- Team Liquid in CS2: Almost Elite, But Not Quite
- Ultimate’s Role Under the Microscope
- Why Ultimate Struggles at Tier 1
- How Ultimate’s Form Limits Liquid’s Gameplan
- CS2 Meta: How the AWP Role Has Evolved
- AWP Upgrade Candidates for Team Liquid
- Degster: The Safe Bet With Known Upside
- Kl1m: High-Upside Prospect From MIBR
- Gr1ks: Proven in Europe, Ready for a Bigger Stage
- CS2 Skins, Liquid’s Brand & the In-Game Economy
- What Liquid Must Do Next to Reach True Contender Status
Team Liquid in CS2: Almost Elite, But Not Quite
Team Liquid are closer to genuine CS2 contender status than they’ve been in years. The core is stacked:
- Viktor “flashie” Tamas Bea bringing structure and prep.
- Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek leading with a modern, proactive IGL style.
- Keith “NAF” Markovic, the classic rock in mid/late rounds.
- Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, still one of NA’s most complete riflers.
- Guy “NertZ” Iluz, an elite space taker who can win series on his own.
On paper, this is a roster that should float around the top 5–10 in the world and threaten deep runs at big events. But there’s a clear weak point: the AWP role, currently held by Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak.
Right now, Liquid play like a team that has four reliable tier 1 pieces and one permanent question mark. In modern Counter-Strike, that’s the difference between “almost there” and actually lifting trophies.
Ultimate’s Role Under the Microscope
Ultimate came into Liquid in 2024 as a calculated gamble: a mechanically capable AWPer with an aggressive mindset and the confidence to take initiative. Eighteen months later, we have enough data to say the experiment hasn’t worked.
The criticism isn’t that ultimate is a bad player. At tier 2, his skill set can absolutely win games. The issue is that Liquid aren’t trying to be tier 2. They’re trying to be a consistent contender against names like ZywOo, m0NESY, sh1ro, and now molodoy.
And when you compare him directly to those AWPers, you start to see why fans and analysts keep circling back to the same conclusion: ultimate is not a tier 1 AWPer right now.
Why Ultimate Struggles at Tier 1
To understand why ultimate is under so much pressure, you have to look beyond just highlight clips and ask how he performs in the key areas that define elite AWPers.
Opening Duels and Aggression
On the surface, ultimate is known as an aggressive AWPer. But when you dive into how he actually plays, a more nuanced picture appears.
Compared to stars like:
- Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
- Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
- Danil “molodoy” Golubenko
ultimate isn’t even taking as many opening duels. In fact, many top-tier AWPers take 3–8% more of their team’s opening fights on both T and CT side. The difference isn’t just volume — it’s efficiency.
When those elite AWPers fight first, they win far more often. Ultimate, by contrast, is less effective in those openings, which makes every risky peek feel that much more costly.
Positioning and Space Retakes
Aggression in CS2 isn’t only about dry-peeking for first blood. It’s also about:
- How you re-take space after conceding map control.
- The angles you hold once your team is under pressure.
- Your willingness to re-challenge when the odds aren’t cleanly in your favor.
This is where ultimate’s profile becomes problematic. His decision-making tends to skew aggressive in low percentage positions, which leads to:
- Higher deaths per round than many peers.
- Lower kills per round compared to other top AWPers mentioned in the original analysis.
Players like Adam “torzsi” Torzsas and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov show that even more passive AWP styles can be deadly efficient when they choose their fights well. Ultimate ends up in a rough middle ground: aggressive enough to die often, but not lethal enough to justify the risk.
Raw Sniping Output
The harsh reality: there isn’t a sniping stat category where ultimate truly stands out versus elite company.
Take one simple but telling metric — sniper kills per round:
- molodoy sits around 0.63 sniper kills per round and is constantly pressuring the map.
- ZywOo and m0NESY, who are both extremely comfortable on rifles, still put up around 0.47 sniper kills per round.
- Ultimate trails behind at roughly 0.40 sniper kills per round.
In isolation, 0.40 isn’t disastrous. But in a team trying to punch into the top 5–10, your AWPer can’t just be “serviceable” — he must be a consistent round-winner, especially in big-game matchups.
Right now, ultimate is rarely the reason Liquid win series against top opposition, but he is far too often the reason they fall short. That imbalance is why his position keeps coming under fire.
How Ultimate’s Form Limits Liquid’s Gameplan
An underperforming AWPer does more than simply lose a few duels. It warps how your entire team has to play.
Extra Pressure on NAF, EliGE, and NertZ
With ultimate not reliably posting star-level impact, NAF, EliGE, and NertZ are forced to absorb more of the fragging load. This causes several issues:
- NertZ needs freedom to play aggressively, lurk, and take timings. If the AWP isn’t locking down lines, he has to overextend to create openings.
- NAF is at his best as a late-round closer and stabilizer, not as a constant hard entry.
- EliGE thrives in structured, mid-round scenarios, but when games spiral early because openings are lost, he has to firefight instead of playing to his strengths.
In a perfect world, Liquid leverage their AWPer to anchor bombsites, punish rotations, and deny map control. With ultimate, they often end up plugging leaks instead.
Map Pool and Tactical Flexibility
When your sniper isn’t dominant, certain maps become far harder to play at the top level. On maps like Mirage, Nuke, or Anubis, the AWP can fundamentally dictate how rounds unfold.
If you can’t reliably:
- Win mid control with the AWP.
- Contest fast hits with confident scoped aggression.
- Hold tight lines on site anchors without support every time.
Then your IGL has to over-support the AWPer, pulling utility and resources away from other parts of the map. That reduces the creative playbook that someone like siuhy wants to run.
The end result: Liquid often look strong against weaker squads, but their gameplan feels rigid and fragile against the top tier. One big reason is the lack of a stable, high-impact AWP performance at the center of the system.
CS2 Meta: How the AWP Role Has Evolved
It’s important context: AWP’ing in CS2 is harder than it was in late CS:GO. Movement, smokes, and utility changes mean you can’t just park yourself in an angle and farm.
Modern top AWPers are more than turret players. They tend to be:
- Highly mobile: Repositioning constantly, especially after a single shot.
- Rifle-capable: Comfortable switching to AK or M4 in scrappy rounds.
- Information tools: Taking space, forcing rotations, baiting utility.
Players like molodoy are actively re-defining the role — blending entry instincts with world-class precision. ZywOo and m0NESY freely hybrid between AWP and rifle depending on economy and game flow, which keeps their teams extremely adaptable.
Ultimate, by contrast, hasn’t shown the same evolution. As rivals learn his tendencies and prepare more specifically for him, his impact has declined instead of scaling up. After a year and a half on Liquid, that’s a red flag.
AWP Upgrade Candidates for Team Liquid
If Liquid accept that ultimate isn’t going to reach the level they need, the next question is obvious: who replaces him?
Right now, the AWP market isn’t overflowing with cheap, tier 1-ready snipers. But there are a few standout options that make sense from both a performance and branding perspective.
Three names make the most sense for Liquid to explore:
- Abdul “degster” Gasanov – proven top-tier veteran and current free agent.
- Klimtentii “kl1m” Krivosheev – high-upside young gun currently on loan at MIBR.
- Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin – resurging sniper who has been thriving on BIG.
Each comes with different strengths, risks, and price tags.
Degster: The Safe Bet With Known Upside
Abdul “degster” Gasanov is probably the most obvious target. He’s a known quantity at the highest level, a player who has:
- Played on top-tier teams like Spirit and Falcons.
- Won an MVP at PGL Bucharest before his benching.
- Consistently shown up in arena environments.
Why Degster Fits Liquid’s Needs
Degster’s profile answers most of Liquid’s immediate issues:
- He brings high-impact AWPing and isn’t afraid to take initiative.
- He knows how to handle pressure on stage and in big playoff matches.
- He has experience in tactical systems and can sync with structured IGLs like siuhy.
For a Liquid side that already has strong riflers, adding an AWPer who can reliably post big numbers without needing heavy babysitting is exactly what you want.
Risks and Practical Considerations
There are still concerns:
- Visa and travel issues have followed degster in the past, which is critical for an org heavily involved in NA and EU events.
- His personality is strong; he’s outspoken, which can be both a positive and a potential locker-room challenge depending on team chemistry.
- While he’s a free agent now, his salary expectations are likely high.
Even with those caveats, degster remains the cleanest short-term upgrade over ultimate. If Liquid want a quick injection of firepower and experience, he’s the one name that checks almost every box.
Kl1m: High-Upside Prospect From MIBR
Klimtentii “kl1m” Krivosheev is the more ambitious, future-forward move. Formerly a standout for G2 Ares, he’s been on loan with MIBR, tearing up the South American circuit.
Why Kl1m Is an Exciting Option
Kl1m embodies the new wave of hybrid AWPers:
- He’s aggressive with the AWP, but not brainlessly so.
- He’s legitimately dangerous with rifles, similar to ZywOo and m0NESY.
- He has already shown he can stand out even when his team struggles.
His performance at the StarLadder Budapest Major is a key data point: despite MIBR’s issues, kl1m proved he can hang with better opposition.
Place that kind of player into a more structured, star-friendly environment like Liquid, and his ceiling could be extremely high.
Risks With the Kl1m Move
But this path is not without risk:
- He still lacks sustained experience in top-tier European competition.
- There will be a natural adaptation period to NA org culture, travel, and high-expectation environments.
- MIBR and/or G2 Ares won’t let him go cheaply. A buyout could be substantial.
Kl1m is the move you make if you’re thinking 12–24 months ahead and you’re confident in your ability to develop talent. If Liquid are willing to be patient, he could evolve into one of CS2’s most feared AWPers under their banner.
Gr1ks: Proven in Europe, Ready for a Bigger Stage
Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin is the middle-ground option between degster’s proven star status and kl1m’s raw potential.
After an underwhelming stint with HEROIC where he was benched fairly abruptly, many wrote him off too early. But since joining BIG, gr1ks has re-ignited his reputation by:
- Putting up strong AWP numbers at multiple smaller events.
- Helping BIG secure a string of smaller tournament wins.
- Showing he can thrive in a more structured but slightly less pressured environment.
Why Gr1ks Could Work Well in Liquid
Gr1ks offers:
- Proven performance in Europe, including against solid opposition.
- A good balance between aggression and discipline.
- A still-developing ceiling, meaning Liquid could help polish him into something even better.
He would almost certainly cost a sizeable buyout from BIG, but this is the kind of signing you make if you’re serious about becoming a consistent trophy contender instead of just a playoff team.
Compared to ultimate, gr1ks would immediately raise Liquid’s baseline AWP performance and let siuhy call a more ambitious, pressure-heavy style.
CS2 Skins, Liquid’s Brand & the In-Game Economy
There’s another angle to Team Liquid upgrading their AWPer that often gets overlooked: the in-game and cosmetic economy.
Top AWPers aren’t just statistical engines. They also become the visual identity of your team in-game. Fans remember:
- The AWP skins they use.
- The clutch highlights shared across social media.
- The unique look of their loadout on stage.
A star AWPer running a signature skin setup can make a team instantly recognizable. That matters for merchandise, branding, and fan engagement, especially for an org like Liquid that leans heavily into content and creator culture.
CS2 Skins, Trading, and Player Customization
If you’re a CS2 player yourself and want your inventory to look like a pro’s, or you just enjoy upgrading your collection, dedicated skin marketplaces are where you’ll spend a lot of time. For safe and flexible trading of cs2 skins and classic csgo skins, platforms like cs2 skins and csgo skins on UUSKINS give you:
- A wide range of rifle, pistol, and AWP skins at market-driven prices.
- The ability to buy, sell, and upgrade your loadout without depending only on random cases.
- Options to quickly tailor your inventory to match the kind of identity you see from pro teams.
That visual side of the game might seem secondary to tactics, but it’s a big part of why Counter-Strike has remained popular for so long. Just as Liquid need an AWPer who fits their playstyle, players love building an inventory that fits their personality.
Why Skins and Star Players Go Hand in Hand
When Liquid field a superstar AWPer, that player’s AWP skin, glove combos, and overall style become part of the team’s story. Fans frequently:
- Look up what skins pros use.
- Try to replicate loadouts on marketplaces like UUSKINS.
- Associate certain finishes or stickers with iconic plays.
An upgrade at the AWP role doesn’t just improve match outcomes. It also helps Liquid continue growing as a global brand, with a more memorable identity both in and out of the server.
What Liquid Must Do Next to Reach True Contender Status
After 18 months with ultimate, the pattern is clear. He hasn’t scaled up with the rest of the roster, and as more teams learn how to shut him down, his impact has only dropped further. For a project with this much investment and name value, that’s simply not sustainable.
To become a genuine title threat again, Team Liquid need to:
- Accept that ultimate is not currently at the level required for a top-10 team aiming for trophies.
- Commit to signing a higher-impact AWPer, whether that’s the safer pick (degster), the long-term project (kl1m), or the rising star (gr1ks).
- Rebuild their system slightly around a new sniper, unlocking more of siuhy’s calling and empowering NAF, EliGE, and NertZ to play their best roles.
The good news is that Liquid are not far away. Their foundation is solid, their rifling core is scary, and their leadership structure is finally starting to click. The final piece of the puzzle is a world-class AWP presence.
Whether they gamble on potential or lean on proven experience, one thing feels unavoidable if Liquid truly want to return to Counter-Strike’s top table: the Roland “ultimate” era has to end. Once they solve that, the path back to consistent playoffs — and eventually trophies — opens up again.
