EliGE: "FaZe wanted to try something new and then kinda didn't after a short while; that's completely fine"

EliGE comments on what went wrong at FaZe and his return to Liquid in an interview from his debut at Birch Cup.

After Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken and Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski traded places between FaZe and Liquid, the latter squad is already in action in their debut at Birch Cup.

HLTV had the chance to catch up with EliGE at the tournament in Gdańsk, where Liquid are seeking to get as close to five matches as possible to help ensure they can play with their newest addition at the Major, for an interview after their victory against 500.

The 28-year-old spoke about how it feels to be back with the organization where he had spent most of his career, what went wrong at FaZe, and the quick adaptation process in his first days with the Liquid squad:

---

Congratulations on your first win over 500. How do you feel after the first match in the new lineup?

Feel good overall. I think that this is a good tournament to just get some reps on. We've had practically no practice, we've had three days of practice overall. This is the shortest amount of praccs that I've ever had before starting actual matches, so definitely not ideal, but I think that I'm treating this [tournament] as practice. Of course we need five games for the VRS, so we're obviously trying our best to win, but we are limited on what we can do. Overall, a good first match for us.

After two years apart and playing under FaZe and Complexity, you're turning to the organization where you spent he most years of your career. How do you feel about it all?

It feels really nice to come back to Liquid. I think it's the best organization. There are a lot of things that I miss and that I appreciated a lot from the time at Liquid, so being back with the guys is really nice. Of course it's a different lineup aside from NAF, who is still here, but overall I'm super-excited. I think that they have a lot of really good stuff, and it's been really easy for me to integrate. It's pretty much learning and getting reps. I think that we have a really bright future.

From your perspective, how was it playing in FaZe and what do you think wasn't working properly?

I think that it was obviously difficult. I was trying my best in terms of trying to accommodate to what they want. Before I joined, they actually wanted a new perspective of how they wanted to play when I was talking to karrigan. He liked the ideas, I talked about the structure I like, and that I think is useful. I thought it could be good additions and he thought so too. And then I felt like after a month, it wasn't pretty much wanted anymore.

Afterwards I just tried to do my best with what they wanted to do. I think that I did a pretty good job overall with that. I tried super hard, I think I had a good mental for most of the year. There were ups and downs, but I think it was just a good learning experience from me trying to make it work.

At the end of the day, we didn't get the results we wanted and that's why we ended up moving on from each other. Also with the difference of how we look at the game, they wanted to try something new and then kinda didn't after a short while, that's completely fine. Now I'm here at Liquid and I'm pretty happy.

What did you manage to learn from such an experience alongside an in-game leader like karrigan?

I think that his reads for the game are definitely really strong. He's a good mid-round IGL, really creative, and can make a lot of things happen. That's his greatest strength, his creativity and being able to manage a bunch of different players all at the same time and making those micros happen.

When he's really feeling it, I think he can make some really incredible plays and things happen. That's something that's not easy for other people to learn. I played with a lot of IGLs in my career, and I think that talent is pretty unique to karrigan, for sure.

You already said you didn't have a lot of time for practice, but from your perspective, how does the potential and strength of this team look at the moment?

I'm obviously biased and I'm very optimistic, but I think that we have a lot of good things going for us. We're on the same page of how we talk about CS, which is already really nice. The structure is something I'm very familiar with, very used to already, so I feel like it's one of the easiest slot-ins ever, in terms of me being completely familiar with a system. There's not really a lot of differences at all, I'd say. It's just me having to learn whatever I need to in terms of the names of callouts or the protocols, and we're completely on board with all the same things. Overall, that's already a good fit.

In terms of the guys on the team, I think we have a really good fit outside of the game already. Everyone's been super open to everything and everyone's just been incredibly nice and open to ideas. Even right now I have to do a little bit more freestyling with the names, and I think that siuhy is doing a good job of filling in the gaps of, if I say something, he'd use the word that matches with it, because I can't remember all the names this quickly. Everyone feels open to ideas and how things are being called and how we wanna work on things.

We haven't had a lot of practice, so right now I'm pretty much focusing on what they have already, and not trying to deviate too much. When we're playing the game I'm trying to make whatever reads or calls happen, but whatever they already have I'm trying to just stick to that.

What is your goal for the upcoming Major?

The goal for the Major, for me it would be great if we could get to the semi-finals or higher. I'm trying not to be results-based with the goals. I think it's more about the process and making sure we have a good start to the season. Then for the Major, I think we have a good amount of time, it's a month and a half or two months, so that should be enough time for us to feel ready enough for the Major.

These events we're gonna be playing up to it is really good for us for the learning of what we have to work on and see where we are as a team. I think we could realistically see ourselves being in semi-finals or higher, that's how high hopes I have from the team, and how good of a fit everyone is.