Team Liquid star and major winner Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip didn’t take too kindly to comments from Envy in-game leader Noah ‘Nifty’ Francis, about the Liquid’s status and commitment to winning.
Team Liquid hasn’t even clashed with the new Team Envy roster yet, and already a rivalry is brewing between the two North American teams on the backs of their star players.
This began with an interview segment from Rivalry, during which Nifty was asked to list various things in CS:GO as overrated or underrated. On the topic of Team Liquid, he bet on the over.
“I would say Liquid is overrated. They’re a great team when they want to be. They struggle with their own problems outside the team, it’s really tough to have a roster like that and perform well together cohesively all the time. They have to leave their egos at the door.”
Nifty’s sentiments weren’t completely negative, however, saying they “obviously have the ability to be the greatest NA roster of all time.”
Section about Team Liquid starts at 0:31
But Team Liquid’s Stewie2k didn’t focus on the positives when he delivered his reply. He suggested his Nifty was ‘speaking out of his ass’, and that he ought to look in the mirror.
Lol sounds like you’re speaking out of your ass about us. Doesn’t make sense that we don’t wanna be the best ??. We understand the meaning of being teammates aka leaving egos out the door. Look yourself in the mirror
— Jake (@Stewie) February 19, 2020
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Stewie took offense to Nifty’s claim that Liquid aren’t always trying to be the best, saying it “doesn’t make sense.” He acknowledged that each player does think highly of themselves, but that being teammates and checking egos is more important, advising the Envy captain to consider the advice for himself.
Stewie’s last words appear to be a nod to the drama surrounding the Team Envy roster from January, when Jacob ‘FugLy’ Medina took to Twitter about his benching situation. That situation included a story about supposedly Nifty cutting a player after finding out the rest of the team apparently wanted to drop him.
Stewie has never been shy with his opinion in the past, and fellow former Cloud9 player Oscar ‘Mixwell’ Cañellas remarked that he knew he would reply as soon as he saw it.
When I saw the video I was thinking, Stew will reply to this. ?
— Oscar Cañellas (@Mixwell) February 19, 2020
For fans hoping to see this rivalry culminate in a match between the two rosters, they may have to wait some time, but there’s a possibility these teams meet on a massive stage.
Envy qualified for the closed qualifier for the Americas Minor, and if they finish top two at the Minor, they make the Challengers Stage of the ESL Rio major.
If these two teams eventually meet, both sides will certainly have something to prove, and the players will likely have something to say when the dust settles.