No team in the LCS had a more disappointing 2022 Summer Split than Team Liquid.
After forming the latest North American “super team” just about a year ago, the best placing Liquid had was a third-place finish in the 2022 LCS Spring Split playoffs. Now, with 11 days until the start of free agency, it’s time to dive into how different one of the juggernauts of the LCS will look for their upcoming 2023 campaign.
Liquid’s roster outlook
It is important to mention the outlook on Liquid’s professional League of Legends program before getting into any reported moves and rumors. About two months ago, co-CEO Steve Arhancet addressed the fans after Liquid failed to even qualify for Worlds 2022. In that video, Arhancet expressed the organization’s desire to look inward and build a roster with more developmental pieces going forward. In essence, the “super team” model had not worked, so going forward, the team plans to change its approach to build a better winning culture. Understanding the organization’s mindset going into the offseason gives fans an idea of what to expect.
Departures
Let’s start with the moves that are pretty set in stone. Liquid had to enact some changes and the first exit came botside. Hans sama, who came into the LCS after a stellar 2021 campaign in the LEC, simply did not live up to expectations alongside CoreJJ. Liquid cut him loose shortly after the end of the season, allowing him to explore other options. Hans sama is now set to return to the LEC with a new team in G2 Esports.
It looks as if Liquid decided to purge all of its European imports. Shortly after Hans sama’s exit, a report from Brieuc Seeger claims Liquid is allowing top laner Bwipo to explore his options for 2023. Bwipo’s future is still very much up in the air as of today. Some LEC fans have speculated that he may return to his roots with Fnatic, but nothing official regarding Bwipo’s future in professional League has been announced.
CoreJJ staying with Team Liquid
CoreJJ is currently the longest-tenured member of Liquid’s League team at 10 consecutive splits with the squad. Core’s status with the team was also very much up in the air after Arhancet’s video. The rumors ran wild, with fans speculating everything from CoreJJ returning to Korea to an impromptu switch to 100 Thieves.
The suspense was finally broken five days ago when independent journalist Brieuc Seeger reported that CoreJJ has re-signed with Liquid for the 2023 season. This means the face of Liquid will stay with the org as the veteran for the roster going forward.
Bjergsen’s future
After the shortcomings of the 2022 Liquid “super team,” many tried to figure out what went wrong behind closed doors. The biggest piece of insight fans got came from LCS insider Travis Gafford. Gafford said on his podcast, Hotline League, that he heard CoreJJ and Bjergsen did not mesh well on the team. This led many to speculate that the two did not want to play together for the upcoming split.
With CoreJJ reportedly re-signing with the team, things get complicated for Liquid. CoreJJ was set to become a free agent before re-signing, but Bjergsen still has one year left on his deal with Liquid. If the rumors are true regarding the issues with the two loudest voices on the team last year, what does Liquid do with Bjergsen and his contract now?
The spiciest rumor brought to light by Gafford recently links another LCS heavy hitter to Bjergsen. The speculative next NA “super team” looks to be 100 Thieves, who is reportedly interested in bringing in Bjergsen alongside former teammates Spica and Doublelift. 100T potentially running back the 2020 TSM roster would be intriguing to see nonetheless but is still all speculative.
On Nov. 11, Liquid confirmed that it is parting ways with Bjergsen. No official news on Bjergsen’s next team has been announced yet.
Team Liquid Academy promotions to LCS
The LCS is entering the era of organizations building rosters from the ground up. With the recent success of Evil Geniuses’ Danny and Jojopyun, many teams are looking toward their academy squads for the future. Team Liquid Academy are debatably the most stacked roster at that level and are currently the defending Academy league champions.
Early on in Liquid’s offseason and going off of their CEO’s expectation video for the future, TL fans expected a couple of promotions from the academy team. The biggest name in that department is Team Liquid Academy’s support Bill “Eyla” Nguyen. Eyla was an obvious standout from Academy but is now once again blocked from an LCS spot on Liquid with the return of CoreJJ. At this time, the global contract database has Eyla’s contract listed as expiring at the start of free agency, and there will likely be other suitors looking to give him a starting support spot in the LCS.
The Liquid Academy roster still has other standouts who could get the call-up. TLA’s starting AD carry Sean “Yeon” Sung had his contract extended through 2024 and could start after the departure of Hans sama.
Another Team Liquid Academy standout still under contract is Bradley Benneyworth. Bradley is under contract with the team until 2023, but for now, his promotion to the LCS is all speculative. Bradley makes a ton of sense because he aligns with the homegrown talent narrative Arhancet pushed in mid-September. On top of that, starting Bradley in the top lane affords Liquid the chance to have open import spots.
Jungle: Santorin?
That covers almost every starting slot for Liquid heading into free agency, except the jungle. As of now, there is no official news on Santorin. He is still under contract until 2023 and has been a standout jungler in the LCS since his arrival at Liquid. A majority of LCS fans expect Santorin to stay with the team to help foster a newer, younger lineup alongside CoreJJ. But today, Santorin posted a cryptic tweet that might suggest otherwise. Obviously, a player tweeting a cryptic GIF is far from credible, but it does give some insight into his mindset heading into free agency.
Liquid are one of the more intriguing teams to track heading into free agency, and there will be plenty more news coming out regarding them as we near the official start of the offseason.
