On September 25, 2025, EliGE officially returned to Liquid after two years. At the time, this transfer almost came with a "homecoming" narrative: the North American CS icon had previously played for Liquid for over eight years and was one of the core members of the 2019 Intel Grand Slam-winning lineup. More importantly, from a positional standpoint, his return also made perfect sense—Liquid needed a player willing to proactively create space, and EliGE, fresh from a low point at FaZe, needed to rediscover a system that suited him.
A year has now passed, and the initial nostalgia and anticipation have gradually given way to another question: Is EliGE truly suitable for the current Liquid? Or, to put it another way, has Liquid actually built a system that can leverage EliGE's strengths?
On paper, the transfer deal seemed very reasonable
When EliGE returned, he specifically mentioned coach flashie's system. In his view, both sides had a very similar understanding of the game, even describing their synergy by saying, "We speak the same CS language."
In terms of playstyle, EliGE was precisely what Liquid needed to address their lack of proactive aggressors. As an aggressive rifler, he thrives on seeking entry frags and opening duels, which allows the team's more passive players to settle into their natural roles.
Initially, everything did seem to be heading in the right direction. Liquid secured third place at the CS Asia Championships and subsequently advanced to the quarterfinals of PGL Masters Bucharest. For a newly formed roster with almost minimal practice time together, this was not a bad start.
But the Budapest Major that followed soon after became the first real setback for this iteration of Team Liquid.
Before the competition, EliGE was praising the team for having just completed a highly effective training camp, and Liquid finally had time to adjust its system. He even believed that if everyone could perform as well as they did in training, Liquid had the potential to become the "dark horse" of that Major.
Liquid struggled to pass the second stage but completely collapsed in the third stage. After losing consecutively to Spirit, The MongolZ, and Passion UA, they ended their Major journey with a 0-3 record.
After that, the discussion around Liquid gradually shifted from "how strong can this lineup be" to "are these players really suitable to play together?"
2026: The problem shifts from poor adaptation to a systemic crisis.
After entering 2026, Liquid still found no stable solution. NertZ was replaced by malbsMd in March, but the roster change did not immediately alter the team's situation.
Liquid continued to struggle in events like EPL, BLAST, and IEM Rio Major. After managing to qualify for the IEM Cologne Major, they ultimately suffered a crushing defeat to FlyQuest in the 2-2 elimination match of the first stage, once again cutting their Major journey short.
It was also after that loss that EliGE first explained in detail the problems he encountered after returning to Liquid.
He confided that after joining Liquid, he has struggled with persistent confidence issues and frequently found himself doubting himself. At the same time, there were many differing voices within the team, with each member holding their own views on how matches should be played.
EliGE stated that Liquid had tried several different directions, but the problem was: "No matter which direction we chose, it felt like we failed to fully commit to any of them."
This also makes his statement upon his return—"We speak the same CS language"—especially ironic eight months later—the problem is no longer whether everyone speaks the same language, but that too many different "dialects" have emerged within the team.
Statistically, did EliGE really play that poorly?
Xtrimis has tallied Liquid's performance across major tournaments in 2026. Judging by their early-round engagement tendencies, EliGE remains the most aggressive player in Liquid when it comes to seeking first kills. His first-kill attempt rate is notably the highest on the team, followed by players like malbsMd and others.
Interestingly, EliGE's first kill production rate is not low.
According to Xtrimis statistics, his opening kills per 100 rounds are notably higher than the sample median. In other words, EliGE bears the brunt of the first contact tasks and does successfully create 5v4 opening situations for Liquid.
The truly noteworthy point emerged afterward: after EliGE secured the first kill, Liquid's efficiency in converting advantages into round wins ultimately fell below the sample median.
Of course, this can't simply be understood as "teammates throwing away all the advantages EliGE created." The map, offensive/defensive sides, opponent strength, economy, first kill positions, and subsequent game situation all affect the conversion rate.
But at least it shows one thing: Liquid's problem cannot simply be attributed to EliGE failing to create openings.
After JT joined, the story changed again
In July of this year, Liquid finally undertook a more thorough system restructuring. ultimate departed, replaced by young sniper Jorko; siuhy moved to the bench, while JT officially became the team's new in-game leader.
The change takes effect almost immediately.
The new Liquid successively defeated Vitality and G2 with 2-0 scores, advancing to the BLAST Bounty Tournament finals. In these two matches, EliGE delivered Rating 3.0 scores of 1.52 and 1.45, respectively.
After JT gave a very interesting answer on how to use EliGE in an HLTV interview.
In JT's view, EliGE is an extremely aggressive player on Team Liquid, but he also needs two things: first, he must be clear about what exactly he should be doing within the system, and second, once his responsibilities are defined, he must have enough space to express himself.
JT also indicated that he will actively give EliGE this kind of space.
In a way, this directly addresses the question EliGE raised after the Cologne Major.
EliGE might not need complete freedom in gameplay, nor is he suited for an extremely rigid system. What he truly needs could be "bounded freedom": first clarify what each person should do and have everyone adhere to the same set of principles, then allow him to make aggressive choices based on his own judgment within this framework.
One year later, the questions about EliGE have changed
When EliGE returned a year ago, the discussion was: "Can EliGE save Liquid?"
After a year had passed, the question itself seemed somewhat unfair. A rifleman could hardly single-handedly repair a team that continuously adjusted its tactical direction and could never establish a stable competitive identity.
However, it is equally too simplistic to define EliGE's return as a failure simply because Liquid did not become a championship contender this year.
Based on the data, he still takes on a large number of first contacts, remains willing to proactively seek breakthroughs, and continues to create a considerable number of opening kills advantage. The real question lies in whether Liquid can continue to convert these advantages into round wins.
Perhaps this is the most interesting aspect one year after EliGE's return: he is no longer Liquid's "savior," but has instead become more like a touchstone testing whether the entire system is functioning properly.
Place him in a system with ambiguous positioning, and his aggression will infinitely magnify every hesitation behind him. However, when his role is sufficiently clear, his teammates understand his timing, and the shotcaller is willing to grant him a certain degree of freedom, that same aggression can once again become one of Liquid's deadliest weapons.
So what truly needs to prove themselves next is no longer just EliGE.
After a full year of explanations, experimentation, and roster changes, Liquid must prove that the shifts brought by the JT era can endure—so the measure of EliGE's return can no longer be just "potential," but must be victories.