Twistzz: 2020 has been mentally hard

The Canadian superstar gives his insight into the difficult situation Covid-19 brought with it.

2020-11-28 | @PleyTB

Liquid overcame their first European battle since IEM Katowice in February, when they took down MAD Lions 2-1 a few days ago. It hasn’t been the only thing Liquid has been battling the last period of time. Liquid’s 2020 has been turned upside down following Covid-19 and the consequences a global pandemic brings with it.

We have talked with Liquid’s star player Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken about how he and the rest of Liquid have coped with this unmanageable situation and what severe implications as being put in lockdown and not be able to travel has meant for the North American team.

“As for the team situation I think the constant train of bad news and having to always play the same teams online constantly with Naf and I having 70+ ping from Canada has damaged us as a team. Looking at the teams in our region we really should have been the favorites this year and if things continued on LAN like they usually do, I think we would be a top 5 team still easily.”

Watch the Canadian headshot machine in action.

The 21-year old rifler further explains how this situation has changed the life of a professional CS player by altering vital personal aspects of the game.

“I think the stuff that nobody really sees is how hard this year has been mentally more than anything, every athlete has a routine and the same thing goes for us, due to gyms closing on and off throughout the year or areas just not being as safe as others. I was personally affected negatively not being able to maintain the healthy form that I was in pre-covid, once you add stress or any other life issues to that on top of the team environment/energy depleting, life completely changes. “

However, the Canadian superstar is thrilled to be back in Europe and looks forward competing against EU teams once again.

“On a more positive take, after being in NA for so long only playing the teams available to us, it really does feel amazing to be in Europe at the moment and having the opportunity again to play against these team.”

The star-studded NA team will in the coming days compete in the two prominent events in BLAST Premier Fall Showdown and DreamHack Master Winter where they will try to regain some of the lost grounds.

Their next game is the thrilling quarterfinal matchup between MIBR in BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, today at 16:30 (CET)