CS:GO Roster Moves That Never Happened: When CeRq and Brehze Almost Joined Team Liquid

Just over a year ago, Team Liquid had one of the best lineups to ever grace the game of Counter-Strike. They won seven international tournaments in less than a year and snagged the Intel Grand Slam in less than three months, a record that might never be broken. Extended periods of dominance in CS:GO typically don’t last, though, and Team Liquid was no exception.

Despite sticking together for the first half of 2020, Team Liquid eventually replaced Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella with Michael "Grim" Wince. Patience had worn thin among the players and nitr0 took the opportunity to step down before he was officially replaced. The community reaction was somber but also full of excitement, as one would expect. Little do most people know, Grim wasn’t the only option on the table.

Prior to making that choice, multiple members of the Team Liquid organization expressed their interest in adding Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov and Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte from Evil Geniuses. One doesn’t even need to know the second Team Liquid player who would have been replaced to understand the implications of such a high caliber move. They would have added one of the better AWPers in the world and despite already having world class rifles, Brehze wouldn’t have been a downgrade.

The deal was very close to completion before the plug was pulled by Evil Geniuses in one form or another. Both lineups each changing two players at that time meant a reduction in Regional Major Ranking points, with a Major that was still officially scheduled for November. The prospect of potentially missing out on CS:GO’s most prestigious event left some of the stakeholders involved uncomfortable. Thus, Team Liquid were left to make a straightforward replacement of nitr0 and added Jason "moses" O'Toole as head coach to spice things up a bit.

This roster move that never happened is unique in that it is so recent, and it could theoretically still happen one day. There will be several more opportunities for them to join forces down the road. With the next Major delayed indefinitely, perhaps there is a world in which talks resume. However, it is equally possible that this will go down as one of the largest “what ifs” in CS:GO history.

Did you enjoy this article? Check out previous editions of CS:GO Roster Moves That Never Happened below.

When GeT_RiGhT Nearly Joined Sean Gares on Cloud9

The Two Times JW Almost Joined NiP

That Time Hiko and Skadoodle Almost Joined an EU Superteam