Farewell, PUBG!

This is a bittersweet post for Team Liquid, as we're announcing the end of our time in PUBG esports. We know this may come as a surprise, given our roster's scheduled appearance in PCS7 this September but we've spoken with the players. Both the team and staff knew this was coming since August 4th (and knew it was a possibility since January). The team will still compete in this event, but looking beyond the PCS7, the landscape of PUBG esports has shifted in a direction that we cannot follow.

As an organization and esports team, we’re governed by the financial realities of the scene, and as this industry grows it also changes. Those changes - in esports, business, and even international marketplaces - mean that we have to exit PUBG. We’ve been in PUBG for 5 years, dating all the way back to the days when the Battle Royale was untested, unproven, and routinely doubted. In that time, we worked with players, fans, casters, and others to build a beautiful community within this title and we take no joy in leaving it.

That’s the bitter end of why we’re here. The sweet side is that we’ve had 5 years of great times and achievements with our PUBG team. 5 years truly worth celebrating. With so many adventures and events under our belts, we want to walk through Liquid’s time in PUBG and send this squad off on a high note as they look towards their own futures. And we want to speak directly to the community through letters written by the people in Liquid who fought hard for PUBG and still love it to this day. Last, but not least, we’ll say goodbye with some favorite moments selected by the community members that kept us in PUBG all this time.

Thinking Back and Looking Forward

Team Liquid entered the PUBG ecosystem in 2017 with a roster of Ollywood, MOLNMAN, Hayz, and Scoom. At this point, the battle royale was more streaming phenomenon than esport, but TL saw an opportunity to give the new talent (and new format) a shot, and so the roster was formed. They made their debut at an event at Gamescom, and the rest was history.

In 2018, the squad had a great showing in the newly formed competitive scene, thanks to the addition of Ibiza and his 200 IQ plays. They took second place in both first and third person events at that year's PUBG Global Invitational, and first at both the StarSeries & i-League PUBG Season 2, as well as the Polaris Series.

When coach Tanner “7Teen” Curtis joined the squad in 2019, they all moved to a team house in Berlin, Germany to participate in the European PUBG League – which was broadly considered to be the most competitive region at the time. 7Teen has many fond memories of spending time with the team in their Berlin house.

"We had a lot of fun living in the team house in Berlin, throughout 2019," 7Teen said. "Lots of walks to döner [kebabs] and late nights playing music and watching Game of Thrones in the living room."

This was the first time some of the guys were living without parental supervision, so they had a lot to adapt to, living in a new country on their own. This led to hiccups even when it came to simple things like navigating public transportation.

Living and playing together paid off competitively speaking and helped TL to start strong in 2019. They won that year's Kickoff Cup in dominant fashion after coming off their previous out-of-town tournament in third place.

"We just absolutely stomped everyone," 7Teen said of the event. "We knew that it was our time to go. That week, there was this feeling that we were just going to dominate everyone. And we did."

That night at their house in Berlin, the squad celebrated their win. It was this night 7Teen remembers as the one that solidified them all as more than just teammates, but friends. It was also the last big victory they'd share in 2019. They managed to place third and then second in that year's PEL Phase 2 and 3, respectively, but couldn't keep that momentum going into the Global Championship in Los Angeles. Team Liquid didn't even make it out of the first round of this event, their worst tournament performance to date.

The entire world changed in 2020, and so our squad also had to adjust to our new reality. Everything to do with the game went fully online again, the team had several roster changes, and 7Teen was in the United States while the team members were all in Europe. But despite these changes and challenges, Team Liquid did their best to rise to the occasion.

"It was still a good time," 7Teen said. "It was much different because we weren't in person. But we really made strides to become a better team."

These strides included building up strength within the new roster. During their time in Europe, the Team Liquid squad had a fierce but friendly rivalry with FaZe Clan that continued throughout their tenure. One of FaZe's former players, mxey, joined TL in 2020 and became a core member of the ever-evolving team. With him in their ranks, Team Liquid took 3 consecutive second place spots in that year's PUBG Continental Series: Europe 2 through 4.

FaZe often had the upper hand in this years-long war of attrition, but our squad always put up a good fight. During the third phase of PEL 2019, 7Teen spent the entire night before prepping strategies to help his team get the upper hand on their rivals and didn't sleep a wink. They were already guaranteed second, but the coach was hungry to finally beat FaZe.

"We didn't, by the way," 7Teen said. "But we tried, we gave our best effort. And we gave the fans some really exciting moments of us, you know, hard dropping on them, or literally knowing exactly what route they were going to do and following them for one of the last games, just right on their heels the whole time trying to take them out."

(Team Liquid bridge camps FaZe in an act of defiance against their rivals.)

With COVID-19 restrictions easing up a bit the following year, Team Liquid PUBG made their way to Korea to compete in multiple events. The quarantine was "hellish," according to 7Teen, but the overall experience was more than worthwhile. TL managed to qualify for the finals of PGI that year during the last game, despite losing a player in the middle of the game and having to navigate multiple unfavorable circles.

"But [the team] was just like the train that couldn't be stopped," 7Teen said. "And it's just – it was an incredible moment in PUBG's history."

Every iteration of Team Liquid's PUBG squad has been fighters, that much is clear. Despite ups and downs, bumps in the road, and world-altering changes, this team has always given their all to improve and become the best they could be. As an org we tried to match that spirit, fighting to stay in PUBG for as long as we could, but eventually we hit our 16th round. With or without us, we know these players will take their dedication, fighting spirit, and love for the game with them in their future endeavors, and we wish them every success. No more silver medals, only gold.

A letter from Steve “LiQuiD112” Arhancet:

Dear PUBG community,

I'll start off by saying I'm not enjoying anything about writing this letter to all the fans that followed our team and players over the years. The amount of heart I have for our players over the last 5 years compares to the heart I have for League of Legends - the place where it all started for me. PUBG is a game I completely fell in love with - both as a spectator and a player.

There were so many good times! From the OG squad with olly, Molnman, Hayz, Scoom (for a laugh click on this link!) and then with ibi, Jembty, Sambty, then to Kaymind and later to mxey, vard and clib - and of course there’s Fuzz, competing against him and then having him coach the team! I spent so many nights with Tanner too, planning out our participation in Berlin and watching him grow within the TL organization. It’s awesome to see him working with so many of our other teams now.

But, most of all -- I freaking loved seeing our emotes being spammed in chat while our team played.

I saw so much love for our players and the team and I want to return that love to everyone who supported us as we competed. We've had some great highs, winning some big events - by the way, the trophy we have at the AWTF-EU is one of the coolest trophies I’ve seen - and of course the lows. The WAY too many 2nd places over the years.

With a love for the game, a love for the squad and a love for the fans - I couldn't ask for more from our time in PUBG and I wish we could stay longer. Unfortunately, the current economics of PUBG mean that we can’t do right by the league, the players, and the standards we hold for ourselves in the games we compete in. Perhaps there will be a day when we can come back, but for now we'll always be there in spirit and us leaving now doesn't take anything away from all the amazing memories over the last 5 years.

~ Steve “Liquid112” Arhancet

A letter from Jim "jeemzz" Eliassen:

A letter from Jord "ibiza" Geldere

A letter from Keiron "Scoom" Prescott

A letter from Frederik “Gulden” van Guldener:

A letter from Tanner “7Teen” Curtis:

Fan favorite moments

One of my personal favorite moments was jembty back in 2019 during GLL with his spray triple kill after jumping down from a balcony. jimbo's reaction was priceless too during that moment.

~Erika

My favorite moment goes back to 2018 when ibi was jumping off a cliff to get the final kill and win a game in phase 9. It was such a nice and impressive play. I haven't really seen anything like it and still remember it like it was yesterday.

~Canelleke

A video from the broadcast perspective

A video from the team's perspective

The big favorite moment of mine was the 16th game of weekly survival, week 6 of PGI.S, no doubt. I still shiver when rewatching it, probably the most emotional moment of mine in the entire time I’ve watched PUBG Esports

~Fergard

And to leave off, here are some behind-the-scenes moments, captured by Gulden - a folder of memories from the golden age:

Click Here