Our New Approach to Clash Royale
February 17 2021
There’s no way around it: Clash Royale has changed and will keep changing.
This means Team Liquid has to adjust as well. In response to the recent changes made to the CRL, we’ll be scaling back our involvement in the Clash Royale League - and in competitive Clash Royale as a whole - in 2021. This was a tough decision to make but a necessary one given the new landscape the CRL will take on this year.
Don’t worry, we’re still going to be a part of the Clash Royale community going forward. We still plan to enter and to host tournaments but we’re changing our focus from competition to content creation.
We think that the changes made to CRL in 2021 reduce the benefits esports organizations and their players can get from tournaments. However, we still believe in Clash Royale as a game and a community. While we will focus on content, we’ll still be competing and hosting tournaments as well, only with a smaller roster.
What we’re changing
On that note, Razzer and coach Erick will be leaving our Clash roster in 2021 but that makes us no less proud of their achievements and the work they’ve put into the game. We’d like to thank Razzer for bringing his long-underrated talents to TL and coach Erick for using his knowledge and experience to help our team grow.
Because we’re shifting to content creation, we’ll also be saying goodbye to our academy team. We were more than happy to grow talent in the CRL and help up and coming players make a name for themselves. We take as much pride in our academy team as we do in the main roster that won us 5 premier titles in 2019.
Finally, several of our players will go down new paths too. Kanario is sticking with Clash Royale but will now focus more towards content creation and less on competition. You’ll still be able to see more of his world champion caliber gameplay (and maybe his wonderful cats) on his stream and YouTube channel.
Surgical Goblin will move towards content creation and specifically, Fortnite. For those following Surgical Goblin closely, this will come as no surprise. Towards the tail end of 2020, Surgical Goblin naturally lost interest in Clash Royale and began his Fortnite career.
Though he’s moving to a new game, we fully believe in his talent as a player and charisma as a creator. If you’re a Surgical Goblin fan, you can help him transition to Fornite by catching his streams and watching his highlights.
Last, and certainly not least, Egor will keep the competitive spirit alive. Expect to see more from him in the CRL’s upcoming tournaments and the ranked ladder too! We’re happy to help Egor continue his competitive career and prove himself in the new format.
Thinking back and looking forward
As we change our approach to Clash Royale, we want to thank the community for supporting us and all the players that have been on our roster - past and present. When we entered Clash Royale in late 2017, we never could have expected the incredible success and storylines that we encountered.
Clash Royale represents not only Team Liquid’s first step into mobile gaming but also one of the organization’s richest histories.We went from 2-4 in the regular season - a game away from elimination - all the way to winning the whole thing. We fought the closest battle that competitive Clash Royale has ever seen, against another historically great team in SK.
We’ve had the privilege of working with some of the game’s all-time greats for three years now. In the process, we created a dynasty. 2019 in particular was our golden age - the year where we won 95.07% of the prize money in the CRL.
So we won’t be leaving that history behind. We still have over 40 top clans worldwide and we will still host competitive events, but we’ll adjust as the Clash Royale adjusts. We hope that everyone in the community understands and we hope to still see all of you on Twitch, YouTube, Liquid+, and Discord.
A letter from Surgical Goblin:
Dear Clash Royale community,
My general experience looking back at CRL has been incredible. I am super grateful for all the support of our fans but even more grateful for the opportunity Team Liquid has given us and to my amazing teammates. I always had a dream which was making it to a world finals and we made that come true by winning it. My plans for the future will be mainly focusing on Twitch content. I have been mainly streaming Fortnite but I am starting to play and stream Clash Royale casually again.
~Frank “Surgical Goblin” Oskam
A letter from Steve:
Dear Clash Royale community,
We will always be a fan of Clash Royale and as the industry adjusts, we adjust too. We’ll continue to support our many tournaments and events within discord, we’ll continue to support our players as they compete in the new formats. I would like to thank Razzer and Erick, for their time, contributions and championships. We wish you both the best of luck. I also wanted to thank the fans for their continued support of Team Liquid and our remaining Clash Royale players.
~Steve “LiQuiD112” Arhancet
A letter from Erick:
Dear Clash Royale community
Although this is a sad announcement, I can only look back on CRL with a smile. On day one I promised John, Steve and Victor we would bring home a world championship and that is exactly what we did. We created more than a team and we were able to travel around the world to compete and represent the best org in the industry.
Moving forward I have taken the hardest decision I could, I will be going solo, I will be creating content as well as being a caster for CRL 2021.
These 2 years on Liquid were the best I could ever ask for, I want to thank the fans for always cheering us on, and most of all Steve John Victor and all of Liquid. You bet on mobile the way no one would, and gave us the best experience. I know one day I’ll be back but until then I’ll be cheering from the sidelines. #LetsgoLiquid
~Erick “EB7” Benamu
A letter from FullFrontage:
Dear Clash Royale community,
With CRL shifting to a single player focus and no longer having a pro “team,” it is with great sadness that the academy project in CR will be paused. I started my journey at Team Liquid as the academy manager and over time, my list of responsibilities grew.
Academy could not have been what it was without the help of the amazing regional managers that we have had throughout our journey. Fang, J0N, Polar Light, Amin, Sasuke, Noyker, BioHazard, WhatACheesyName and many more supporting staff and players who were dedicated to improving. To our No Tilt and CCS staff Manu, Corona, Guacho, HanSolo and Davico and all the players we’ve had. Every player we’ve worked with had the potential to be something special, we wanted to showcase that talent in the best way we could.
With all that said, we aren’t done! Our focus will be to continue to help showcase talent but instead of doing that through an academy, we will be dedicating our resources to focus on Liquid Clash League! Liquid Clash League will happen more frequently to help players prepare as best as they can for CRL 2021. We will be finishing our team league in LCL and from there, it will be shifting to a solo player league.
If you have any suggestions for us on what Team Liquid can do to help the CR community, I’m all ears! Make sure to follow us on Twitter @TeamLiquid and join our Clash Royale discord (discord.gg/tlclashroyale) for more updates & information! #LetsGoLiquid
~Nick “FullFrontage” Charles
This means Team Liquid has to adjust as well. In response to the recent changes made to the CRL, we’ll be scaling back our involvement in the Clash Royale League - and in competitive Clash Royale as a whole - in 2021. This was a tough decision to make but a necessary one given the new landscape the CRL will take on this year.
Don’t worry, we’re still going to be a part of the Clash Royale community going forward. We still plan to enter and to host tournaments but we’re changing our focus from competition to content creation.
We think that the changes made to CRL in 2021 reduce the benefits esports organizations and their players can get from tournaments. However, we still believe in Clash Royale as a game and a community. While we will focus on content, we’ll still be competing and hosting tournaments as well, only with a smaller roster.
What we’re changing
On that note, Razzer and coach Erick will be leaving our Clash roster in 2021 but that makes us no less proud of their achievements and the work they’ve put into the game. We’d like to thank Razzer for bringing his long-underrated talents to TL and coach Erick for using his knowledge and experience to help our team grow.
Because we’re shifting to content creation, we’ll also be saying goodbye to our academy team. We were more than happy to grow talent in the CRL and help up and coming players make a name for themselves. We take as much pride in our academy team as we do in the main roster that won us 5 premier titles in 2019.
Finally, several of our players will go down new paths too. Kanario is sticking with Clash Royale but will now focus more towards content creation and less on competition. You’ll still be able to see more of his world champion caliber gameplay (and maybe his wonderful cats) on his stream and YouTube channel.
Surgical Goblin will move towards content creation and specifically, Fortnite. For those following Surgical Goblin closely, this will come as no surprise. Towards the tail end of 2020, Surgical Goblin naturally lost interest in Clash Royale and began his Fortnite career.
Though he’s moving to a new game, we fully believe in his talent as a player and charisma as a creator. If you’re a Surgical Goblin fan, you can help him transition to Fornite by catching his streams and watching his highlights.
Last, and certainly not least, Egor will keep the competitive spirit alive. Expect to see more from him in the CRL’s upcoming tournaments and the ranked ladder too! We’re happy to help Egor continue his competitive career and prove himself in the new format.
Thinking back and looking forward
As we change our approach to Clash Royale, we want to thank the community for supporting us and all the players that have been on our roster - past and present. When we entered Clash Royale in late 2017, we never could have expected the incredible success and storylines that we encountered.
Clash Royale represents not only Team Liquid’s first step into mobile gaming but also one of the organization’s richest histories.We went from 2-4 in the regular season - a game away from elimination - all the way to winning the whole thing. We fought the closest battle that competitive Clash Royale has ever seen, against another historically great team in SK.
We’ve had the privilege of working with some of the game’s all-time greats for three years now. In the process, we created a dynasty. 2019 in particular was our golden age - the year where we won 95.07% of the prize money in the CRL.
So we won’t be leaving that history behind. We still have over 40 top clans worldwide and we will still host competitive events, but we’ll adjust as the Clash Royale adjusts. We hope that everyone in the community understands and we hope to still see all of you on Twitch, YouTube, Liquid+, and Discord.
A letter from Surgical Goblin:
Dear Clash Royale community,
My general experience looking back at CRL has been incredible. I am super grateful for all the support of our fans but even more grateful for the opportunity Team Liquid has given us and to my amazing teammates. I always had a dream which was making it to a world finals and we made that come true by winning it. My plans for the future will be mainly focusing on Twitch content. I have been mainly streaming Fortnite but I am starting to play and stream Clash Royale casually again.
~Frank “Surgical Goblin” Oskam
A letter from Steve:
Dear Clash Royale community,
We will always be a fan of Clash Royale and as the industry adjusts, we adjust too. We’ll continue to support our many tournaments and events within discord, we’ll continue to support our players as they compete in the new formats. I would like to thank Razzer and Erick, for their time, contributions and championships. We wish you both the best of luck. I also wanted to thank the fans for their continued support of Team Liquid and our remaining Clash Royale players.
~Steve “LiQuiD112” Arhancet
A letter from Erick:
Dear Clash Royale community
Although this is a sad announcement, I can only look back on CRL with a smile. On day one I promised John, Steve and Victor we would bring home a world championship and that is exactly what we did. We created more than a team and we were able to travel around the world to compete and represent the best org in the industry.
Moving forward I have taken the hardest decision I could, I will be going solo, I will be creating content as well as being a caster for CRL 2021.
These 2 years on Liquid were the best I could ever ask for, I want to thank the fans for always cheering us on, and most of all Steve John Victor and all of Liquid. You bet on mobile the way no one would, and gave us the best experience. I know one day I’ll be back but until then I’ll be cheering from the sidelines. #LetsgoLiquid
~Erick “EB7” Benamu
A letter from FullFrontage:
Dear Clash Royale community,
With CRL shifting to a single player focus and no longer having a pro “team,” it is with great sadness that the academy project in CR will be paused. I started my journey at Team Liquid as the academy manager and over time, my list of responsibilities grew.
Academy could not have been what it was without the help of the amazing regional managers that we have had throughout our journey. Fang, J0N, Polar Light, Amin, Sasuke, Noyker, BioHazard, WhatACheesyName and many more supporting staff and players who were dedicated to improving. To our No Tilt and CCS staff Manu, Corona, Guacho, HanSolo and Davico and all the players we’ve had. Every player we’ve worked with had the potential to be something special, we wanted to showcase that talent in the best way we could.
With all that said, we aren’t done! Our focus will be to continue to help showcase talent but instead of doing that through an academy, we will be dedicating our resources to focus on Liquid Clash League! Liquid Clash League will happen more frequently to help players prepare as best as they can for CRL 2021. We will be finishing our team league in LCL and from there, it will be shifting to a solo player league.
If you have any suggestions for us on what Team Liquid can do to help the CR community, I’m all ears! Make sure to follow us on Twitter @TeamLiquid and join our Clash Royale discord (discord.gg/tlclashroyale) for more updates & information! #LetsGoLiquid
~Nick “FullFrontage” Charles