Team Liquid returns to North American core with malbsMd-NertZ trade

Team Liquid has returned to a majority North American roster, trading their Israeli star rifler Guy “NertZ” Iluz for Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa from G2. The trade, announced by TL on X, comes after both rosters failed to make playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 23. Alongside reconstituting Liquid’s NA majority, the move also sees NertZ reunite with Álvaro “SunPayus” García and Eetu “sAw” Saha, with whom he played on ENCE.

Liquid returns to North American VRS to sneak into the Major

Despite ostensibly being a Tier 1 CS2 organization, Team Liquid’s struggles in the past few years have been well documented. While each of their rosters, perhaps with the exception of the Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis-IGL experiment, had their own high points, none found championship success. Across 2025, the team was kept afloat thanks to the occasional tier-1 win, but 2026 has shown Liquid’s VRS flatfootedness as a glaring problem.