One of the most successful players in the history of North American Counter-Strike, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, has re-joined Team Liquid just over two years after departing the organisation for their NA rivals, Complexity.
EliGE, who made his name with Liquid, won Season 2 of the Intel Grand Slam with Liquid back in 2019, a legendary run that forced ESL to change the rules of the Grand Slam after the team won it in an unmatched 63 days.
He’s coming home. Welcome @EliGE back to Team Liquid CS 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/bUm9IPPMQz
— Team Liquid CS (@TeamLiquidCS) September 25, 2025
The bald eagle flies home
EliGE departed Liquid a little over two years ago, heading for what ended up being a very mixed spell with Complexity.
Despite Complexity’s struggles with team form during his time with the team, EliGE himself was exceptional, and he was named the 19th best player of 2024 by HLTV, his first placing on that list since 2021.
That form saw EliGE earn himself a move to FaZe Clan, replacing outgoing star Robin “ropz” Kool. The move, which was hotly anticipated by the CS2 community, never really got off the ground, with FaZe struggling to record strong placings.
EliGE’s individual form remained strong, but role swaps to make room for him caused a dip in the form of longstanding FaZe member, Havard “rain” Nygaard. Add on to that the struggles that Helvijs “broky” Saukants had in the first half of the year, and it wasn’t exactly a recipe for success for the team.
Following a top eight finish at the BLAST Austin Major, FaZe’s best run as a team since the arrival of EliGE, the American was benched for the second half of the year, with the team looking towards Polish rookie Jakub “jcobbb” Pietruszewski as the man to take them forward.
EliGE spent 8 years of his career on Team Liquid. Image Credit: ESL
Since then, rumours of a swap deal between the two organisations have been frequent, and the announcement that Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken would be leaving Liquid to reunite with FaZe all but confirmed those rumours.
Now announced as a member of Liquid once more, hopes will be high for Liquid to get back on track in CS2. The addition of Viktor “flashie” Tamas Bea in the coach role has seen a steady improvement, but the team still lacked a star aggressive rifler, the role that EliGE has been most comfortable in throughout his career.
Liquid fans won’t have to wait long to see EliGE put the jersey back on. They’re set to play in the Birch Cup, which begins on September 25 in Gdansk, Poland. Liquid will then fly to Philadelphia for Fragadelphia Blocktober, giving EliGE the chance to lift a trophy on home soil.