Birds of a Feather: Welcome Erick and Kanario

May 18 2019
In March, 2018, we signed Surgical Goblin to our Clash Royale roster in anticipation of the inaugural Clash Royale League. This was very exciting to our Co-CEO, Steve Arhancet, who was #4,300 on the ladder at that time. The following month we would sign DiegoB with Boeufmac to follow later that summer. And now it’s rumored that we’ll have a new coach/manager for our Clash Royale team going into next month’s CRL.

Well, guess what? It’s happening.

Meet Erick Benamu. The former COD pro has been playing Clash since Beta and is no stranger to winning. Last season, Erick was the coach and manager for Cloud9’s CRL team. Now he’s coming to Los Angeles to help us bring home some championships.

“A lot of the responsibility for the team is on me,” he said, “and I thrive off that. It makes me work harder. I love the pressure. I love leading a team, making sure they feel comfortable and ready, even in the toughest of situations.”

But that’s not all. Coming from the Canary Islands in Spain, Erick’s good friend and fellow Clash Royale pro Cristian “KaNaRiOoo” Sanchez is also joining our squad just in time for the CRL at the end of May!

“I’m excited to be competing with Team Liquid,” said Kanario. “I’ve always wanted to win, and this is my best chance.”

Last season, our Clash Royale team came so close to winning the CRL. It was so close they could feel it. Taste it. Now, we’re coming back to win. And we’ve put together the perfect team to do just that.


How does it feel to be competing together?


Erick - “We’ve been very good friends for a long time. And we’ve wanted to be on a team together for a long time. We’re very happy it worked out. We have the same mentality and work ethic.”

Kanario - “I’m very happy to be working with Erick as well. I’m also very good friends with Surgical Goblin. I’m so happy to be here with everyone.”


How did you become friends?


Erick - We became friends at the last CRL. He was on G2 and I was on Cloud9. We scrimmed a lot and became friends through that. During off-season, we were both moving on from teams. We decided we wanted to be together wherever we go. We talked about life and the game and just became really close.


Now that you’re finally on Team Liquid together, how do you feel?


Erick - “I’m extremely honored. Anyone that’s competing would love to be on Liquid. They’re on the top of every game. I want to bring another championship to the trophy case.”

Kanario - “I’m also very proud to be a part of Liquid. I feel really good to be here because it’s an organization with a winning mentality.”


Now you both have been in LA for four days. How do you like the Alienware Training Facility?


Kanario - “I love it. I’m very impressed by the whole space. I really like training here.”

Erick - “I love it, too. It’s a huge step up from every other team. We’re able to have everyone here, and it’s a nice space to train.”


What have you been doing the past few days?


Erick - “Getting settled in at the apartments and we already started scrimming since the day we all got here. Even on the weekend. we actually played an online tournament and we won.”

That’s awesome. It sounds like the team is ready for CRL. How does the team get ready for a tournament?

Erick - “When it comes to practices, I make sure to get scrims set up against teams in other regions. We don’t want to reveal anything in-region. I also meet with our analyst to go over what other teams may be using, their strategies. We want to prepare everyone mentally as well.”


How do you do that?


Erick - “Basically getting their mindset right. If they lose, I let them know they were small mistakes. They could be fixed. That they’re a lot better than what the match shows. We want them to always confident.”


As a player, how do you prepare for a tournament like CRL?


Kanario - “I like to just put in a lot of hours. Even after we scrim, I’ll come home and play individually to make sure it’s all perfect.”


What is it about Clash Royale that has kept you passionate about it all these years?


Erick - “I’ve been competing since the game’s launch three years ago. I just love the one-on-one competitive style. It’s just about strategy. Learning from your mistakes. There’s always improvement.”

Kanario - “I got into Clash Royale because of my friends. They told me about the game when it came out three years ago. I saw the pro scene, and I kept practicing. I still enjoy it, like I did back in day one. There’s so many updates. It keeps me motivated to get better and better.”


How have you liked Los Angeles so far?


Erick - “I’m originally from Venezuela, and I’ve been living in Miami. Then I came to LA. I really like it. I’ve loved LA since last season .It’s an upgraded Miami, in my opinion!”

Kanario - “I’ve always wanted to come to LA. I’m really impressed by the structures and the technology here.”


What are you looking forward to doing when you’re not winning tournaments?


Erick - “I just like going out and seeing all the nature. The beaches. The mountains. The hikes.”

Kanario - “I want to see the monuments and all the famous places where people usually go, as well as the beaches.”