Exclusive: Twistzz on joining Liquid, teammates, role he "always wanted" (Part 2)

Personal growth in an impact role and the core players of the new Liquid team were big selling points for Twistzz.

In the first part of HLTV's exclusive interview with Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, he spoke about the reasons behind leaving FaZe, declining Vitality, and the emotional rollercoaster that followed amidst his now former team's dominant start in Counter-Strike 2.

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Exclusive: Twistzz on why he left FaZe, second thoughts, declining Vitality (Part 1)

Part two is all about why Twistzz decided to pick Liquid out of the three options he had available, his new teammates and staff around the team, and how the new project has been meshing together so far a week into their bootcamp in the organization's facility in the Netherlands.

Twistzz spoke about how the core of the team sold him on the move and why Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller's unique role as an AWPing in-game leader was a key factor. He also discussed all of his new teammates in detail, the impact of Liquid's backroom staff, and the ultimate goal of bringing the organization its first Major.

You can read the interview in full below:

Why did you decide to join Liquid?

To start that, I obviously had to look at all three offers, which included FaZe [and Vitality]. I mentioned lots of good things about FaZe and I understand how they're working now, but I couldn't help but feel some disrespect eventually, even if it wasn't their intention, because of the lack of negotiations, or willingness to start the communication first. I didn't wanna be the one asking for a new contract.

That kinda pushed me in a direction to think about the offers when they came in because if FaZe had come in three months ago and negotiated, I probably would have re-signed. But because of the opportunity and the timing of everything, I felt like it was time to move on, and that's why I went through and evaluated both options between Liquid and Vitality.

Ultimately, I felt like in Liquid I would find the most personal growth and I would play with a captain that's very interesting to me. Just like when I went to FaZe before, I had this vision of the leader I wanted to play with, and that was karrigan, and now I have a different vision — something that matches longevity, a new learning experience, and maybe a different leadership that I learn more in and help me become a better player in the long term.

I think that's what pushed me, the core of players on Liquid. I always liked YEKINDAR, and when I first went to Europe to play, he was one of the first people who was really nice to me, we would play pugs together and stuff, and he would make an effort to message me. There's always been some type of friendship there. I'd always talk to him at events when I see him. Of course, NAF and myself have become really good friends, we've created a really nice relationship over the past years. There's an up-and-coming player in skullz, an amazing traditional leader in cadiaN, and of course the two other players that have always been appealing to me and I'm friends with, so Liquid for me ended up being a no-brainer option. And the coach, zews, I've only had good experiences with Wilton.

For me, Vitality and staying in FaZe wasn't a thing anymore.

What did you think was appealing about cadiaN and him leading more from the back as opposed to more typical IGL's?

I think when you have an AWP IGL it opens up a unique rifler role that usually would be the in-game leader. At least in the current meta, an IGL usually wants to put themselves in the action. For me it's interesting that it's the role that I've always wanted, to be in this true flex position where I can use my actual best qualities, which I feel like is complementing being in between sites. That applies to the T side too, being able to choose who I want to help etc. This is a role I've had on FaZe on Nuke, and I felt like T side Nuke on FaZe was one of my favorite roles for sure. Now I kinda get that on every map with cadiaN, because the IGL is in an AWP role.

Playing with him, having first-hand experience now for like a week, it is really like that. The AWP IGL is able to have so much more control and micro-managing over the game, even on CT side because AWP players are usually very vocal, regardless of if they're a leader or not. It feels very natural for me to play with this type of captain, not to mention he's been an outstanding teammate and friend to everyone on the team, so I think it's really exceeded my expectations.

Does the fact that he's leading an international lineup affect things?

No, I actually don't think that at all. Casper has really good English, and once again I'm just really impressed by his leadership in English from the beginning. He understood that it wouldn't be easy to lead a team in not your native language instantly. I can always tell when a player is thinking in their native language and they just want to find the perfect thing to say in English, but they don't have it in the moment. For him, I feel like it is rarely happening. You cannot really tell that he came from a full Danish team for four years and is now calling in English. It's not easy to tell.

Tell me about zews and your history with him from your previous time with Liquid. Where does he come into the picture and how much of a factor was he?

zews has always been a person that I've trusted in my career. Funnily enough, he was already a person that I wanted to talk to on a friend level when reevaluating my career, so the fact that we were both in the same Liquid conversation felt really special. It was a really nice feeling to reconnect in a work environment now that we have both evolved as people.

I think his strong suit is managing personalities, but I will say, from personal experience here at the bootcamp, it's not just that. He has a great mind for CS and I have no doubt in his coaching abilities. Maybe some people have forgotten how good he really was when he was still active in the tier-one scene, and I'm sure people will be reminded of that when we get back to events.

Do you feel like his strength in managing personalities is necessary here? Last time we spoke about this team having three vocal players in cadiaN, YEKINDAR, and yourself, and him being a good mediator for that. Has that been the experience so far?

Not really, there's not really any conflict. There are just very cool conversations about CS, because myself, YEKINDAR, and cadiaN all come from three different styles of Counter-Strike. It's been very interesting to talk about our CS philosophies, and zews has been the perfect mediator in making sure our conversations aren't going in circles or getting lost.

Most importantly he recognizes the genuine care of human beings is what matters most. He's really good at balancing what should be CS and what is not CS. I don't feel like personalities have been an issue, I mentioned before that it could be an issue, but of course it is zews' strong suit, so if it does happen in the future, I have no doubt we have the pieces in place to resolve this type of stuff on a healthy level.

One of the things you highlighted in a Tweet was the supporting staff that Liquid hired around you. Edward Cleland was also just announced today. Can you elaborate on that and what that includes beyond zews?

Besides the coach, I feel like we have a superb analyst. I don't wanna give away all the secrets, but if people knew the type of stuff he was doing, they might look at what the power of an analyst can really accomplish. That's been very interesting to me, to work very closely or hands-on with an analyst that... I cannot share so much, but he is very special.

And, obviously, Steve ["Jokasteve" Perino] is a superb manager. For me one of the things that was lacking in FaZe was consistency in management and the care for the team, and in Liquid I always felt like the management always cared for the team at all times and understood what it takes to play at the top level. I'm just happy to have this type of management again in a professional setting.

I had to check, but you're talking about Jay Li? It says he is a Data Analyst, I take it it's something more special compared to what a typical CS analyst would do?

It is very special work, extremely unique, and gives players a different perspective of what possibilities there are in CS.

Can you tell me more about Edward Cleland? What does he bring?

To be honest, I think Edward is what is building the foundation of this team and the healthy environment that we're having. Edward is... It's in his name — mind, body, esports, it's what he specializes in, not just the psychology part. He's everything, you get a nutritionist, you get someone who knows the physical stuff, working out, stretching, and the importance of it, but also the psychological standpoint of CS.

Eventually everyone's gonna realize the important role he plays in our team. What I can say for now without revealing the secrets of building the team foundation, he's been a very, very key part in the beginning friendships that are being created in our team structure.

Tell me about the first week you've had at the bootcamp so far. How has it been getting to know everyone and how the team has begun to set up?

Honestly, everything has exceeded my expectations. You can always read something on Social Media or a public viewpoint of a player or whatever — I think the public has a very wrong perception of YEKINDAR, people saying he's a control freak or whatever... It's like the complete opposite, really, and I'm very happy to play with him.

Also when you're looking at IGLs from an outside perspective, you never really know how much impact they have and how good they are. After playing with cadiaN I can safely say he's for sure like a top-two IGL, and he can definitely be top-one consistently. I feel like his traditional way of leadership is so special, and I could say amazing things about everyone, really. I am very surprised by skullz, a very smart, young player, a lot of talent, I've seen many sick highlights already and it's only been seven days. Most importantly, he's been an amazing person and a very nice new friend I'm happy to have.

NAF is NAF, I don't have to say much about Keith. I still think he's one of the perfect players CS has, I cannot really think of any flaws and differences between four years ago and now. He's also a perfect friend, in my opinion.

With all the stars on this team and it being such a stacked roster, people are understandably looking at skullz as someone that is unproven compared to everyone else on the team. Can you tell me about what made the team go for him?

Obviously, there were other rumors about other players who could have been a potential...

Well, KSCERATO said it on record that he got approached.

Yeah. I don't wanna mention much about that, because once again it's like an individual person's decision, and he recently won an event, so what can I say? And if he's happy where he is, then that's how it is.

I'm definitely happy with the player that we got, that is for sure. We wanted a person that really wanted to be here and I was happy to have a player that doesn't have the experience. It's a very unique situation where all the great minds on the team can help a young player mold into a superstar. I think for sure he's on track for that.

Last time we spoke you touched on your responsibilities of maybe needing to micro-manage him and share positions with him. Has that been the case?

Surprisingly, there hasn't been much micro-managing because I feel like even for him speaking English he really does understand the game. It's made other people on the team have relief, myself included. Just in general, it's a natural responsibility that I have to accomplish because I do have a lot of experience, and of course my experience is valuable to everyone on the team. My micro-managing is kind of a necessity in that way, but it's something I'm very happy to do and the input isn't taken for granted, which I love so far in this environment.

I play some sites with skullz for sure and I've enjoyed the experiences I've had, and we always hype each other up over the way that we set each other up in-game at the moment. That's been really nice.

Can you tell me about your goals and what would constitute success with this team?

Our goal is to eventually be at the top. It might not be in three months, it might not be in seven months, but we for sure believe that we're gonna get there. Like I said, it might be a tough road, it might be an easy road, but the goal is just to win.

I mentioned a Major before would be tremendous for this organization. It's something that they're missing, but it cannot be expected in like... this next Major, maybe the one after that, maybe not even the third one, but at some point we're for sure gonna get it. Of course, everyone on this team just wants to win and people on this team have stuff to prove and they want to have that winning feeling again. We want to get to a point where we're very consistent, we're always in the title contender talks, and we wanna get that top 1, of course.

And according to your video, a third Intel Grand Slam.

Yeah, of course. But for me, a third Grand Slam is a reward for all the other tournament wins, that's like a bonus. So if we're winning other events and we're on a streak, it's just something that would happen. For the storylines, it would be pretty cool, right?

Sure, you're the first to have two, why not three?

And make the other Canadian be the only other one with two, right?

Do you have any closing thoughts?

I think I will just mention the people in this team who gave me space when I needed it. When I was deciding what I'm doing. There was no overpressure, I think everyone understood that I was in a very tricky situation mentally — my former team having success together and stuff — and they just let me figure everything out for myself. That takes a lot of trust.

Another thing is that my fianceé was a pretty big pillar in everything, and I was always able to talk to her every morning and evening. She was able to help clear my mind in a really thoughtful and unbiased way, that I'd be able to formulate my own questions and find answers to them about why I should do this, why I shouldn't do this, or if I'm being nostalgic or whatever.