FalleN takes over Liquid's IGL role

Following a string of lacklustre results, the North American roster has handed over the calling duties to their Brazilian AWPer.

Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo has taken over in-game leadership duties on Liquid from Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip, Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic has revealed in a video interview with ESL.

The change in captaincy comes after Liquid were eliminated from their BLAST Premier Spring Group following two series losses to FaZe, resulting in them being sent to the BLAST Spring Showdown.

The team also kicked off the year with a fourth-place finish in the BLAST Premier Global Final, securing wins over Natus Vincere and Evil Geniuses before losing out to Vitality and in a rematch against Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov's troops.

FalleN takes up the in-game leader role just one month after joining Liquid

"The big holes in our team were always that we never had a dedicated AWPer and we never had a dedicated IGL," NAF explains. "After our recent performances, we're trying to implement FalleN as our main IGL now."

Liquid have been struggling to maintain consistent form since the departure of Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella, with Stewie2K initially filling the in-game leader position while trading AWPing duties with NAF. The ELEAGUE Boston Major champion held on to the leadership role following FalleN's addition last month as a replacement for Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, but he has now traded off those duties to the former MIBR captain and veteran in-game leader.

"FalleN is a lot more experienced with his past on previous teams and the way he plays the game," NAF went on to explain. "It brings new ideas and it generates new ideas for us to play and to think about. Outside of the game he helps a lot with making sure we're a unit, a team."

Liquid secured a spot in the IEM Katowice main event on Tuesday following wins over MIBR and OG in the Play-In stage, and now await the bracket draw, with matches set to kick off on Thursday.