports tournament in history.[2] Team Liquid's League of Legends team has won five LCS titles,[3] and their Counter-Strike Global Offensive team was awarded the Intel Grand Slam prize in 2019 after winning four tournaments in just 63 days.[4] Team Liquid also has Rainbow Six Siege, Free Fire and female Valorant teams in Brazil as well as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang rosters in Indonesia and the Philippines.

History

[edit]

The website was released on May 1, 2001, by Victor "Nazgul" Goossens and Joy "Meat" Hoogeveen under the domain teamliquid.cjb.net.[5] On September 22, 2002, the website was moved to the address of teamliquid.net. A day later the very first poll was posted as a vote for the website's name with the teamliquid.net name winning over other suggestions such as likwit.com. On April 5, 2019, it was announced that the website would be moving to the domain tl.net, with teamliquid.net becoming an alias for teamliquid.com in the future.[6]

Although Team Liquid was primarily known as a StarCraft news site, there are many sub sections on the forums dedicated to other games as well. It was announced on August 30, 2012, that Team Liquid would be expanding to covering Dota 2 news. On December 8, 2012, Liquid expanded their esports franchise into multiple games for the first time, with the recruitment of a North American Dota 2 team.[1]

On January 6, 2015, Steven "LiQuiD112" Arhancet joined Victor Goossens as co-owner of Team Liquid, officially commencing the merge between former Team Curse Gaming under the Team Liquid banner.[7]

On September 27, 2016, Team Liquid sold its controlling interest to aXiomatic Gaming, an investment group including Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber, entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, and AOL co-founder Steve Case.[8]

On December 16, 2017, Team Liquid disbanded their Halo roster.[9]

In 2020, the organization introduced Blue, an anthropomorphic horse, as its mascot.[10][11] Blue has been featured in the organization's merchandising campaigns and collaborations.[12][13]

Ownership

[edit]
aXiomatic
IndustryEntertainment and sports
Key people
Bruce Stein (CEO)
OwnerAerial Powers (co-owner)
Asa Butterfield (co-owner)
Jonathan Jablonowski (co-owner)
Juan DeBiedma (co-owner)
Lex Veldhuis (co-owner)
Max Smith (co-owner)
Websitewww.axiomaticgaming.com

aXiomatic is an entertainment and sports management company. Investors for the group include Peter Guber, Tony Robbins, Magic Johnson, Ted Leonsis, Steve Case, and Eric Lefkofsky.[14][15] The chief executive officer is Bruce Stein, the former chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Mattel Toys, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Kenner Products (Hasbro).[16] On September 27, 2016, aXiomatic announced that it had acquired controlling interest of esports organization Team Liquid.[17][18][19]

Other investors include Los Angeles Dodgers executives Lon Rosen and Tucker Kain, Golden State Warriors executives Rick Welts and Kirk Lacob, the Washington Nationals owners at Lerner Enterprises, Chicago Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney, Donn Davis, co-founder of Revolution and managing partner of Revolution Growth, Zach Leonsis, VP and general manager of Monumental Sports Network, Mark Ein, founder and owner of the Washington Kastles and Washington Justice,[20] and former NFL player Dhani Jones.[21]

It was announced that Victor Goossens and Steve Arhancet would continue their roles as co-CEOs of Team Liquid after the acquisition.[22]

In December 2021, five players signed by Team Liquid became co-owners: basketball player Aerial Powers, amateur Super Smash Bros. player (and actor) Asa "Stimpy" Butterfield, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski, Super Smash Bros. player Juan "Hungrybox' DeBiedma, and poker streamer and competitor Lex Veldhuis.[23]

In January 2022, Team Liquid signed the World of Warcraft guild Limit, making Limit's guild leader and team captain Max "Maximum" Smith a co-owner.[24]

In May 2024, it was announced that Team Liquid was a member of the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Support Program, funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.[25] Later that same month, Team Liquid would sign two Mobile Legends: Bang Bang rosters in the form of AURA Esports and ECHO (renamed to Liquid AURA and Liquid ECHO, then to Team Liquid Indonesia and Team Liquid Philippines respectively), after they acquired STUN.GG, who owned both teams.[26]

Websites

[edit]

Main websites

[edit]
  • TLnet – Originally branded as "Team Liquid", the tl.net website primarily provides StarCraft II coverage but also has some coverage for StarCraft Brood War, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Heroes of the Storm, and Super Smash Brothers Melee. With the launch of StarCraft II, TLnet has grown into the largest StarCraft community on the internet, with over 220,000 active members and over twenty four million total posts. The website employs four person full-time staff at their New York City office to work on the site.[27]
  • Team Liquid – Website focusing on Team Liquid esports team coverage.
  • Liquipedia – Is a volunteer-run wiki covering various esports, beginning with Starcraft: Brood War and currently covering more than 57 esports titles.[28] In 2023 Liquipedia started to branch into covering traditional sports with their Formula 1 wiki.[29] In 2024, Liquipedia would host the game-focused Dota 2 Wiki, which previously was hosted on Fandom, with an intent to merge both the esports wiki and the game wiki into a single, comprehensive Dota 2 wiki.[30]

Rosters

[edit]
Team Liquid rosters
Starcraft 2
Handle Name Nationality
Clem Desplanches, Clément France
Elazer Ogonowski, Mikołaj Poland
Cure Doh-wook, Kim South Korea
MaNa Komincz, Grzegorz Poland
SKillous Gurevich, Nikita Russia
League of Legends
Handle Name Nationality
Impact Eon-young, Jeong South Korea
UmTi Seong-hyeon, Eom South Korea
APA Stearns, Eain United States
Yeon Sung, Sean United States
CoreJJ Yong-in, Jo South Korea
Counter-Strike 2
Handle Name Nationality
NAF Markovic, Keith Canada
YEKINDAR Gaļinskis, Mareks Latvia
Twistzz Van Dulken, Russel Canada
jks Savage, Justin Australia
ultimate Tomkowiak, Roland Poland
Dota 2
Handle Name Nationality
miCKe Vu, Michael Sweden
Nisha Jankowski, Michał Poland
33 Shapira, Neta Israel
Boxi Svahn, Samuel Sweden
Insania Sarkohi, Aydin Sweden
Super Smash Bros.
Handle Name Nationality
Chillindude Khan, Kashan United States
Ken Hoang, Ken United States
Hungrybox DeBiedma, Juan United States
Dabuz Buzby, Samuel United States
ChuDat Rodriguez, Daniel United States
Riddles Kim, Michael Canada
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang ID
Handle Name Nationality
Aran Aldhia Fahmi Aranda Indonesia
Faviannn Favian Bayu Putra Indonesia
yehezkiel Yehezkiel Wiseman Indonesia
AeronnShikii Sultan Muhammad Indonesia
Kabuki Substitute player Leonardo Prasetyo Agung Indonesia
Widy Christian Widy Hartono Indonesia
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang PH
Handle Name Nationality
Sanford Sanford Vinuya Philippines
KarlTzy Karl Gabriel Nepomuceno Philippines
Zaida Substitute player Justine Sadia Palma Philippines
Sanji Alston Pabico Philippines
Bennyqt Frederic Benedict Gonzales Philippines
Outplayed Substitute player Jhonville Borres Villar Philippines
Jaypee Jaypee Dela Cruz Philippines
Rainbow Six Siege
Handle Name Nationality
nesk Oliveira, André Brazil
Paluh Molina, Luccas Brazil
resetz Oliveira, Pablo Brazil
Lagonis Volpi, Lorenzo Brazil
volpz Fernandes, Gabriel Brazil
Rocket League
Handle Name Nationality
AcroniK Lopes, Bruno Portugal
Oski Gozdowski, Oskar Poland
Atow Soyez, Tristan Belgium
Valorant
Handle Name Nationality
Enzo Mestari, Enzo France
Jamppi Olkkonen, Elias Finland
nAts Akhmetshin, Ayaz Russia
Mistic Orfila, James United Kingdom
Keiko Sanassy, Georgio United Kingdom
Harmii (S) Harms, Nico Germany
Valorant Game Changers
Handle Name Nationality
daiki Vilela, Natalia Brazil
Bizerra Vieira, Vitoria Brazil
Joojina Paiva, Letícia Brazil
isaa Esser, Isabeli Brazil
bstrdd Naguil, Paula Chile
Apex Legends
Handle Name Nationality
YanYa Ocampo, Saul Mexico
Neazul Ramos Suarez, Luis Enrique Mexico
Jaguares Martinez, Alexis Mexico
Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (L) On loan
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Tournaments and events

[edit]

In addition to running a community site and team, Team Liquid also hosts a variety of tournaments and events.

Team Liquid Starleague

[edit]

The two iterations of the TeamLiquid Starleague (or TSL for short) have been the largest StarCraft: Brood War tournaments outside of South Korea.[citation needed] The first TSL sponsored by Razer in 2008 was highly anticipated at the time, sporting all of the world's top Brood War players. It was topped one year later with 2009's TSL 2, which featured a total prize pool of over $20,000 and remains the largest non-Korean Brood War tournament to date. With the release of Starcraft II, Team Liquid announced a third installment, sponsored again by PokerStrategy.com with a prize pool of $34,700.[31] The tournament took place between March and May 2011. On April 25, 2012, a fourth installment was announced (TSL 4).

Team Liquid StarCraft II Open

[edit]

The TL Opens are one-day open single-elimination tournaments alternating between the NA and EU battle.net servers. The eight TL Open events that lead up to the TSL 3 also served as a qualifier for the TSL.[citation needed]

Team Liquid Legacy Starleague

[edit]

Announced on January 1, 2013, Team Liquid would be hosting a series of online tournaments for "foreign" players of StarCraft: Brood War.[32]

Community events

[edit]
  • TL Attack: Modeled after a Korean TV show called Bnet Attack, a professional player plays games against non-professionals while chatting with the hosts.
  • Liquibition: A King-of-the-Hill mode that is played best of 7 games.
  • TL Arena: A professional player will be matched up with inferior opponents. With each win he gains, another handicap is added that limits his game play options, until he loses or he has defeated a certain number of opponents.

Esports history

[edit]

StarCraft and StarCraft II

[edit]

The gaming clan "Liquid" was founded by Victor "Nazgul" Goossens near the end of 2000, after he decided to leave his previous clan. Liquid started with four members for the first months and grew to eight players over the following year. The members of the Liquid clan were handpicked by Goossens.[citation needed]

With the arrival of StarCraft II, Team Liquid announced plans to become an active professional esports team. Shortly after, sponsorship by The Little App Factory was announced,[33] which qualified them as a sponsored professional team. This allowed Team Liquid to pay their players a salary and send the team to events around the world. The team created a dedicated news site separate from the more community oriented site, announced and released on May 10, 2011.[34]

On August 13, 2012, three players traveled to Korea in order to live in the OGS training house and compete in GOMTV's Global StarCraft II League (GSL).[35][36][37] Of the three players entering the preliminaries, only one, Dario "TLO" Wünsch qualified for the first two GSL events. He was eliminated out in the Second and First rounds respectively.

The third GSL was the strongest showing of Team Liquid thus far. Three players, Hayder "Haypro" Hussein, Jos "Ret" de Kroon and Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh qualified for the main tournament. While Hussein lost first round and de Kroon in 2nd, Walsh made to the semi-finals, losing 0–4 to the eventual winner Jang "MC" Min-Chul.

In 2012, during GSL Season 2, members Song "HerO" Hyeon Deok and Yun "TaeJa" Young Seo made it to the Round of 8 of the Code S tournament, with TaeJa being eliminated while HerO advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament.

At the end of 2023, Kim "Cure" Doh-wook and Clément "Clem" Desplanches reached the semifinals of ESL SC2 Masters: Winter 2023 Finals, at Dreamhack Atlanta. Cure lost to Dark 3-1 while Clem defeated Serral 3-1 and reached the finals. In the grand final, Clem competed against Dark and beat him 4-1.[38]

At the start of 2024, Kim "Cure" Doh-wook was eliminated in the Round of 8 of Master's Coliseum 7, losing 3-4 against Solar. [39]

In February 2024, Clément "Clem" Desplanches reached the Quarterfinals in IEM Katowice 2024 but lost 3-0 against Serral. [40]

In February 2024, Kim "Cure" Doh-wook reached the Semifinals in IEM Katowice 2024 but lost 3-0 against Maru. [41]

Clément "Clem" Desplanches has assured his direct spot in the Esports World Cup 2024 in Riyadh by winning SC2 Masters Winter 2023. [42]

Kim "Cure" Doh-wook has assured his direct spot in the Esports World Cup 2024 in Riyadh by reaching top 4 at IEM Katowice 2024. [43]

Both Clément "Clem" Desplanches and Kim "Cure" Doh-wook stopped in the Knockout Round 3 of ESL SC2 Masters: Spring 2024. Clem lost 3-0 to HerO while Cure lost 3-2 to Shin. [44]

Smash Bros.

[edit]

In March 2014, Team Liquid announced that it had picked up two Melee players: Ken, who is known as the "King of Smash" and KoreanDJ, who is known for being the first player to defeat Mew2King during his peak, thus starting its Smash team. After acquiring Curse Gaming, it also signed Hungrybox, who is considered to be one of the Five Gods of Melee, and Chillin, who was the first player to defeat Ken during his prime. On August 11, 2015, it picked up top Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player Nairo, who was the only player to knock ZeRo out of a tournament, ending ZeRo's 55 win tournament streak at MLG World Finals.[45][46] On September 28, 2015, Team Liquid announced that KoreanDJ resigned from the organization and retired from competitive Smash, citing persistent hand and wrist pains.[47]

League of Legends

[edit]

On January 6, 2015, Liquid acquired the Team Curse's League of Legends roster, which consisted of Quas, IWillDominate, Voyboy, Cop, and Xpecial. The team finished the LCS Spring regular season in 6th place with a 10–9 record. On Week 5 and 6 of NA LCS Piglet was benched and replaced on the starting roster by KEITHMCBRIEF in an effort to try to improve their standings.[48] In the playoffs they beat Counter Logic Gaming 3–0, before losing to Cloud9 3–2 and finishing in 3rd.

Team Liquid was very successful in 2018 and 2019, winning four LCS splits in a row. In the 2018 NA LCS season, Liquid had a roster of Impact, Xmithie, Pobelter, Doublelift, and Olleh. At the 2018 League of Legends World Championship, Liquid went 3–3 in groups and failed to advance. In the 2019 LCS season, Liquid replaced Pobelter with Jensen and Olleh with CoreJJ. Liquid failed to make it out of groups at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship, however, as their 3–3 record was insufficient to advance. In 2020, Broxah joined the team as jungler, replacing Xmithie. The 2020 Spring Split went very poorly for Liquid; they finished ninth place out of ten. Doublelift was benched due to motivation issues and replaced by Academy ADC Tactical, and Doublelift was eventually traded to Team SoloMid for the summer split, with Tactical promoted to starter. Liquid finished third that summer split and made it to 2020 League of Legends World Championship, but again their 3–3 record was insufficient to advance to the quarterfinals. In 2021, Santorin replaced Broxah as jungler, and LEC import Alphari replaced Impact as top laner. The team once again got a 3–3 record in groups at the 2021 League of Legends World Championship; this qualified them for a tiebreaker match with Gen.G, but Liquid lost and failed to advance.

The 2022 season saw a major shake-up of the roster, as the Honda sponsorship allowed the creation of a "super team" of Bwipo, Santorin, Bjergsen, Hans Sama, and CoreJJ. Despite high expectations and finishing third place in the regular season of the summer split, Liquid narrowly failed to earn a Worlds slot in the playoffs, a disappointment that caused a major controversy.[49] Hans Sama left the team at the end of the season.[50] On 26 September 2022 they also released Guilhoto from the head coach position.[51]

Other

[edit]

One week after the Curse merger, it was announced that Team Liquid acquired a Counter Strike: Global Offensive team that previously played under the title "Denial eSports".[52]

On October 9, 2015, it was announced that Liquid would once again be fielding a Dota team, after being absence from the competitive DotA scene for more than a year.[53]

On October 21, 2016, it was announced that Liquid would be fielding a professional Civilization VI team, captained by former world champion Civilization player MrGameTheory.[54][55]

On August 7, 2020, Team Liquid announced their entrance to the Valorant esports scene by signing the fish123 roster, soulcas, Kryptix, L1NK, ec1s. Alongside these four players, they also added ScreaM as the fifth player.[56] On February 24, 2021, Team Liquid parted ways with ec1s[57] and added Jamppi into the roster.[58] On April 23, 2021, Team Liquid announced changes to their Dota 2 roster on Twitter. Samuel "Boxi" Swann is taking a break from Dota to spend more time with his family. He will be replaced by Saeed Samail "SumaiL" Hassan.[citation needed] On December 25, 2021, analyst and translator Leon "Arthur" Lee interviewed Team Liquid coach, William "Blitz" Lee, who talked about the formation of the team, MATUMBAMAN and Zai, captain iNSaNiA and opponents at the Dota Pro Circuit.[citation needed] On 22 September 2022, they were announced as one of the 10 partner teams for the Valorant EMEA league.[59]

On May 5, 2023, Team Liquid became the first Dota 2 team to score the minimum number of DPC points and qualify for The International 2023.[citation needed]

In May 2024, Team Liquid announced it was officially re-entering competitive Apex Legends play after signing the orgless team "Legacy" ahead of the 2024 Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Split 1 Playoffs LAN.[60] It marked Team Liquid's return to the Apex scene, after leaving in December 2022.[61] The roster is made up of Saul "YanYa" Ocampo, Luis Enrique "Neazul" Ramos Suarez, Alexis "Jaguares" Martinez, and Steven "Pistillo" Rojas as the coach.[60]

Sponsors

[edit]

On January 24, 2015, it was announced that HTC had become an official sponsor of Team Liquid.[62]

In June 2022, Liquid got Honda as a major sponsor for their League of Legends team. The League team was renamed "Team Liquid Honda" as a result.[63]

Management

[edit]

Victor "Nazgul" Goossens is a founding member, and currently co-owner and chief executive officer of Team Liquid. He originally competed in Brood War prior to forming Team Liquid.[64]

Steve "LiQuiD112" Arhancet joined the Team Liquid staff when Team Curse merged with Team Liquid. Since the merge, Steve has taken the role of co-owner and chief executive officer and primarily manages the League of Legends team.[65]

Alienware Training Facility

[edit]

In 2017 Team Liquid finished constructing its Alienware Training Facility in Los Angeles, which is designed to act as the training grounds for Team Liquid's CS:GO and League of Legends teams, as well as their esports headquarters. The facility houses non-players such as owner Steve "LiQuiD112" Arhancet and 1UP Studios, Team Liquid's in-house production studio, so that all departments of Team Liquid could work together. Team Liquid's sponsor Alienware supplied all the PC's to the Alienware Training Facility.[66]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Horton, Samuel (December 8, 2012). "Team Liquid ventures into Dota 2". SK Gaming. Archived from the original on February 14, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  2. ^ Payne, Marissa. "These five gamers just won $11 million playing 'Dota 2'". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
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  63. ^ “Team Liquid Honda” League of Legends Team Naming Rights Deal Signals Expanded Relationship and Evolution of Honda’s Commitment to Gaming
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[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by The International winner
2017
With: MATUMBAMAN, Miracle-, MinD_ContRoL, GH, KuroKy, and Heen (coach) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by The International winner
2024
With: miCKe, Nisha, 33, Boxi, Insania, Blitz (coach), Jabbz (coach), and kpii (coach) 		Succeeded by
TBD
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