Israeli star turned down Liquid

Dust2.us has learned that OG star Shahar "flameZ" Shushan was previously in talks with Liquid, but they appear to have broken down as flameZ is seemingly set to sign with Vitality. This largely shut down Liquid's chances of securing the Israeli rifler, an extra valuable prospect considering Liquid's reported transition to Europe. Liquid have since moved beyond negotiating with the rifler as they have pivoted to both Robert "Patsi" Isyanov and Aleks "Rainwaker" Petrov, the latter being a mostly unknown player out of Bulgaria.

Liquid's attempts to acquire flameZ comes after a breakout period for the young Israeli star, having put up strong performances on OG despite a tenuous situation for the European organization. flameZ currently boasts a 1.11 rating over 101 maps in 2023, notably posting a 1.07 rating at IEM Dallas, leading OG to a 7th-8th place finish.

With flameZ deciding against Liquid, it appears he has now shifted his sights to linking with Vitality. A report by BLIX suggests that the Israeli rifler will be slotting in for the place of Danish veteran Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen, an interesting move considering the squad's recent success at the BLAST.tv Paris Major as well as IEM Rio. A potential motivator for flameZ would be the ability to play on a tier one team with a fellow Israeli player, Lotan "Spinx" Giladi, something never seen in top flight Counter-Strike.

Should Liquid continue with their plan to pivot to an EU core, their roster would be:

• Keith "NAF" Markovic

• Josh "oSee" Ohm

• Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis

• Robert "Patsi" Isyanov

• Aleks "Rainwaker" Petrov

• Damian "daps" Steele (Coach)