Team Liquid has benched one of its original VALORANT players Travis “L1NK” Mendoza today and replaced him with former LDN UTD player Aurimas “Dreamas” Zablockis for the remainder of EMEA VCT Challengers Stage Two.
The roster change confirms Dot Esports’ report from yesterday that said L1NK was not seen practicing with the team and would likely be moved to the inactive lineup. EMEA VCT Challengers Stage Two resumes today and Dreamas will debut against Natus Vincere. The European powerhouse are currently in third place in Group B, which is enough to make the playoffs.
It’s unclear at this point if Dreamas will keep his spot in Liquid following the conclusion of EMEA VCT Challengers Stage Two at the end of the month. The Lithuanian player’s permanency on the squad may depend on the results Liquid will have in the competition.
Dreamas was last seen playing with LDN UTD in the past months, having joined the team back in October 2021. The 23-year-old helped them to qualify for EMEA VCT Challengers Stage One but was cut from the team in April 2022 after the European team failed to make it to the playoffs of the competition.
The Lithuanian player will have big shoes to fill in Liquid. L1NK was one of the original players of the fish123 roster that Liquid signed in August 2020. The 23-year-old Brit most notably helped them win tournaments such as the EMEA VCT Challengers Stage Two Finals in May 2021 and Red Bull Home Ground Two in November 2021. L1NK also was part of the lineup that made the semifinals of VALORANT Champions in December 2021.
With L1NK out of the starting lineup, Dom “soulcas” Sulcas and Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom are the only two players left from the original roster Liquid assembled in 2020.
