Twistzz: I had the final say in this rebuild
In a big interview with Pley.gg, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken discusses his "inevitable" transition to the IGL role, his pivotal role in rebuilding the new Liquid, and the arrival of ultimate and jks.
After a tumultuous and disappointing season, the North Americans from Liquid took the consequences and ditched their otherwise ambitious project this off-season. cadiaN, skullz, and head coach zews all went out the door to make room for fresh, new faces.
Now, leading the team will be the newly-appointed in-game leader, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, whom the Dutch organization trusted with the big responsibility of rebuilding the squad. We have had the chance to speak at length with Twistzz about becoming an IGL and the whole remodelling process coming into the new season.
- To be honest, it sounds funnier when people say it to me, Twistzz says when asked about his new reality of now being an IGL.
- I feel like it was kind of inevitable for me to become an in-game leader. It was already lingering in my mind at the end of 2023, and I knew it was the direction I wanted to go down at some point. But I didn't expect it to happen so soon. But obviously, the captain discussion had been one that was had before any of the changes were made.
Would Probably Have Happened in FaZe as Well
When speaking on the matter of transitioning into an IGL, Twistzz explained that he doesn’t think it would have changed the overall direction if he had decided to stay at FaZe or joined another team.
- I just felt like down the line, depending on whatever happened in the FaZe camp in the future, if I stayed there for two or three years, I probably would have become the captain at some point. I feel like the other option I had before joining Liquid; I think down the road it also would have happened, so I just feel like all the roads kind of led to this direction for me.
From the outside viewer, this move may seem like a massive change and maybe some kind of a risk for Twistzz and Liquid, considering the individual firepower that the Canadian rifler brings to the table.
However, that may not be the case for the man in question.
- I was already doing a lot of the, I guess, captain work, Twistzz explains.
- I was already very vocal in-game as a mid-round caller, communicating a lot for others and myself. Me and YEKINDAR also had a lot to do with trying to get people on the same page last season, trying to figure out the system, and also doing a lot of work on our CT sides. I also did pistols last season, so in some ways, there were a lot of things I was doing already, and I just feel like logically it makes the most sense to have your most experienced player be the captain.
So, in a way, this is not that big of a step for you?
- No, I think for YEKINDAR and NAF, they knew how I was communicating and what I was bringing to the team already. I think for jks - I mean, jks has played with me before, so maybe that could have been a weird transition for him. Ultimate seems to be happy and feels comfortable with what I’m creating. So yeah, it's not the biggest change I think for myself.
But taking on the captain duties does not come without cost, and Twistzz also acknowledges that there will be more weight on his shoulders going forward.
- Being the captain, there comes more responsibility and potential scrutiny in the future for whatever. But I understand that captains are kind of the face of the team. And when things are not going so well, it's also the ones who are criticized the most, but honestly, I’m taking it step by step, day by day.
cadiaN, zews and skullz only lasted six months in the Liquid jersey - Photo credit: PGL
Getting the Keys to the Kingdom
For the second season in a row, Liquid was bound to restructure the majority of its roster. As mentioned, Casper “cadiaN” Møller, Felipe “skullz” Medeiros, and Wilton “zews” Prado were shipped off.
Instead, the experienced lurker Justin “jks” Savage was brought in alongside the rather unknown AWPer Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak.
The man drawing up the construction plan and setting the future direction was Twistzz, he confirms to Pley.gg. Discussing the rebuild, it’s clear to see that Twistzz has been given the keys to the kingdom by the organization.
- At the end of the day, I did have the final say in this rebuild(...) obviously, in an organization you have boundaries and limits you have to work within. Liquid has given me a lot of trust and believed in the scouting that I've done. I spent a lot of time in the player break watching demos.
- I had calls with every player that we were looking at. To be honest, the list was not really that long because me being the captain, I knew what I was looking for already. But yeah, multiple talks with our manager, multiple talks with the same players, talking through things – and yeah, that was pretty much how my player break went: calls and demo watching. Luckily, I had some help from past analysts that I've worked with in terms of scouting. One of the names I was given was ultimate. I was very happy to start looking through all of his FACEIT demos in the prior weeks and follow his matches that he was playing with Illuminar at the time, where I was very pleased with what I was seeing, Twistzz says and continues:
- I already had a plan to fill a more aggressive role within the team. Finding a player that can kind of bridge the aggressiveness… I narrowed it down to an aggressive AWPer that has a kind of flash to them, which I found in ultimate. He also has a good work ethic and is a humble, confident kid, very smart.
jks Joining the Troops
Twistzz also touched on the signing of jks, for whom he had a lot of praising words.
- He’s been waiting for the right offer, to be in a team environment that he knows he'll want to be in. I think it's fair that he waits so long for the right decision. I've played with him before. Obviously, only one event together, but that was a damn good event, Twistzz says, referring to FaZe’s trophy run at IEM Katowice 2022, where jks stood in for Robin “ropz” Kool.
- I knew that in karrigan’s system, he was very adaptive, and he understands that he has more responsibilities on his plate and he's living up to it already. So far, his work ethic has been stellar and I feel like he and ultimate fit very well into the team atmosphere and what I'm trying to build here.
Has it been important for you to find players that have this work ethic?
- Yes, it has been an extra focus. I feel like when people are not working… if they don't want to be in the practice room or whatever, practicing, doing things with the team, talking to them, then they must not be enjoying what they're doing. And so far with this team, I feel like every second that I know people in the practice room, they're there to improve themselves and improve everyone around them and have fun while doing it.
Were you also a part of the decision-making of picking mithR as the head coach?
- Yeah of course. I feel like a captain should have the responsibility of who they work the closest with and the coach and captain are supposed to be kind of glued to each other, so I want to make sure that I’m having the right person by my side. And with mithR I feel like I’ve made the right decision.
Not Built to Contend for Titles from the Get-Go
When asked about whether or not this team was made to show results and compete for titles right now, Twistzz gave a clear answer on his perspectives.
- It's a long-term project of course. That's the whole point of picking up a young AWPer in ultimate, and jks is kind of that player, who will age like wine. But everyone shares the vision that we're in it for the longer run. You know, winning teams are not built overnight, I also took a year of losing on FaZe until we made the right move. But I'm taking pride in trying to help the org get back to winning ways.
Twistzz will make his debut as the captain of Liquid this Wednesday when the new-look squad is set to kick off the second of 2024. The first test will be at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, where they will fight for a spot in the prominent Fall Final later this year. Virtus.pro is the matchup in the opening round, and that match is set to bed played 19:30 this evening.
