TL;DR
- Team Liquid withdrew from IEM Beijing citing mental exhaustion from 200+ travel days
- The team’s decline followed a record-breaking Intel Grand Slam victory in just 63 days
- CS:GO’s non-franchised structure creates continuous travel demands on players
- ENCE replaces Liquid with a revamped roster following their own leadership changes
- IEM Beijing offers automatic qualification for IEM Katowice 2020
- Professional esports teams face unique burnout challenges requiring strategic management
In a significant development for the competitive Counter-Strike scene, Team Liquid officially declared their withdrawal from IEM Beijing through coordinated communications across their Twitter platform and ESL’s official press channels. This decision marks a pivotal moment in understanding the physical and psychological demands placed on elite esports athletes.
The organization supplemented their announcement with an explanatory video featuring key personnel, including star rifler Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, strategic coach Eric “adreN” Hoag, and team operations manager Steve “jokasteve” Perino, providing unprecedented insight into their competitive hiatus reasoning.
“Our travel schedule exceeds virtually every other professional roster in the global circuit. The cumulative impact has become overwhelming—we’re approaching 200 total travel days this competitive year alone. This relentless pace creates severe mental fatigue that impacts performance,” EliGE explained, detailing the psychological toll exacted by their tournament commitments.
Unlike structured esports leagues like League of Legends or Overwatch that employ franchise models, Counter-Strike operates without centralized scheduling. This decentralized approach forces teams into near-constant global mobility while competing in back-to-back international events throughout the year.
The professional scene only achieved consensus on standardized player breaks in 2017 after extensive negotiations between competitors and event organizers. August emerged as the designated competitive hiatus period, supplemented by the traditionally lighter schedule following December’s online league finals.
For the 2019 season, the designated player break concluded immediately before the StarLadder Berlin Major commenced on August 23.
“Despite recently returning from our scheduled break, we immediately confront the chaotic scheduling challenges inherent to our competitive landscape,” EliGE noted, emphasizing the difficulty of transitioning from rest to competition.
Before entering their competitive break, Team Liquid demonstrated championship-caliber form. The North American organization secured its place in history as only the second team ever to capture the prestigious IEM Grand Slam championship, earning the $1 million USD prize while setting an unprecedented record of 63 days to claim the multi-tournament trophy. By comparison, the inaugural Grand Slam winners Astralis required over 323 days to achieve the same four-tournament victory requirement.
Team Liquid faces decline after record Grand Slam win
Following their extraordinary Grand Slam accomplishment, Team Liquid experienced a dramatic performance regression from their previous elite standards. Immediately following the competitive break, they delivered disappointing results at the StarLadder Berlin Major, extinguishing North American supporters’ hopes for another championship title with their quarterfinal elimination against Astralis.
The team’s competitive struggles persisted beyond Berlin. Despite competing with home-region advantage, the skilled roster failed to reach the championship match at ESL One New York and performed even more poorly at DreamHack Masters Malmö, ultimately finishing in a disheartening 10th position.
ENCE to replace Team Liquid at IEM Beijing
Tournament organizers ESL selected Finnish organization ENCE as Team Liquid’s replacement for the Beijing event. The Scandinavian squad joins seven additional elite teams competing for the $250,000 total prize pool. The Beijing tournament features an exceptionally strong competitive field with Astralis, Evil Geniuses, and Team Vitality—all ranked among the global top five—alongside Mousesports, FaZe Clan, ViCi Gaming, and TYLOO scheduled to participate.
ENCE enters the competition following significant organizational changes after the Berlin Major. The team replaced in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen with former Mousesports rifler Miikka “suNny” Kempii. Aleksib departed the organization shortly after the Berlin major conclusion and currently remains available as a free agent.
IEM Beijing commences on November 7 and continues through November 10 at the Beijing University Student’s Stadium. Interestingly, competitors battle for more than just prize money distribution—the championship team secures automatic qualification for IEM Katowice 2020.
Action Checklist
- Monitor player travel days and implement rotation strategies for less critical tournaments
- Establish mental health protocols including sports psychology support and scheduled decompression periods
- Analyze tournament ROI considering travel impact on performance and player wellbeing
- Develop post-peak performance recovery strategies including tactical resets and skill reinforcement
- Create roster transition protocols that maintain team cohesion during leadership changes
No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » EliGE says Liquid is mentally exhausted as they drop IEM Beijing Analyzing Team Liquid's burnout crisis and ENCE's opportunity at IEM Beijing 2019