YEKINDAR: "I wanna build my own individuality and not come into a complete team"

9-7-2022 19:12

Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis talks about his stint with Liquid, his impressions of the NA squad, and where they stand among his other offers in our latest interview from IEM Cologne.

Rumors have been swirling around YEKINDAR's future for months now, in particular following his benching in Virtus.pro, and it has become clear that Liquid are one of the biggest organizations interested in him after they agreed to place Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon on the bench following a tough period dating back to the beginning of the year.

While he's playing with Liquid at IEM Cologne on a stand-in basis, the Latvian and the team has made no secret of there being some interest from both sides to make it a permanent move. In our latest interview from Germany, YEKINDAR spoke to HLTV on the topic, saying he has other offers as well but that Liquid "is up there," before expanding on what makes the North American team an interesting prospect.

"I don't necessarily have that many offers, but Liquid is up there," he said. "It depends on this tournament, how I feel, and what's gonna happen after this tournament."

YEKINDAR has praised Liquid for the space they're giving him

"Maybe I play like shit and Liquid will be the only team that wants me, but obviously it's still a good team, and the space this team provides for me to be a star, I will take that as a priority, because I wanna build my own individuality and not come into a complete team."

He also shared his experiences playing alongside Liquid for the past two weeks in preparation for the Cologne appearance and during it, once again praising them for the space he has been given, speaking on the topic of communicating in English for the first time, and more.

Watch the full interview above or on our YouTube channel, where you'll find all kinds of other video content, including HLTV Confirmed and HLTV Peek episodes, player highlights, and other interviews.

Good for him

2022-07-09 19:13

3 replies

Pretty much confirmed he's going to Liquid with the "And the space this team provides for me to be a star, I will take that as a priority." No other team with players of the caliber of NAF and Elige would sign him as star and give him any role he wants. oSee is playing better. Also highest possible paycheck, he likes them, and he'll play in Netherlands which is better than Russia or wherever he was kkkkkkkk.

2022-07-10 02:09

2 replies

Netherlands is Amazing trust me ;)

2022-07-10 04:51

1 reply

+1 I know great country))

2022-07-10 04:52

god

lol

wasted career if he joins liquid, learn danish and join astralis pls, k0nfig can awp

25 replies

There's some irony that EU users want yekindar to go to a team with Konfig but elige and naf aren't good enough.

2022-07-09 19:17

20 replies

its an obvious joke mens, but he should go to a better team

2022-07-09 19:19

7 replies

like what? i think if this liquid roster sticks it will be the best one theyve had since 2019

2022-07-09 19:37

6 replies

Nitro as IGL LMAO

2022-07-09 19:57

Nitro as IGL 5head

2022-07-09 21:28

jame as IGL LMAO

2022-07-10 01:01

the goat

2022-07-10 15:31

Bro i agreee. Wait and watch.

2022-07-09 20:17

Obviously

2022-07-10 11:55

EU is much better than NA... are you serious?

2022-07-09 19:38

10 replies

That has nothing to do with individual players or teams.

2022-07-09 19:51

9 replies

That is literally everything wtf are you on

2022-07-09 22:09

8 replies

NAF and ELIGE??? oSee is a competent awper? This is a team with three top 10/20 riflers, chill with the blind NA hate

2022-07-10 02:10

First of all cringe at your double US flags. Second, rip his career if he has to train 6months in NA if he decides to join TL, he will be washed in no time. Money is less important, especially to people who have character.

2022-07-10 05:04

4 replies

"he has to train 6nonths in NA" They only have to fly for the qualifiers.

Nonsense. Between qualifiers and flying back to EU there’s a lot of time. Next time think a second instead of insta replying. Cringe 3

"6 months" BRUH MOMENT

2022-07-10 05:05

I have heard interviews about this, go and read them maybe. US teams struggle a lot nowadays. They are constantly flying back and forth the practice is subpar etc

2022-07-10 05:06

oSee is not that good tbh. He hasn't shown any sign of being tier1 caliber yet tbh. mONESY or torszi who started at the same time are much much better. If this lineup still has problems After YEK joins je should be the next to go. Imagine nitro - NAF - EliGE - YEK - degster...

2022-07-10 11:58

osee is a competent awper btw gyazo.com/d0c5e7be5ea37bb1527c44a4b6b9fc..

2022-07-10 12:21

BlameF>all in astralis K0nfig>oSee on awp Yekinder> all in astralis Gla1ve>n1tro Xyp9x bot

2022-07-09 21:25

Bro xD

2022-07-09 19:18

yekindar 4 languages

2022-07-09 19:28

he ain't good even in liquid lmao should get that chance while he can

2022-07-09 21:37

-farlig +zywoo -xyp + yekindar was the move:D

2022-07-10 09:15

worst take

2022-07-09 19:14

Maybe create baltic superteam then YEKINDAR ropz broky Bymas Me

2022-07-09 19:15

12 replies

who is Me

2022-07-09 19:16

offliner228

Can't see the name. Says offline despite the 200 response code

2022-07-09 19:55

-you +me

ur not from baltic country

I’m from Estonia

2022-07-09 19:26

fakeflager

-me +jL

forgot about jL +jL +offliner228 as coach

2022-07-09 19:29

- offliner228 + supra

+shokz and i ll be their coach

2022-07-09 19:20

No. You are noob. Better me xD

what does this even mean? shining in a team full of bland mediocrity?

elige 2019 >= any rifler ever

2022-07-10 07:12

Electronic? Niko?

2022-07-10 09:17

in his prime? definitely electronic, probably not niko but thats about it saying elige is mediocre is crazy

2022-07-10 11:54

so he wants to go streamer like tarik??

If g2 bomb out again, he will probably go there

2022-07-09 19:21

Who even is YEKINDAR

2022-07-09 19:23

your real dad

2022-07-09 19:31

My father is dead.

2022-07-09 23:23

Unlucky

2022-07-09 23:37

boombl4 degster YEKINDAR Buster Aunkere Lezgooooo

That would actually be legit tier 1 wtf

2022-07-09 22:49

Lol welcome to wolsung xD

he wants to be s0mple

2022-07-09 19:30

Good players end up sucking at Liquid, I wonder why

Good salary, good work conditions. The managing take questionable decision but they treat well their players. A big of hopium too probably. On papers, this team should be top10 easily. About your specific question, lack of leadership. Nitro is trying but they are no strong voice.

2022-07-09 20:56

Liquid as an org put together the best / most successful NA team in csgo history

2022-07-09 23:46

0 majors. The last time Liquid won anything was in 2019. They are tier 2 at best now. Talented players have a hard time in Liquid, Twistzz immediately won major once he left them. Shox became an anchor once he joined. YEKINDAR underperforms now. He said it all himself: “I had a 'professional' environment in VP, we were robots, teammates who had to win. Here there are jokes all the time, some life stories, talks. Here I feel more relaxed and less pumped up” You cannot win anything by joking instead of practicing. NA scene is 0 iq.

2022-07-10 00:02

They practiced a lot in the last 2 weeks. Maybe, he realized that gaming is not everything and if he doesn't want to burnout, he is better to relax a bit. Vitality and G2 look stressed af and totally despair. They are no winning either. Nice mindset. Niko and Aleksib hate each other. THe old Astralis probably won all those tournaments because they were friends first, then teammates. Shox was underperforming in vitality. You're using the 1pv narrative. Why shox is the anchor in Liquid ? Shox is the great, bla bla bla. Even Apex said that it is normal to not play star roles at 30. Twistz win the major 1 year and half after he left liquid. Faze struggled the last year.

2022-07-10 00:44

And yet apex plays great spots:D

2022-07-10 09:18

players likes??

2022-07-10 07:13

He basically said fk off G2. He is purposely playing bad so other teams think he is not that good. AND HE STAYS IN LIQUID.

"Maybe I play like shit and Liquid will be the only team that wants me" sounds like he sees them only as his last hope lmao, understandable I guess Would like to see him in Vitality, although then there is a choice to make for zonic or neo if apex doesnt want to play with Yekindar

2022-07-09 19:34

ngl I am so tired of liquid being player's "last hope"

2022-07-09 23:36

Yeah, I guess in EU people's minds, Yeki is doing TL a favour by allowing them to play $1 million+ in buyout. yeah, I don't see your EU orgs lining up to payout that amount.

2022-07-09 23:48

Seems like a jinx again

2022-07-09 19:53

meh

2022-07-09 19:56

Like to have honest interviews.

2022-07-09 20:11

CRY IS FREE

2022-07-09 21:30

if he joins liquid imma name my firstborn after him

2022-07-09 22:10

After his first name or after his nickname?

2022-07-09 23:38

his first name

2022-07-10 12:59

Liquid should just do -nitr0 +hooxi and keep yekindar and they would perform way better instantly, their core pieces EliGE and Naf have the potential, OSee kinda sucks but he is awper and maybe with a better igl he will find more consistency

2022-07-09 22:17

Bro you realize Nitr0 is already one of their best performers again, and he's still a good IGL and, has a mind for the game, right? Adding someone who's completely random to the majority of the players ain't doing shit but setting them back even further.

2022-07-11 01:50

I really hope YEKINDAR ends up in Team Liquid, just imagine the firepower of this team, EliGE + NAF + YEKINDAR + oSee on the AWP, nitr0 could be average and they would still have one of the best teams in the world when it comes to firepower, I also think that good entry is excatly what Liquid needs, you can't just rely on EliGE to create space for the whole team, with the duo of EliGE + YEKINDAR I think Liquids problems would finally be fixed and they would be back competing for trophies, let's just hope this will be a permanent move in the end, GL TL!

2022-07-09 23:18

I agree. It is like a eternal fire with a bit more structure and a real IGL (before major return).

2022-07-10 01:23

Even Eternal Fire comes no where near with firepower to this imo.

2022-07-10 02:01

Honestly, ppl say why Liquid, not why vitality or g2 ? Liquid is choking and laughting at it, while g2 and vitality look like they want to kill each other rn. I understand if yekindar wants to chose a good atmosphere instead of been throw in a team that he is not really wanted.

2022-07-10 04:46

I also think that Liquid with him is a trophy winning team, like if you look at the core of nitr0, EliGE and NAF, it really is great, they just could't find the last 2 piece of the puzzle after Stew and Twistzz, but now with oSee and YEKINDAR, this team is back for me.

2022-07-10 12:25

actually a based take. He doesn't care about this Liquid team, he just wants to improve his own game and go to an actual competitive org.

Honestly, ppl shit on Liquid. I agree they play like chicken wuss sometimes, but honestly, it is not like g2 or vitality are playing top tier cs either. And Imagine sharing spaces with monesy, niko and hunter.

2022-07-10 01:24

He needs to say, “I’ll stay if Nitro is gone”. Nitro is the reason Liquid struggles. Get them an IGL that can go even against teams like 00nation and they start winning tourneys again.

2022-07-10 02:44

+who?

2022-07-10 03:07

Boombl4 is a risky move for image but at least he was T1 IGL and is available.

2022-07-10 04:25

*blade was literally calling 5 rounds ahead. +hooxi or even +nealan is a better take.

2022-07-10 04:49

5 replies

People give Blad3 way too much credit. Now he’s calling 5 rounds ahead? If that’s the case the dude can see the future since he knows exactly how the round will go and it wouldn’t matter who is in there as IGL.

2022-07-11 00:48

No, it is xtqz who said that. The guy is hard preparing and Boombl4 was an average igl who follow orders more than anything else.

2022-07-11 01:04

Having plays/starts is one thing. You using that as a reason to take away credit from a Boom, or whoever the IGL is, when things probably don’t go according to plan most rounds, resulting in the IGL having to make mid round decisions is just sad.

2022-07-11 01:11

You always discredit nitro as an igl. I can do the same for Boombl4. Navi doesn't need him. Also, the guy has a unhealthy life style. He won a major. I give him credit for that. Fallen, zeus won also a major. Also, mid calling was probably share with simple and electronic.

2022-07-11 01:36

Haha. Sure thing. Nitro is garbage. They’ll get rid of him eventually but it will take some time like with Grim.

2022-07-11 11:19

Why would he say that though ?

2022-07-10 16:55

i hope he finds he´s place in liquid. the guy is a great player and has a lot of potential

2022-07-10 15:56

Yekindar <3

2022-07-11 01:08

Save Yekindar! Do not let him end up on a dead NA team and a dead scene.

2022-07-11 01:52

Your derangement pleases me. Vitality and NIP out of Arena, Liquid in. He isn't even carrying, Elige and oSee are. And no need to save him, he wants to go to Liquid. Isn't a dumpster fire like Vitality. Seeing you seethe and rage under every Liquid 2-0 and their top 6 at Cologne is very very satisfying. Thank you for the dance, monkey.

2022-07-11 02:03

" Liquid in" Now check the previous events. lol. How did Flukequids major go...oh right... I never said "YO YEKINDAR IS A BEAST CARRYING LIQUID!" But, he should remain in EU. NA scene is dead. Same with Liquid, - this fluke event.

2022-07-11 02:07

Great mental gymnastics, you should join the circus! Again, Vitality and NIP dogshit and eliminated, Liquid top 6 and in Cologne arena. No cope can take that away. Dance monkey dance.

2022-07-11 02:10

"Again, Vitality and NIP dogshit and eliminated," XD If they are dogshit then yeah, we cant describe what Shitquid is. No talents in NA so they go for a EU players just like when they signed s1mple. Trash org.

2022-07-11 02:12

"If they are dogshit then yeah, we cant describe what Shitquid is." Top 6 at Cologne with a week of practice. Those dogshit teams are eliminated and will hopefully disband now. Also, Elige and then oSee hard carry, Yekindar bottom fragged every series but C9. You have no idea how satisfying your deranged seething is. Thank you.

2022-07-11 02:13

Again, fluke event with a standin, that never happend...oh wait, it happend multiple times lol. Flukequid will be shit again after Cologne. Its incredible how delusional Liquid fans are tbh. "OH WOW WE ARE DOING GOOD AT 1 TOURNAMENT AFTER 30 TOURNAMENTS! WOOO #1 IN THE WORLD" lol.

2022-07-11 02:15