YEKINDAR is open to offers after Team Liquid benched him.
Team Liquid has benched the entry-fragger Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis, the organization announced on Friday, Dec. 27.
The Latvian entry-fragger was under pressure for most of 2024 as he repeatedly had bad individual performances across various CS2 tournaments. YEKINDAR put up good numbers for Team Liquid at the beginning of his stint in 2022 and 2023 but never got out of the slump in 2024.
While YEKINDAR remains under contract with Team Liquid, he's already open to offers in this CS2 off-season.
"This road was not easy but I will use them as a guide in my future," YEKINDAR wrote. "I’m ready to bounce back as an individual and a player."
Team Liquid, on the other hand, wished YEKINDAR good luck in his next steps.
YEKINDAR, who started playing Counter-Strike professionally in 2017, had the worst year of his career in 2024. He averaged a mere 1.02 rating across the year, according to HLTV.org, which is far away from the numbers he previously delivered.
The Latvian also leaves the starting lineup without winning a single trophy under Team Liquid's banner. They came close in 2022, but lost to Vitality and G2, respectively, in the grand finals o ESL Pro League Season 16 and BLAST Premier World Final.
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Who could Liquid sign to replace YEKINDAR?
With the removal of YEKINDAR, Team Liquid will be on the hunt for a new aggressive player who can be the entry-fragger. It doesn't make sense for Liquid to look for anything else unless they put Russel "Twistzz" Van Dunkel in more aggressive spots.
Luckily, the organization can replace YEKINDAR with another European import as long as they keep their remaining players. The only NA players that could fill this role at the moment are Complexity's Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski and M80's Mason "Lake" Sanderson, while the Old Continent offers a myriad of options.
Team Liquid will need to find a replacement soon as they're set to play at BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 1, which runs from January 13 to 18.
