Official: TACO signs for Liquid

6-4-2018 21:09

Epitacio "TACO" de Melo has replaced Lucas "steel" Lopes in Liquid's active roster, the North American organization has announced on social media.

Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo had been teamless since late March following his exit from SK, a move he made after realizing he had been unhappy in the Brazilian squad, who have struggled for deep runs throughout 2018.

After receiving offers from various teams in Europe, North America, and Brazil, the 23-year-old decided to remain in California and continue his career in Liquid.

TACO reunites with zews in Liquid

Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes departs Liquid's active roster after a five-month long period with the team, during which he helped them win their first title at cs_summit 2, as well as garner third place at StarSeries and third-fourth place at IEM Katowice.

According to a statement from Liquid, the former Immortals members asked to step down from the team "for professional and personal reasons".

"Being able to join the best American organization with the best American CS:GO team is a big opportunity for me," TACO said in a statement.

"Those guys are extremely talented and I believe that I have what they need to start winning tournaments. Working again with zews made my decision so easy and I’m sure I chose the right place to be at.

"I just can’t wait to start practicing, bring my experience and help them with whatever they need to become the top 1 team in the world."

This move marks the second lineup change in the North American team within the last two months, as in early February Liquid replaced Josh "⁠jdm64⁠" Marzano with Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic, who instantly became the team's star.

TACO has been added to Liquid's roster in ECS and Pro League, and will be able to compete for the team in both leagues effective immediately. The Brazilian will make his first LAN appearance for the team later this month, at DreamHack Masters Marseille.

Liquid now have:

Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski
Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella
Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken
Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic
Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo

Wilton "⁠zews⁠" Prado (coach)

Welcome Major Champion TACO to Team Liquid!

O Team Liquid dá as boas-vindas à TACO, campeão mundial de CS:GO!

📖 https://t.co/6SRqSLL676
📺 https://t.co/lS5Q9R5gw9 pic.twitter.com/zHVauHmwUU
— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) 6 de abril de 2018

TACO & ZEWS going for 3rd major together

2018-04-06 21:12

70 replies

-BR +BR

2018-04-06 21:09

51 replies

EZ EPITACIO TACO VACO DE MELO, THE NEXT MAJOR CHAMPION FOR NA. THE MOST TALENTED ENTRY FRAGGER IN THE WORLD. EPITACIO, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PRO EVER. RUUUUUUUN LIQUID! RUN EPITACIO!

2018-04-06 21:11

49 replies

educated what?

48 replies

Also official, new Luminosity Gaming lineup: Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato Marcelo "chelok1ng" Cespedes Henrique "LUCAS1" Teles Lucas "HEN1" Teles Lucas "steelega" Lopes Pbf1 confirmed to me today and told me buyaka is gave this current lineup enough time and they have not shown much progress, he's just waiting EPL & ECS current seasons to come to an end to sign the trio, also he's very happy to be working with steelega again. Also thank you Liquid for doing this now SK can beat you because this time it will be 6v4 in OUR favor!!! #TACOdedicatedbottomfragger #GODBLESSLIQUID #RUNSKG

2018-04-06 21:22

47 replies

finally

18 replies

I aren't think thatz

2018-04-06 21:16

17 replies

"Being able to join the best American organization" Excuse me, this is a Dutch organization with an American team.

2018-04-06 21:18

16 replies

liquified tacos no longer taste good, so hes gonna suck

2018-04-06 21:29

1 reply

hahaha @ liquified tacos.

2018-04-06 22:45

triggered dutch!!! RUN...

2018-04-06 22:05

Excuse me, it was only FOUNDED in the Netherlands. It is now owned by aXiomatic eSports which is where? You guessed it THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BITCH!

2018-04-06 22:08

11 replies

Nope, it's in Latvia, you stupid redneck

2018-04-06 22:27

lol its parent company does not decide its location, its headquarters do. which is located in utrecht, nl (I live heree :>)

2018-04-06 22:33

5 replies

Are there also cheap but good quality weeds?

2018-04-06 23:44

4 replies

yeah, your mother makes them on the farm somewhere in your third world country. so you should actually know if it's good or not yourself.

2018-04-07 00:03

you can find that everywhere except amsterdam

2018-04-07 00:46

2 replies

why not Amsterdam

2018-04-07 20:49

bcos they exist to rip off tourists

2018-04-07 20:56

proud of the USA in 2018 LUL

2018-04-07 09:18

3 replies

Codplayer best name ever

2018-04-07 12:35

the sad thing it is (more like was) true. was pretty good at cod1+2, and i‘m pretty fucking bad at cs xD

2018-04-07 14:11

xD Atleast you didnt play the new cods. I played mw2 back in the day and im pretty bad at cs aswell xD

2018-04-07 16:51

Maan de Steenwinkel

2018-04-07 00:28

Twins dont have visa

2018-04-06 21:17

Also thank you Liquid for doing this now SK can beat you because this time it will be 6v4 in OUR favor!!! +1

lmao cant wait til liquid plays sk and Taco can shit on them

2018-04-06 23:41

Steel never play with Fnx.. he say in video e-sport TV . Bye

2018-04-06 22:09

6 replies

Where is fnx on that lineup? Do you know how to read? Like, at all?

2018-04-06 22:13

kkkkkkkkkk

2018-04-07 01:04

Steel said that years ago, maybe he changed his mind

2018-04-06 22:28

He played with him in immortals dude, thete's no bad blood between any of them.

2018-04-06 22:43

Actually there was no bad blood with Steel and FNX it was only kng and steel and that stuff so i think what Lincoln has said to me that he doesnt hate any Brazilian Pro-players. Like the problem was always with KNG and hes thoughts about killing all team with no mercy and that caused huge pain inside team FNX was always out of that shit like KNG bullied Boltz and Steel nothing else..

2018-04-07 00:22

AHAHAHA youtube.com/watch?v=MDUAyl-LDaw 5 / 02 / 2018 10:25 in video "Se o pessoal te chamasse para o Team Villa Mix vc iria?" Steel : "Nao" Kids bye bye.

2018-04-07 00:17

6vs4 LOOOOOL +100000 U made my day haha

2018-04-06 22:22

and Showtime?

2018-04-06 22:41

Brazil

2018-04-06 22:48

Im so happy

2018-04-06 22:44

I didn’t know Lucas was hen1

2018-04-06 23:12

They are the same person, in case you dont know

2018-04-07 01:09

And leave yel behind? The only trully talented player in luminoso? Nice try bad b8ter.

2018-04-06 23:16

The only onliner in lg yeah, kick that guy and get an actual good awper sounds pretty good to me. Only talented!player in lg? You mean biggest choker and pronet in lg? Chelo must be laughing so hard at this comment rn

2018-04-07 01:18

lmao and nekiz still in team? That trashtalker that got hard rekt at wesg?

2018-04-07 11:37

LOl removing Yel to put steel doesnt make any sense.

2018-04-06 23:35

Steel can IGL, yel is just an onliner

2018-04-07 01:16

steel doesn't play with the twins anymore, but he gonna join luminosity for real

Kkkkkkkkkk "steel doesnt play with the twins anymore" Dont know where that came from

2018-04-07 01:10

He himself said that in interview to e-SporTV

2018-04-07 02:16

He has never said he would never play with the twins again, stop spreading false informantion, dude.

2018-04-07 02:31

dude, on imt they was partners, but fnx and kng fuck up everything. if he don't said that on a interview or not is no the question, all the guys on cenario talk about what happening on imt, but if you won't know was happen, is other history ... out of this, steel said he wasn't feels good on liquid and he decided get out...

2018-04-08 11:53

He said that wouldn't play for team villamix (kng, fnx and the twins, back then), the twins are included.

2018-04-25 01:15

"Henrique "LUCAS1" Teles " "Lucas "HEN1" Teles " DOES SOMEBODY NOTICE ANYTHING STRANGE ?!?!?!?!!?

2018-04-07 16:07

brb

2018-04-06 21:30

pathetic

2018-04-06 21:10

hehe xd

NO TACO NO MAJOR

no fat cold, no major

2018-04-06 22:07

2018-04-06 22:17

+1 good thinking my friend

thirth major?

no thith or threeth

thridirth

xpected

2018-04-06 21:13

Hope this will happen

2018-04-06 21:19

taco is shit team wont go anywhere

2018-04-06 21:38

Only reason Taco was shit on SK is because he was b8 for cold.

2018-04-07 00:08

no because he shit

Ok but you're wrong.

2018-04-07 00:09

but im not tho

2018-04-07 00:14

but you are tho

2018-04-25 01:23

I wouldn't mind Taco and Zews winning a third major on this lineup

2018-04-07 01:29

expected

nice

GL VAC0

Woop

Liquid CALDICANA

2 cane cold

2018-04-06 22:16

#1 pls?

"TACO & ZEWS going for 3th major together"

nooooooooooo

What a downgrade for TL

In what sense? I don't see Taco playing solo sites as aggressively as steel (which I think actually helps TL out quite a bit), but I think this is an upgrade in every other category

Steel to NTC!

8 replies

NTC= Immortals

2018-04-06 21:14

STEEL TO TEAM ONE

2018-04-06 21:15

he's not going to play again with the asshole that made him lose the major legend spot and fucked up a roster that was potentially a top tier team

2018-04-06 22:03

Actually I forgot that NTC's 5th is probably Horvy... I wonder where Steel will go now?

2018-04-06 22:24

FaZe

Complexity ?

to a t3 team if hes very lucky! Hes a nice guy, I hope he improves his gameplay to keep competing, cause with level he is playing know he wont be able to play for a good team

2018-04-06 22:50

Lol LULquid to go down multiple places in ranking

rip liquid

Expected

good

Unexpected omegalul

good move

hahahaha

WOW SO UNEXPECTED

Steel to ntc then

Team LULquid

steel :(

Liquid is over. Naf has to be saved once again.

7 replies

prove it or I’ll kill you

It's the biggest downgrade after -s1mple +pimp.

TACO 2 majors, and steel????? Sorry, but you are stupid!

2018-04-06 21:40

I didnt know that TACO was a team.

Taco is miles better than steel.

2018-04-06 23:22

i actually think it‘s an upgrade

2018-04-07 09:20

Yes, it can be an upgrade if he's a b8 for Naf or EliGE and one of the will become the next cold.

2018-04-07 11:13

OMG no way!!!! Who would have ever thought!

Stupid move imo

NTC STEEL

sad for steel... taco is garbage

CLOWN9 fan... now i understand

2018-04-07 00:56

So...?

2018-04-07 07:08

shit happened

-man +bot OMEGALOLSTER

nice downgrade

Botquid

BOTACO instead of steel

liquid logic: remove steel add taco taco...

congrats liquid, you STILL dont have an awper and you just got rid of your igl. theyll be out of top 10 by the end of the month

9 replies

Nitr0 is igl

Nitro is igl.

NITRO is igl

2018-04-06 21:47

2018-04-06 22:11

NiTrO is igl.

2018-04-06 22:12

Elige is igl

2018-04-06 22:25

nitr0 is igl. (also NAF, twistzz, and nitr0 can awp)

2018-04-07 01:08

2018-04-07 07:30

as stated 1000 times before liquid doesn‘t want a dedicated awper

2018-04-07 09:21

Ez for the worst player @ WESG

Nice. :)

HGHAAHAHAHHAH AAAAAAAAAA PATHETICCCCCCCCCC

-bot +bot

Liquid top4>top15 in 2 months.

how is replacing steel really effect anything? steel was the worst performer and didn't add much with the other players just so happened to hit their stride while he was there

+1 only intelligent comment on this thread

2018-04-06 23:23

2018-04-07 09:22

roasting c9 too "joining best american team" nice one

RIP Liquid

You will see, Liquid top1 soon

2018-04-06 22:02

2018-04-06 23:08

STEEL IS BIGGER THAN THIS TEAM, HERE I SAID IT.

I hope we can see TACO playing another position, because the main argument why he sucks was his position as bait for baitzera

I doubt. The only reason he was signed is specially because of his selflessness as a player.

2018-04-06 21:21

Who signs who?

Sadokist signed to facebook streaming exclusivity deal

2018-04-06 22:38

According to a statement from Liquid, the former Immortals members asked to step down from the team "for professional and personal reasons". Kappa

:-D

lul

removed the steelegend to put in the Botaco ??????? wtf

sad

steel was good

hltv.org/stats/players/events/7382/steel.. ????????????? Yeah ok

Taco's stats are not great either

2018-04-06 22:26

I didn't say they were. But saying that Steel was good is stupid

2018-04-06 23:11

Shity player

I hope steel will find a good team

downgrade for liquid nice

It's a bit weird, they had good times with steel, and TACO as a fragger is not an upgrade by any means.

Is funny that you have a 2015, but nobody knows you.

2018-04-06 21:20

man... steel didn't deserve for rekt... wtf man

feels bad for steel

NOOO STEEL :(

gl VACOO steel to NTC

TACO TOP 4, GGWP GL CRY HATERS

NICE

Totally unexpected lul

I hope taco never wins anything again, RIP Liquid ;-;

Excepted

I have to say that it was expected, at least for me hahaha

CALDICANA

Now tier3

TACO is a fucking bot. RIP.

2018-04-06 21:23

So is steel lmao

2018-04-06 21:28

Did I say something else? Whats the point of replacing a bot with a bot? They should have replaced steel with someone else, Sure thing Taco isnt the solution.

2018-04-06 21:56

Replacing a bot with another bot who is far more experienced with 2 more majors under his belt. Also Steel stepped down.

2018-04-06 21:57

Who the f cares that he won 2 majors? G2 guys won a major and look where they are now. Nowhere. Taco is a bot and thats it. His achievments means shit in the current meta. Liquid could have been a solid team and a contender to win a few trophies with the right roster change. Steel, Taco. Doesnt matter. Both are shit.

Taco is a better support player in term of the role but that team already has 3 out of the top 5 NA pro: Twistzz, ELiGE and of course Naf. They don't need more firepower.

Damn Liquid fans have enshrined NAF after literally two months playing T1. I mean I hope the guy keeps it up but I think people are going to be dissapointed if they expect a 1.2+ rating all year.

I didn't overestimate NAF in my comment he is top 5 NA In my opinion this is the top 5 NA player currently 1 NAF 2 Autimatic 3 ELiGE 4 TwistZz 5 nathE

2018-04-07 01:24

You are definitely overestimating. There are players that have played way more international competition at a high level for a much longer period of time. NA is more like 1. Elige 2. Autimatic 3. Tarik 4. Twistzz 5. Maybe NAF, Rush, Nitro and even Stewie could be considered.

2018-04-07 01:26

Welp your opinion but eh whatever.

2018-04-07 01:27

gl VACO

taco > SK

WHY?? THEY WERE DOING SO GOOD WHY GO CHANGE IT WHY

2018-04-06 21:25

KKKKKKKKK RIP LIQUID

-bot +bot typical na

2018-04-06 21:27

why? downgrade

Unlike everyone here, I think its gonna be good. GL Liquid

STEEL TO NTC OBVIOUSLY

Poor steel :(

But downgrade

Imo, this is not the best solution for liquid. They trully lack AWP power which Nitro don't possess. Best addition could be - steel + Jugi or Nifty. Btw, Jugi deserves a tier 1 team for fck sake!

2018-04-06 21:31

2018-04-06 21:32

he will play in a t1 team soon, just be patient :-)

2018-04-07 09:24

RIPquid

Very good decision! I feel very sorry for steelega, i think he did not deserve that kick.

GOOD LUCK TAQUINHO!!!...

2018-04-06 21:33

w h y

2018-04-06 21:34

Boa sorte Taco !

Why

2018-04-06 21:35

Expected. Hope this goes well. Best of luck to steel as well

Sad news for Steel =\

NTC steel?

2018-04-06 21:36

why? steel left

2018-04-06 21:44

kappa

2018-04-07 09:25

shut up man. you not cool. you cant rule the school. your just a fool. you seat in a pool. you got a portrait of your mothers stool.

2018-04-07 09:44

ez4TACO sad4Steelo

BAD TACO LETS GO youtube.com/watch?v=aYMRRNCsEjA

XDDDD

2018-04-06 21:39

lol all brazilians betraying each other

2018-04-06 21:41

Like -taz +michu?

How? Michu and Taz both Polish

so all polish betraying each other?

2018-04-07 00:52

2018-04-07 00:59

- nitro + jdm64

OMEGALUL

what noob ?

2018-04-06 21:42

Kick Liquid's most consistent IGL who has plenty of experience with the team? Are you high?

2018-04-07 01:17

STEEL LUL GOOD BYE

2018-04-06 21:45

This scene is so yawn player swaps every few months.

steel was only there for 5 months LUL

Feels bad for steelega

holy shit

2018-04-06 21:48

Oh no please no liquid. I like TACO but he is no doubt the worst pro player on earth

People are stupid for thinking he's good just because he was on SK

2018-04-07 11:28

This roster is sick now

huge upgrade, liquid have the possibility to solidify themself as a top 5 team with this lineup imo

2018-04-06 21:49

liquid era

2018-04-06 21:50

very expected

2018-04-06 21:52

Poor steel

2018-04-06 21:53

rip na

2018-04-06 21:55

oh wow, what a big surprise... i can't stand those fucking leaks beforehand

Steel Always fucked in roster changes

Rofl.

that's a upgrade for them

+Taco +Fajita +Tortilla +Favela +Fishsticks

2018-04-06 21:58

I don't love liquid anymore, first time when i won't watch nitr0 & elige playing.

definitely that was zews impact, that TACO join Liquid

2018-04-06 21:59

Both are bad, but steel is even worse

"I just can’t wait to start practicing, bring my experience and help them with whatever they need to become the top 1 team in the world." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA nice downgrade liquid HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Best American csgo team lul Pick one Major champions > A couple online victories >

2018-04-06 22:04

You mean 3/5ths of a major championship team?

2018-04-06 22:35

#LetsGoLiquid

+Roca - Taco It's not even close Roca deserves better ! Or C9 same thing - FNS + Roca

FNS isn't really getting bad imo

2018-04-07 14:50

mistake...

okay this team is dead

haha, not even an upgrade. Pathetic

LOST ALL RESPECT I ALREADY DIDN'T HAVE

Downgrade

its always the good guy who has to leave :( i hope you can find a team fitting you soon steel!

Who will be the new IGL then?

2018-04-06 22:18

Nitro was and still is igl why do people still not know this?

2018-04-06 22:36

Dont know, I was very positive Steel was their IGL

2018-04-07 10:48

good luck Epitacio :)))))))

Cant agree with this change. I respect Taco, but I cant believe Steel got out of the team for the reasons he said. Something happened, and probably we'll never know. For steel, the most humble guy ever, i just wish good luck, you still can deliver in any NA team. Taco, you need to show a lot now, the pressure gonna be even higher than when you were at SK. GL too.

2018-04-06 22:19

yup, I can't see taco helping Liquid more than steel

2018-04-06 22:29

;( Steel is so nice. He’s always happy. Fucking Liquid can’t keep a roster for more than 6 months I swear

2018-04-06 22:30

rip liquid , bot has joined

lol rip liquid 74CO

RIP

2018-04-06 23:05

BRAZIL - BRAZIL - CANADA - CANADA - USA - USA

It’s a Wild American Texas draw

BRAZIL < BRAZIL < USA < USA < CANADA < CANADA * fixed

2018-04-06 23:04

rip liquid, steel > > > botaco

downgrade

2018-04-06 22:31

from what taco is saying, i think he is overrating himself a lot xD

RIP Liquid, they played well with steel like IGL, nitr0 earned a lot of frags and calmly played AWP.

I feel bad for Steel getting cut but as soon as nitro started calling it became clear he wasn’t good enough as a player to hold his spot on the team. TACO isn’t amazing but he is better than Steel

2018-04-06 22:37

he is not better than steel stfu

2018-04-06 22:39

+ plus .

2018-04-06 23:24

hltv shoul stop bitching and trust zews he knows brazil players better than anyone probably. steel was good as an igl/brain/support. i think when nitro started calling steel couldn't carry his weight anymore. taco is not a fragger maybe but probably he's very good at keen plays or supporting the squad. liquid surely got enough firepower they have the luxury to seek the ideal support player. GL TACO <3 GO LIQUID

EZ4NTC BIT FELPS KNGV FNX STEEL

OMG GUYS PLZ STOP?! IS THIS TROLLING?! THEY ARE DOING ONE STUPID MOVE AFTER ANOTHER:::: THIS UNBELIEVABLE

2018-04-06 23:00

taco about to turn NAF into the new coldzera also rip steel

2018-04-06 23:02

lol. they r keeping to be not stronger on shooting than some level to not win everything.

2018-04-06 23:03

Gl taco and steel

LETS GO!!!!!!

2018-04-06 23:06

TACOGOD

2018-04-06 23:10

lul this boosted guy . he rly thinks he is a key factor for winning majors ahahaha

Good luck, Taquinho!

2018-04-06 23:13

acre news

2018-04-06 23:14

both of them sucks it doesn't matter which of the silvers plays for liquid they should have signed a MAD fragger not a bot,

RIP Steel is such a good guy but that doesn’t help in game, I have always thought he was a key part of the IMT line up, maybe he can succeed in a Brazilian team. Sad to know you getting replaced by TACO, again lol.

2018-04-06 23:15

I'm pretty much sure that steel decided to left himself I mean, yeah, the guy was underfragging but his role in liquid was extremely hard He did all the dirty job for them and their results improved AF now with taco they're going to go dooooown, son

2018-04-06 23:33

currently winners of London Faceit Major :)

2018-04-06 23:19

''Being able to join the best American organization with the best American CS:GO team is a big opportunity for me'' None of that is true... I mean Team Liquid has literally won nothing in other games so how would it be the best American organization? xD

2018-04-06 23:29

well is taco, he says nosense things the whole time.

2018-04-06 23:45

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

2018-04-07 13:55

they have an entry(elige) and a decoy(nitr0) already, so they'll have to change one of them

2018-04-06 23:47

major chaimpon

2018-04-07 00:10

Stupid move by liquid

2018-04-07 00:12

youtube.com/watch?v=MDUAyl-LDaw 5/02/2018 minute 10:25 Reporter Julia García: "If they called you to the team villa mix, would you?" Steelega : "No" stop saying he's going to the NTC .. he even said "no"!

2018-04-07 00:21

i have no idea why lq do this, steel >>> BOTaco

2018-04-07 00:37

Downgrade The team was good, dont need to do such a thing like this

2018-04-07 00:51

Liquid > SK now.

2018-04-07 01:06

smart hltv kids think that liquid wanted to intentionally replace steel. steel wanted to leave, he wasn't comfortable and im sure he wasn't confident thanks to this toxic community giving him heat for not being a strong player. twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqgann twitter.com/zews/status/9823404835265495..

2018-04-07 01:32

Hope Liquid win some tournament

2018-04-07 01:37

i really want to see steel in ntc (as igl) don't know why :D

2018-04-07 01:41

2018-04-07 04:03

Gl taco, show them what you can do!

2018-04-07 04:08

Taco the brazilian fer

2018-04-07 05:29

steel...

2018-04-07 06:46

why would they do this to steel? he looked like the best player on the fucking team like all the time.

2018-04-07 07:01

NT , worst stats by far and he did leave himself he was not kicked

2018-04-08 09:53

bot taco :/ jdm c9 gg

2018-04-07 08:10

Steel to NCT. KngV back to Virtue.

2018-04-07 09:48

He will bait fot cold at other team <3

2018-04-07 11:02

unlucky steel

2018-04-07 11:04

Ok, thats good, i didnt really like steel anyways.

2018-04-07 11:27

have to change my username again? fml

2018-04-07 11:33

youtube.com/watch?v=BqTSU4jX2Ow taco piece of salty shit

2018-04-07 11:52

hope he fits well enough

2018-04-07 13:52

It's a problem now they will all have to speak english. Communication will not be equally good.

2018-04-07 15:14

Also official, new Luminosity Gaming lineup: Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato Marcelo "chelok1ng" Cespedes "Henrique "LUCAS1" Teles" "Lucas "HEN1" Teles" Lucas "steelega" Lopes Anybody.... please ??!!?

2018-04-07 16:09