Team Liquid’s YEKINDAR explains why he struggled to perform at IEM Rio CS:GO Major

Team Liquid, one of the best CS:GO teams in the world, left Brazil with a sour taste in their mouth after failing to reach the playoffs.

Expectations were higher for Liquid, who were runners-up at ESL Pro League season 16, the last S-tier event before the IEM Rio Major. But the team couldn’t replicate their form from Malta in Brazil. Most notably, the team’s star YEKINDAR, went missing in the event. He arrived in Rio with an average 1.16 rating since joining Liquid, but only averaged 1.00 during the $1.25 million tournament, according to HLTV.

Rating is one of the quickest ways to measure the impact a CS:GO player is having, and YEKINDAR acknowledged that he could have played better, but he also said this statistic doesn’t tell the whole story.

“Personally, it’s really hard to find the balance between investing into the macro of the team while focusing on your individual part of the team,” YEKINDAR said in an interview with HLTV. “I can’t necessarily go full-macro because my individual skill will suffer. I’m trying to find the balance, the best that can work for the team. Maybe I had the 1.00 rating, but I believe I gave my all to give my team the most chances to win, so I don’t necessarily think I was playing that poorly. At the same time, I know I can play better.”

Liquid will have an opportunity starting tomorrow to redeem themselves from the underwhelming performance at IEM Rio Major as they’re in Denmark to play at the $425,000 BLAST Premier Fall Final.

YEKINDAR told HLTV that the team hasn’t discussed their goals moving forward because the season is still running, but they want to do well enough at the Fall Final to secure a spot in the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final in December.

Liquid will debut in BLAST Premier Fall Final against G2 Esports tomorrow at 12pm CT.