Building a brighter future - an interview with Team Liquid
Team Liquid’s Rocket League team is rebuilding with young talent: 16-year-old AcroniK will play alongside newly signed Atow. and Oski, who turn 15 on the 22nd and 23rd of February respectively. For both new additions to the roster, this will be their first professional experience. Still, they’re already regarded as some of the biggest prodigies to come out of Europe this year. Before they’re getting into the RLCS action, Shift spoke with the whole team about their organization and their preparation to push into the RLCS.
André Filipe de Jesus "Xpére" Ruivinho Costa has been coaching AcroniK throughout his career. Together, they played on Godsmilla’s Team, and later BS+COMPETITION, as the roster got acquired. Xpére joined Team Liquid in October of 2021. He has always focused on coaching, but occasionally plays in small tournaments as well.
Bruno Alexandre "AcroniK" dos Santos joined Team Liquid at the same time as Xpére. They’re both Portuguese, but they’re used to playing on international rosters.
Tristan "Atow." Soyez is from the French-speaking part of Belgium. He’s just getting started in Rocket League esports, but his brother, Ludovic "Faykow." Soyez, is a retired pro player, who played for Game Fist and Epsilon eSports.
Oskar "Oski" Gozdowski lives in England, but he has Polish roots. Just like Atow., this is Oski’s first step into the professional scene.
Atow. and Oski join Team Liquid (Source: @TeamLiquid)
Oski and Atow., why did you two choose to sign with Team Liquid so early into the year? What is the appeal of the team and the organization?
Oski: Of course, Team Liquid is a huge organization. But I would never have signed to Team Liquid if we were not good together. The most important thing is to get a team that you love to play with, and you know you can do well with. Now, it’s just a matter of doing it.
Atow.: I never had a big offer before, so when Liquid asked me to try out for the Playoffs of Monaco Gaming Show 2021, I directly accepted. So far, the organization has been incredible in every way.
What has Team Liquid done as an organization so far to help you make that first step into professional Rocket League?
Oski: They are very friendly and easy to work with. It all went very smooth from the start, so we haven’t needed much help from them yet.
Atow.: They’re very friendly indeed. They ask nothing special and give a lot.
How have your parents reacted to all this? Are they supportive?
Oski: At the beginning, they didn't really believe in it. But it didn't really affect me as I was doing well in school as well as playing the game. Now, they obviously fully support me.
Atow.: They fully support me, and hope we perform well in the next tournaments.
What have you been doing to prepare for RLCS?
Oski: We haven’t had much competition yet, so I’ve just been grinding ranked and playing scrims with the team. I also make sure to sit in free play a lot to make sure my mechanics are on RLCS level.
This is your first time scrimming consistently against top teams, has it been difficult to adapt to the way professional teams play? Have you had to change your playstyle as a result?
Oski: Sure, it’s been hard, but I have not had to change my playstyle individually. As a team, though, we have already made some changes. Different teams make you play differently, so you just have to learn to adapt to them as much as you can.
Atow.: I feel like we are improving day by day. Of course, changing our playstyle is important to improve, and our coach Xpére does a good job to make the right changes.
Xpére, what was the thought process behind the decision to pick up these two new players, before they were even eligible to play in the RLCS?
Xpere: After having no good results in the Fall Split, something needed to change. Picking up Hrant "Flakes" Yakoub and Fernando "FERGM." Gil was all super rushed, and didn’t work out. So, we just decided that it’s best to take some time off during the Winter Split and practice with a team that can get results. I think that’s better than getting another rushed team for the Winter split and ending up without any results at all.
AcroniK, you’ve had a taste of what it’s like to compete with Atow. and Oski in the Monaco Gaming Show 2021, and you even reached the Grand Finals. How was it to play with them?
AcroniK: I think it was one of the best tournaments I’ve played so far, I had so much fun playing. Atow. and Oski are cracked, they see the game the way I see it too; they are willing to adapt to a playstyle that follows the meta. It just feels really good to play with them.
With the departure of your former teammates, AcroniK, you are now the oldest starter on the roster. How does this translate onto the field? Are you the comms leader of this squad now?
AcroniK: I don't really like to have one ‘leader’. Yes, I’m the captain of the team, but that doesn’t really mean much. I’m not the only one making the calls and saying what we have to do. If any one of us feels that something is wrong, then they can say something about it. I don't like forcing players to do stuff they don't want to. If everyone is making calls, everyone is free to say whatever they want to, which leads to a better atmosphere in the team.
International lineups bring together different nationalities and cultures to compete, which can sometimes lead to difficulties with communication or team atmosphere. How does the team deal with that?
Xpere: An international lineup isn’t an issue for us. Oski might be Polish, but he’s fluent in English. Atow. might be the biggest issue, as he mainly speaks French, but he understands everything we say about the game. Outside of the game, it’s not so easy for him. With time, I’m sure that’s something we can teach him, though.
The European qualifiers can be cruel, and in the last split Team Liquid had to compete in three of them. What are the main difficulties you face in the qualifiers? Why do big names sometimes struggle to get through them?
AcroniK: The biggest problem for a lot of players is coming to tournaments and choking. Meanwhile, bubble teams have nothing to lose by playing in the RLCS qualifiers, so they don’t show any respect. Professional teams have something to play for, and they’re often not ready to face those bubble teams, and they end up losing.
Xpére: Getting through the qualifiers is all about confidence. If you believe you’re better than the other teams, you will be able to win no matter what. With the team we had before, we definitely had that confidence at the start, but we couldn’t keep it for long.
As a player, you, Xpére, competed in the Portuguese Zebra League last year together with AcroniK - which you ended up winning. You’re mainly a coach, though. Do you think your competitive experience helps you in your role as coach for Team Liquid?
Xpére: I don’t think the Portuguese league is big enough to call a competitive experience, but I think playing the game and keeping up with the meta does make me a better coach. When I was coaching BS+COMPETITION, the meta was just ball chasing, and now that I’m with Team Liquid, the meta is shifting towards more mechanic solo plays. I try to do that myself when playing the game, in ranked or in small tournaments, so I can feel what my players are dealing with. That way, I have a better understanding of what makes a certain playstyle difficult to play.
You’ve been a competitor in the 1s scene for a while, Oski, and have you’ve often featured in Johnnyboi_i’s showmatches, have you implemented anything from these experiences into your 3s game?
Oski: 1s helps alot in every aspect of the game, especially when it comes to mechanics and 1v1 situations. I still had to learn 3v3 rotation, of course, but that's the easy part. 1s has helped with the harder stuff; it takes a lot more time to improve mechanics than simple rotations.
From your time competing so far, Atow., are there any former teammates that you feel have had a big influence on you as a player?
Atow.: My brother, Faykow, forced me to play when I was 10 years old. I think he did well to push me to improve, and reach a professional level.
Last season you, AcroniK, played with Flakes and Ronaky, two veterans of the game. Is there anything you learned from your experience playing with them last split?
AcroniK: Unfortunately, the Fall Split was a disaster for the team. We couldn’t qualify for any of the Regionals, so I haven’t been able to learn much on the field. Outside of the field, I learned that the team environment is really important, and we should always make our teammates comfortable. Perhaps most importantly, I learned to be patient in the game and in life, and not rush anything.
Realistically, what do you think this team is capable of? And what do you hope you can achieve?
Xpére: I think we can make the Major. When it comes to skill, we are where we want to be. We just need to make sure we dont get overconfident, as we are still a super inexperienced team. Our main objective for now is making it to theMain Event of the Regionals. From there, I dont really want to set really high expectations; I prefer to keep the expectationslow and slowly higher them as the Regionals go by.
