The situation around Team Liquid in Counter-Strike continues to deteriorate rapidly. Following another major shift in the Valve Regional Standings, analyst and VRS model creator Jesper “udknud” Larsen stated that Liquid are now very likely to lose their regional invite to Esports World Cup 2026, with Wildcard expected to take the spot instead. According to the analyst, the decisive factor was Wildcard’s performance in the ongoing BC.Game LAN playoffs, where the team likely secured enough points to overtake Liquid in the race for the North American slot.
Wildcard now ahead of Liquid in the EWC race
Udknud explained that Esports World Cup invites will be based on the June 1 VRS ranking. North America will receive only two regional invites for teams outside the global top 21.
At the moment, the standings reportedly look like this:
- M80 — 29th
- Wildcard — 32nd
- Liquid — 38th
The analyst directly stated that Counter-Strike is now “living in a world where Wildcard earn Tier-1 invites over Liquid.”
What makes the situation even more painful for Liquid fans is how close the team supposedly was to securing the spot. According to udknud, Liquid likely needed just “one more Tier-1 win” at CS Asia Championships or IEM Atlanta — or participation at another LAN event to collect additional points. Now, Team Liquid will most likely have to fight through the EWC Open Qualifiers instead.
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NRG also fall out of the invite race
The situation has also worsened for NRG. In a separate post, udknud noted that the team dropped from the top 20 all the way down to 50th place in the rankings and is now completely out of the EWC invite race.
It became another example of how brutal and unstable the current VRS ecosystem has become, where even a few disappointing months can completely destroy an organization’s ranking position.
Community reacts heavily to Liquid’s collapse
The news immediately triggered massive reactions across social media. Many fans described the situation as “embarrassing” for one of the biggest organizations in esports. One user wrote:
Team Liquid missing EWC in CS2 after being in the game for so long… embarrassing.
Others started joking about the organization’s current struggles. One meme that quickly went viral stated:
Supporting Liquid costs you both your health and your time.
Some community members even speculated that Liquid could eventually leave the Tier-1 scene entirely if results do not improve soon.
VRS continues reshaping the CS2 ecosystem
The situation involving Liquid and Wildcard became another major example of how Valve Regional Standings are fundamentally changing the Counter-Strike ecosystem. Large organizations with historic reputations no longer have guaranteed invites, while every LAN result now directly affects a team’s future.
For Liquid, this could become one of the most painful moments in recent years, as the organization risks missing one of the biggest tournaments of the season despite remaining one of the most recognizable brands in competitive Counter-Strike.
