Liquid complete YEKINDAR signing

Liquid have announced the signing of Mareks “⁠YEKINDAR⁠” Gaļinskis, adding the Latvian rifler on a permanent basis ahead of the team’s appearance at the IEM Rio Major in November.

The news comes as little surprise given the fact YEKINDAR has been standing in for Liquid since June, filling the gap left vacant by the benching of Richard “⁠shox⁠” Papillon.

The change immediately bore fruit for the North American squad as their results rapidly improved with the 23-year-old rifler in tow, starting with a 5-6th finish at IEM Cologne before carrying on into the second portion of the season with a runner-up finish at ESL Pro League Season 16, Liquid‘s deepest offline placement since the BLAST Pro Series Global Final in 2019.

YEKINDAR has joined Liquid on a permanent basis

All of the Liquid members credited YEKINDAR for helping elevate the team’s level through preparation and updated tactics during that run, and their form continued at the IEM Road to Rio Americas RMR, where Liquid finished in first place.

Players on the team repeatedly expressed their desire to have YEKINDAR formally sign with them over the last four months, but the task was made difficult due to Liquid being unable to directly buy him out of his contract with Virtus.pro as a result of US-imposed sanctions on the organization and their ties to the Russian government.

That situation was resolved on Friday when the Latvian talent announced he had bought himself out of his contract, leaving him a free agent. Although the wording of his Tweet left room for ambiguity regarding the team he would join, there was little doubt in Liquid being his final destination.

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YEKINDAR becomes free agent

Following YEKINDAR‘s signing, Liquid‘s roster is:

Jonathan “⁠EliGE⁠” Jablonowski
Keith “⁠NAF⁠” Markovic
Nick “⁠nitr0⁠” Cannella
Josh “⁠oSee⁠” Ohm
Mareks “⁠YEKINDAR⁠” Gaļinskis

Damian “⁠daps⁠” Steele (coach)