Some of the best CS2 teams are making transfer moves ahead of the upcoming Major cutoff, with G2 and Liquid completing a swap deal involving two of their stars.
Guy “NertZ” Iluz will now be part of G2’s international project, while Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa returns to North America to play for Liquid.
Both players have underperformed relative to their expectations in recent months, so a change of scenery might be a sensible choice for both parties.
Here’s what we think about the move.
By joining G2, NertZ is reuniting with his former ENCE teammate Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia and one of the best CS2 coaches, Eetu “sAw” Saha. It was during his time in ENCE that he made a name for himself with his space-taking skills and late-round clutching abilities.
The Israeli’s time on Liquid wasn’t as fruitful as his ENCE stint, and his individual play was also not up to par. Hopefully, a change of scenery and working with sAw again will reignite that flame, and NertZ will be back to his best wearing a G2 jersey.
In order to play the Major with their new roster, G2 need to play at least five LAN games before the Major cutoff with their new lineup. That’s why they have registered for a couple of tier 2 upcoming CS2 events, including BC.Game Masters Championship and Stake Ranked Episode 1.
G2 now are:
malbsMd is back on NA soil with Liquid. Credit: © Liquid
Fans were mad at Liquid when they missed out on malbsMd the first time around, when he left M80 to join G2. Thankfully, after a couple of years’ wait, they managed to secure his signature.
The Guatemalan rifler made waves when he first joined G2 in 2024, quickly becoming one of the best CS2 players. However, since then, he hasn’t been able to find his mojo as one of the stars of G2’s young lineup.
Returning to NA and a change of scenery should do him a world of good, similar to what we predict will happen with NertZ. Another benefit of his addition to Liquid is that they are now back to being an NA team, which should help them qualify for the upcoming Major.
This new Liquid roster is not perfect, but signing malbsMd is a great step towards redemption for the organization.
Liquid now are:
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Featured image source: © G2
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