Team Liquid

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The website was released on May 1, 2001, by Victor "Nazgul" Goossens and Joy "Meat" Hoogeveen under the domain teamliquid.cjb.net. On September 22, 2002, the website was moved to the address of teamliquid.net. A day later the very first poll was posted as a vote for the website's name with the teamliquid.net name winning over other suggestions such as likwit.com. On April 5, 2019, it was announced that the website would be moving to the domain tl.net, with teamliquid.net becoming an alias for teamliquid.com in the future. Although Team Liquid was primarily known as a StarCraft news site, there are many sub sections on the forums dedicated to other games as well. It was announced on August 30, 2012, that Team Liquid would be expanding to covering Dota 2 news. On December 8, 2012, Liquid expanded their esports franchise into multiple games for the first time, with the recruitment of a North American Dota 2 team. On January 6, 2015, Steven "LiQuiD112" Arhancet joined Victor Goossens as co-owner of Team Liquid, officially commencing the merge between former Team Curse Gaming under the Team Liquid banner. On September 27, 2016, Team Liquid sold its controlling interest to aXiomatic Gaming, an investment group including Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber, entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, and AOL co-founder Steve Case. On December 16, 2017, Team Liquid disbanded their Halo roster. In 2020, the organization introduced Blue, an anthropomorphic horse, as its mascot. Blue has been featured in the organization's merchandising campaigns and collaborations. In December 2021, five players signed by Team Liquid became co-owners: basketball player Aerial Powers, amateur Super Smash Bros. player (and actor) Asa "Stimpy" Butterfield, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski, Super Smash Bros. player Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma, and poker streamer and competitor Lex Veldhuis. In January 2022, Team Liquid signed the World of Warcraft guild Limit, making Limit's guild leader and team captain Max "Maximum" Smith a co-owner. In May 2024, it was announced that Team Liquid was a member of the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Support Program, funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Later that same month, Team Liquid would sign two Mobile Legends: Bang Bang rosters in the

In Their Own Story

In 2019, Team Liquid's Counter-Strike Global Offensive team accomplished something no other team had done before: they won four premier tournaments in just 63 days, earning the Intel Grand Slam prize. This achievement came during a period when the organization was already known for success across multiple titles—their European Dota 2 squad had won The International 2017, which had one of the largest prize pools for any esports tournament in history, and their League of Legends team had won five LCS titles. The Counter-Strike team's rapid-fire victories showcased the depth of talent that Team Liquid had cultivated since signing their first professional players with the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The organization's structure, with Victor Goossens and Steve Arhancet serving as co-CEOs after the aXiomatic acquisition, provided the stability needed for such sustained excellence.

Reader's Guide

Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands, founded in 2000. They have teams in StarCraft II, Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rainbow Six Siege, Free Fire, Valorant (female), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and chess. Their Dota 2 squad won The International 2017. Their League of Legends team has won five LCS titles. Their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team won the Intel Grand Slam in 2019. They also have chess grandmasters Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, and R Praggnanandhaa representing the organization.

Did You Know?

• Team Liquid was originally a StarCraft news website before becoming a professional esports organization.
• The organization's mascot, Blue, is an anthropomorphic horse introduced in 2020.
• In December 2021, five players signed by Team Liquid became co-owners, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski.
• Team Liquid acquired two Mobile Legends: Bang Bang rosters in May 2024 after acquiring STUN.GG.