TACO sneaks onto Liquid's ESEA roster
With rumors of Epitacio "TACO" de Melo trialing for Liquid surfacing last week, the player has now appeared on the team's ESEA roster, adding further credence to the reports. While no announcement has been made by the organization, it is likely that TACO will replace Lucas "steel" Lopes on the team's roster as they prepare to take on NRG tomorrow.
While it is possible that other players on the roster may see themselves replaced, steel is the most likely candidate as the removal of Nick "nitr0" Cannella, Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski, or Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken would result in the team losing their slot at the Major. Keith "NAF" Markovic's removal is almost out of question as his performance in recent months has demonstrated his potential to be one of the best players in the world, leaving steel as the most likely candidate.
TACO joining Liquid is the latest in a series of roster developments that began with SK searching for a replacement for him and Ricardo "boltz" Prass on their squad. SK orginally aimed to pick up Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and Egor "flamie" Vasilyev to fill these vacancies, but the deal fell through at the last minute, resulting in the — possibly temporary — pickup of Cloud9's Jake "Stewie2k" Yip.
If these changes are indeed as hypothesized, steel will once again be left searching for a home, with his future uncertain. SK seem content to play with Stewie2k for now, and will likely wait until July if they hope to once again attempt to add s1mple. This leaves steel with few options for a top tier team going forward.
Liquid currently sit at a 13-1 record in ESL's Pro League, claiming the #1 slot in the North American division of the league. Their ECS record sees them at 3-3, with NRG current sitting at #1 with a flawless 12-0 run.
