Team Liquid has announced the additions of Nikita ‘trexx’ Cherednichenko and Kimmie ‘Kicks’ Laasner to its Valorant roster ahead of VCT EMEA Stage 2.
The signings follow Wayne ‘wayne’ Chang and Dominykas ‘MiniBoo’ Lukaševičius’s voluntary benchings, which reduced Liquid’s active roster to just three players as Stage 2 loomed.
trexx returns to Liquid as Kicks reunites with former teammate
trexx rejoins Liquid only eight months after leaving the active roster. The Russian helped Liquid to a remarkable VCT 2025 EMEA Stage 2 victory last August, but a disappointing Champions run saw the end of his stint in the active roster.
trexx reunites not only with Liquid, but also with his former Vitality teammate Kicks, who is now promoted from the Team Liquid Academy.
Kicks and trexx managed runner-up at VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 2 and fourth place at Valorant Masters Bangkok, as well as a split victory at VCT 2025 EMEA Kickoff.
While the players themselves will have a natural understanding from playing together, the task to add them to the existing roster may prove more difficult.
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Fans have already expressed concerns surrounding the roles on the roster after the addition of the Initiator-leaning duo. For Liquid, that will have to be the source of quick internal decision-making after the rush to secure any player before the season begins.
Liquid suffered a highly disrupted off-season, which saw wayne and MiniBoo choose to step away from the active roster. With that in mind, a perfect solution to the roster’s roles and synergy may not have been possible.
So it is now for IGL Ayaz ‘nAt’s Akhmetshin to form his team into a workable roster, with Kamil ‘kamo’ Frąckowiak and Semyon ‘purp0’ Borchev expected to step up in responsibility.
Regardless, Liquid’s chance to qualify for Valorant Champions Shanghai is on the line in VCT EMEA Stage 2. The org currently sit joint fifth in the VCT points standing, needing a strong result in the split to make the most important tournament of the calendar.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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