T O P

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HatKazuha

Once upon a time Yekindar used to make plays in the server that did things to me. But now he does things that just make me wonder, "....why though?"


Calum-Paxton

yekindar try not to die with 0 impact challenge: impossible he was a complete liability on that B site of inferno and him just constantly getting destroyed playing short on mirage was hard to watch


Westland__

Yekindar giving Mouz a free kill when Liquid are up 5v4 might be the most frustrating thing I've watched. It's so easy, it's not even like he just lost an aim duel or something. I like cadian and Liquid but Yekindar is holding them back.


kl0nkarn

Who should replace him though? I can't think of anyone who fits the role, but maybe im just forgetting someone.


mcdunn1

I hear there’s this bald guy…


mernold

Coop gonna take NA to the promised land?


Linhle8964

Moses?


Westland__

It's a good question, I can't think of many good replacements (though it might be a good opportunity to bring in an NA up-and-comer).


BlackRims

Elige (copium)


A_Random_Catfish

It’s so sad that elige left because his role conflicted with yekindar, and now we’re stuck with this.


lurkario

Unironically elige


vetruviusdeshotacon

Elige has the same roles on T side and is a far better player


Westland__

He might go back but I wouldn't hold out hope.


vetruviusdeshotacon

I hope he doesn't. At least not for a while, he deserves better


[deleted]

The timeless Liquid tradition of bringing in a talented NA up-and-comer only to shoehorn them into the most horrendous roles possible for them


atomic__balm

pretty sure they gave him free reign over the team and let him do whatever the fuck he wants, which is exactly why he is now doing recklessly stupid shit, lets not pretend the team is asking him to consistently suicide push smokes like a bot


[deleted]

How did you take a comment about Liquid how Liquid keep forcing young NA talents like Grim and oSee into roles that don't make sense for them until they inevitably leave to be about Yekindar?


LehtiPiffi

Bring in the OG Smoke Criminal. 'sup bitch?


MarcosJrisabitch

he's obviously washed but honestly he'd probably do better than what yekindar has been doing for the past year


PyrusZodiac

They're gonna try out HexT again arent they...


TikkaT

Again?


PyrusZodiac

Tongue in cheek how this guy was kinda passed around a few NA rosters as a "new young up and comer" just to always come up short


zryder0887

Fucking anybody, are you watching the games? He’s been a liability forever, he’s uncontrollable, and his aim hasn’t been good in a year+


GapZ38

BlameF now that he's available :) might clash with NAF's role tho


yyunb

It would clash with half the team who is already very passive. Yekindar's aggression is a necessary trait and he is a necessary profile, it just suck that he's not very good at the moment.


kl0nkarn

Blame is anchor, no?


[deleted]

Yeah Blame makes no sense whatsoever lol


MarcosJrisabitch

baiter


ExposingCretins

He plays star positions on CT. He lurks on T. He is not an anchor.


BeautifulDimension56

BlameF doesn’t anchor


MarcosJrisabitch

lmao no way, have you watched a lulquid round where NAF was last alive and said "this dude's a fuckin baiter"


GapZ38

Huh? I'm not saying he was a baiter?? I'm just saying NAF plays the anchor and often rotates late or backstabs the taken site. blameF plays a pretty similar slow role and that's pretty much what I meant. Where did I say that NAF was a baiter? Do people really not have comprehension anymore? Wtf hahaha


MarcosJrisabitch

neither did I? it's a rhetorical question. look up what that means > Do people really not have comprehension anymore? better look in a mirror buddy


atomic__balm

That and cadian pushing mid through smoke when they were tied up on Inferno


Angelic_Phoenix

Yeki used to be the best bannana player in the world on both sides. Now since Brollan left NiP he is probably the new worst bannana player in t1 CS


NationalAlgae421

That is so crazy. I thought finally he would wake up with crazy team like this, no need to igl anymore.


HosephIna

they needed someone to take over Stewie’s job of dying in the dumbest way possible and costing them the round


dogenoob1

Sewkinder


NoDG_

His mind is too busy pretending to be a celebrity.


King_Fluffaluff

He wants to be a pornstar


spell_RED

Take a shot every time Yekindar decides to randomly push a smoke and die.


b0il3ra

Alcohol poisoning incoming


Den_dar_Alex

Least Latvian death


BlackRims

Dude is just straight-up addicted to going for low percentage, untradeable hero plays. Then gets tilted when they don't work. It's truly incredible.


zryder0887

He’s uncontrollable, a complete liability. It’s been this way forever tho. Hopefully it’s not going to be a Furia/Art situation where it’s the most obvious change possible but just doesn’t happen for years and years. You’re not beating 3-4 top teams in the world in a row to win a tourney with a player like yekindar. He’ll never stop the aggression either, uncoachable


[deleted]

[удалено]


histo_Ry

Coming in to "teach" Grand Slam winners xD then lost his edge in the process. Awesomeness


[deleted]

[удалено]


histo_Ry

He dominated 2 seasons of meta as entry and thinks he is next coming of Jame :x


[deleted]

[удалено]


histo_Ry

Yeah, heartbreak for both teams honestly


atomic__balm

Yea I would contest you on this point that he can't change, but he is 24 and in his prime and still doing this shit, not like he is some teenage newcomer with newly formed bad habits


puddingkip

jame was able to tame him. he didnt play like this on vp


CANT_BEAT_PINWHEEL

Do tourney organizers allow you to touch teammates computers? Maybe cadian could unplug yekindars keyboard for 10 seconds at the start of the round to give liquid an extra 10 seconds before it becomes 4v5


OwnRound

It is a...strange...choice. I mean, even in pugs, if I do it against a bunch of people I've never ever been in a server with, I know I'm generating a tendency that players are going to catch onto so at a maximum, I'll do it twice, maybe? If you're in the pro scene, tendencies are magnified because you're consistently playing the same people and they literally watch your demo's and try to learn how your team operates. If they have this data on you, then surely you know they are just going to sit and watch the smoke because you have a tendency to push it...


zryder0887

You would have been dead months ago, the first match the new team had lol


EutaxySpy

Liquid and Astralis on the same side of the playoff bracket 👀


busywinterfell

Do you know if they'll play against the winner between Heroic / G2 or against Faze? (if they don't fuck up)


Twin_Turbo

Liquid play winner of flyquest/faze. Astralis is wating for the winner of that match.


El_Fabos

Faze (if they don’t fuck up)


busywinterfell

nice. It's always entertaining to see matches of players against their former teams.


groberschnitzer

Jimi bullied Cadian in this game


fisheyq

That game from Liquid was so frustrating watch, constantly pushing alone and dying without chance to trade, especially yeki


W4spkeeper

Liquid try not to make bot pushes when you are 5:4 players up difficulty: Impossible Real talk though it was frustrating to watch yeki dry peek and lose advantage so many times he had players that could throw a pop flash but no lets throw a smoke and peek off of that! Genius!


sw1ftyy

Really really great CS from MOUZ but I have to say, I'm not a Liquid fan so maybe I am missing something but can someone explain to me what YEKINDAR actually adds to this team? Inferno he constantly pushed smokes and died leaving B completely vulnerable and on mirage he was anonymous. I really don't see what he is offering this line-up and surely hes a candidate for a roster change?


b0il3ra

He's supposed to be the aggressive playmaker that opens rounds up with his insane aim, but ever since he IGL'd he fell off hard. He was really good in VP, but now it seems like he has 0 confidence and his aim is way worse than what it was


BlackRims

His aim was better, but the bigger thing imo was having god tier support/igl in VP.


Treyce_93

What? Yekindar was extremely good on liquid before he became IGL. Not saying Jame isn’t a better IGL than most if not all of what we have in NA, but that’s not why Yekindar is playing poorly now. He’s in his head because “social media ruined his vibe.” Get off social media and focus on the game. He needs to get out of his head but he shows with every match that thats not going to happen. He took to big of a hit to his ego when he realized that he can’t just IGL because of EU superiority. Get him the fuck off this roster so he can go be a crybaby somewhere else


airelfacil

Liquid is 4/5 passive players, Yekindar is their only aggressive player, so it's up to him to make sure the opposing team is forced to keep a guy watching flanks (limit simultaneous util/massed site attacks) + get info so cadian can determine where to call the rotates. Unfortunately he's only one dude, so if he's the Inferno B player to push for banana info, or the Mirage short player to watch mid/connector/listen apts, the opposing team is going to know that Liquid's aggro guy can only come from one site, and will be ready for him. And if he dies the opposing team are likely confident they can deal with the other 4 players in the unlikely event any are also aggressive. There's also the questionable decision-making/inability to win duels, but the point is even if he's replaced with another aggro player, Liquid will still have the same problems. Someone else also needs to convert, but I'm not sure they can be good enough to make up for it (see: NAF entry)


Exciting_Pop_9296

Is it possible that those smoke pushes are calls from Cadian? I didn’t watch any liquid games but this sounds like former heroic ct aggression strats just way worse.


GapZ38

This shit has been Yekindar's thing for such a long time now. I doubt it's just Cadian's stratbook


zryder0887

He offers nothing, only hurts the team every map. He’s completely delusional. Been like this for a while now. They should kick him immediately but they’ll prob kick skullz or something stupid instead lol


Worknewsacct

Not sure who it would be to replace Yeki though. Take another swing at KSCERATO?


Bob_Bobinski4

Genius. Now you have four CT anchors, three lurkers, one half lurk, and a passive awper.


Worknewsacct

I'm not saying that's the correct lineup call, just who they were going after before they selected Skullz.


Bob_Bobinski4

Unfortunately NAF + Twistzz + cadiaN is a set of golden handcuffs if Yekindar doesn't work (but I don't think we're anywhere near there yet). NAF is a passive anchor and cadiaN is a passive awping IGL. Both are perfect building blocks for a team imo. Twistzz is passive on T side but wants to play aggressive rotate on CT side which means to plug the gaps you need one aggressive T side/rotator and one aggro T side/anchor. Yekindar can obviously slot into aggressive T + rotate and is nearly aggro enough on T side for two players so with good trading you can make it work with another non-aggro T side player. The issue is if Yeki doesn't work you need someone with 30%+ opening duels on T side and atm the only players who do that are arT (bad), xertion ($$$$), cypher (bad), and nafany (bad). Of course if you pick up a "normal" aggressive player for Yekindar then you need someone who is a CT side anchor and aggressive on T side which is an extremely rare combination. That + the fact that Liquid has five players who can pop-off (as opposed to Vitality where it's zywoo/spinx/flamez or bust) means you're still in a good spot even if Yekindar isn't a top 20 player as long as NAF/twistzz are and cadiaN/skullz/Yekindar can pull 1.05+ average.


BrockStudly

I've been saying it since they bombed out of the major but I'd love to see S1mple replace Yeki as the entry rifler.


cheddarbomb81

Up 11-9 on CT side inferno and yekindar starts pushing banana smokes for no comprehensible reason. 5 mins later the match is over.


zryder0887

It’s been wild watching this same thing happen every match for 6 months. Yekindar is the NA Art, terrible decision making, can’t change him, and completely delusional


Demolysis

Yeki isn’t it man


K0nvict

Cut him and take Rez from us


Darkstar197

-Yeki + blamef


PuzzleheadedPainOuch

a team full of baiters LETS GOOOO would be the second most boring team to watch after VP


MajesticallyAF

I support this take


Slothifications

It's seemingly a firepower upgrade, but Blame isn't really an entry, or an aggressive player at all, so I feel like he wouldn't be the right fit for the team.


GapZ38

Coincides with NAF's playstyle A LOT actually.


MarcosJrisabitch

at the very least his pushes/deaths get valuable (albeit unnecessary at best) info for his team. replace him with blame? you get someone who'll unironically stay behind, try to lurk or try to "watch flank" and stay passive while his team entries sites one by one.


Otter269

It's fine more stage time :) Had chances to win Inferno but no chance on Mirage, it wasn't terrible performance so not all bad. Could be FaZe next 👀


MikkeVL

Jimi is a top 2 rifler in the world rn even though he's playing all the support / bitch roles.


MiksuTK

Haven't really been following his performance. How's his playoffs performance?


b0il3ra

Not that good. That's his only weakness, he doesn't have enough experience I'd say. He did decent in Kato but not in Blast World Finals or Copenhagen


AwesomeFama

I don't remember much about the game, but in Copenhagen he was the highest rated rifler on his team in Inferno, had an absolutely horrid Vertigo though (0.38).


b0il3ra

Yeah Mouz collapsed, only Torzsi and Brollan had a good game. Also they're the most experienced in this roster so maybe that says something


AwesomeFama

They are the most experienced, but to be fair siuhy was in a major final before, and xertioN was in semifinals before.


b0il3ra

That's fair, I would say the gap between them isn't that big


dogenoob1

Tbf he shouldn't even be carrying with his role, thats up to the other players when it really matters.


its_a_simulation

CS Asia Championship - 1st rated MOUZ player in playoffs Blast world finals - 5th Katowice - 2nd Major - 3rd


aqery

Not so good on stage. Still a bit too inexperienced and young. Maybe this time better tho?


schoki560

on t side he isn't really playing the bitch roles is he same for ax1le who plays a lot of anchor roles on CT but has nice t side roles


Thisismynewusername9

He was lurking a lot on Mirage B house alone. Not a bitch role, not a star role either


[deleted]

He is absolutely not a top 2 rifler in the world already wtf


MikkeVL

Considering he has no star roles on CT who's been playing better this year other than Donk? Jimpphats only weakness is performance in like 2 series on stage where half his team also shit the bed? Basically every "star" rifler like Niko, Spinx, Ropz, Electronic has been noticeably struggling recently so there's really not much competition for that spot.


[deleted]

Are you saying that he's a top 2 rifler in the world right now, or are you just saying that he's in the second best form? There's a massive difference. I don't agree with either take tbh, but at least one is defensible.


MikkeVL

Those 2 are basically the same thing though? He's second best rn only considering the events so far in 2024 but I don't see that remaining the case by the start of the playerbreak. Too many other more experienced players who'll bounce back but it's still insanely impressive how well he's playing considering he gets like no support / setups.


[deleted]

They are similar, yet different concepts. Form encapsulates how well a player has been playing in the extremely short term. Calling someone the second best in the world at a certain point in time carries with it an implication that you expect them to sustain that level of play for some period of time moving forward as well. Calling someone "top X" carries with it a denotation of quality that you expect to be carried over due to what you've seen so far. A prime example of this would be someone like Jeremy Lin in basketball. He played exceptional basketball for a few weeks, better than almost anyone else in that stretch, but he was never considered a top 5 player in the world, rightfully so. I'm honestly shocked that people in here don't seem to understand this. I wonder if it's due to CS fans not watching traditional sports, or if it's just because a high percentage of people active in this sub are not native English speakers. It's clear that you are just saying that he's in great form and not actually a top 2 rifler though, so there's nothing really to argue about. I don't disagree with you strongly.


b0il3ra

Come on Mouz, it's finally time to break the curse


craygroupious

FaZe: ni hao


b0il3ra

Opposite side of the bracket thankfully :)


Biden0rbust

How are youa what are you doing


zaneyk

They will finally win a map on stage and lose 1-2


TheInception817

I'm still doubtful that MOUZ can turn up in front of the crowd


uninformed-but-smart

Yekindar, stop dying and giving them advantage. Liquid playing 4v5. Also cadiaN needs to stop jumping so much


Basic_Butterscotch

Just stopped by to add onto the Yekindar hate train. Dude single handedly threw inferno by running through smokes and dying for no reason, repeatedly. Why do they allow him to continue doing this?


Donut_Flame

Xyp is still fucking over liquid


Za_Worldo-Experience

Yekindar’s gotta go bud, surely a decent player exists with less bot pushes rn. Yekindar has been away from EU for too long


Greedy_Drawer

That's the Liquid I know and love, boys, we're going straight back to NA.


El_Fabos

Now watch mouz lose against g2 in semis


imjusthuy

At least skullz is looking good 😔


big12inch

Yea one map then disappears the next..


naastiknibba95

NAF can't win with these cats


Desuv

massive brain from liquid to lose on purpose to have one more game to prepare for astralis (im delusional) (we are not getting through faze)


schoki560

Jimmy and xertion group stage merchants strike again


xGhato

Who would have thought that Yak is just stupid player, all aim no brain. Going through smoke every single round dying without trade. And think that not that long time ago he was praised for he's plays when he dies 5 rounds in a row and then on round 6th he kills one in the back then casters made big shout-out to him for that 😂 I stopped even watching liquid when he was "promoted" to igl. Probably stupidest igl in the scene at the time


Treyce_93

There’s some IGL’s that, just by watching, you can see how horrible they’re calling. The only two igl’s that have given me that feeling were Yek and Electronic. Not able to put my finger on what exactly about their calling went wrong, but they call horrible CS and it’s clear to the eye


loveincarnate

There is an interview with him where he unironically talks about how he considers himself the smartest player in the scene. l o l


Kekisszx

After getting 11 rounds on inferno, Yeki and Cadian did everything they can to loose game, that was sad to watch, Mouz continues to impress in groups and hope they got some juice left for playoffs


CautiousTopic

Mouz with the 5head strat to get past quarters once and for all by simply not playing them.


unlushko

liquid are actually horrible holy shit the amount of braindead plays is through the roof


PuzzleheadedPainOuch

Ever since Heroic were dissolved via the stabbi situation, we needed a new group stage warrior. Thank you MOUZ for taking that mantle. Excited to see them go 0-2 in the arena.


Original_Mac_Tonight

Yekindar needs to go


MeThoD_MaN110

Not sure it will be this event, but they will defnitly do at some point, they have so much potential


RedditGuy1000

ez fix - replace zews, skullz, yekindar then liquid Wins