YEKINDAR on subbing for Liquid: ‘I feel more relaxed and less pumped up [here]’

YEKINDAR has been a part of Team Liquid’s ranks for a couple of weeks now, but he’s already fond of the mentality inside the team.

In a recent press conference for IEM Cologne 2022, Liquid’s stand-in for the tournament answered a few questions about the differences between playing in a North American team and a CIS squad, both in terms of mentality and gameplay.

“There is a giant difference in mentality, yes. I felt that immediately, because people here rely more on their individual skill,” YEKINDAR said. “They are more friendly with each other. I had a ‘professional’ environment in VP, we were robots, teammates who had to win,” he added, expressing that he feels “more relaxed and less pumped up” in Liquid.

YEKINDAR also underlined that there are a couple of differences in how Liquid play CS:GO, which he said comes down to the online era during the COVID pandemic, where NA teams “stagnated.” But he added that he, nitr0, and the team’s newest coach, daps, tried their hardest to catch up and prepare efficiently for the event in Cologne. “[We] worked for 14 hours on improving our game. We have to play well now. If we play badly, I will be disappointed.”

YEKINDAR was benched from Virtus Pro on May 23 following PGL Antwerp CS:GO Major. Liquid picked him up as a stand-in for IEM Cologne 2022 after the team parted ways with shox.

Liquid will begin their journey in Cologne against Spirit today at 12:30pm CT.