VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA released the debut episode of “The Spike Drop”, where the guests were Team Liquid captain Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin and head coach Ivo "LohaN" Albino, who shared the list of players that underwent trials and other information.

A few days ago, Team Liquid parted ways with Maks "kamyk" Rychlewski and the next day announced the signing of Maikls "Serial" Zdanovs from HGE Esports, who had been competing at the Tier-2 level. The head coach shared that, besides Serial, they also considered Patryk "NINJA" Koczyba, who is part of Team Liquid’s academy roster, but they decided that this level was still too high for him. They also played scrims with the legendary Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom to assess the team from different perspectives and determine what works better and what doesn’t. In the end, the choice fell on Serial.

It was mostly about what we were looking for as a team. It felt like we were missing something—especially in terms of utility usage. At times, we didn’t have the right options. We ran trials but weren’t 100% sure if it was the change we wanted. Then we tried Serial, and it just clicked with the team. That was the main reason.

Ivo "LohaN" Albino

In addition, many other topics were discussed in the show. One of the most interesting was the discussion about the upcoming VCT 2025: EMEA Stage 1.

The other group (Alpha) is better. It’s not like our group is easy—I don’t think there are any easy groups. Every team in VCT is at a decent level, but I do think the other group is tougher.

Ivo "LohaN" Albino

One thing I’d add is that, on paper, their group (Alpha) is definitely stronger. But with the meta, we don’t know who will adapt faster. There could be a dark horse—some team that shifts into the meta quicker than everyone else and ends up dominating.

Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin

They also discussed the new agent, with nAts sharing his opinion.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a game-changing agent. For example, with Tejo, most teams immediately shifted, but with Waylay, if you find the right approach, you can definitely make it work. The debuffing ultimate is often a free round, and the stun—if used correctly with the right abilities—can be really effective. We’ll see how it plays out.

Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin

A reminder that the next tournament in the EMEA region will start on March 26, and it will be VCT 2025: EMEA Stage 1, where teams, including Team Liquid, will compete for slots at Masters Toronto and EMEA points, which will grant additional invitations to Champions 2025. You can follow the tournament with detailed statistics, format, and schedule at this link.