Team Liquid are so close to CS2 greatness. The leadership duo of Viktor “flashie” Tamas Bea and Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek is starting to click, adding consistency to the performances of Keith “NAF” Markovic, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, and Guy “NertZ” Iluz.

There’s just one problem. That’s only four members of the team, and the same cannot be said for their AWPer, Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak. 

Perhaps the only AWPer in Counter-Strike who is criticized more than Helvjis “broky” Saukaunts, ultimate’s place on the team is constantly questioned, and his continued presence will extend the time the team spends out of the top ten.

Not Cut Out for Tier 1?

One thing has become evidently clear: ultimate is simply not a tier one AWPer. There’s no shame in that; not many AWPers are these days. It’s probably the hardest it’s ever been for Counter-Strike’s traditional stars to shine, but it’s also the easiest it has been for them to fade into the background, and ultimate doesn’t do that.

Instead, thanks to his aggressive playstyle, ultimate is the shining light of everything wrong with Team Liquid.

The funny part about that, though, is that ultimate doesn’t actually take that many opening duels. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Ilya “m0NESY” Ospipov, and Danil “molodoy” Golubenko all take between 3-8% more of their team’s T side opening duels (and the same is true for CT side, too) but they’re all also more effective than when they are the first to fight. 

Even more passive AWPers than ultimate, like Adam “torzsi” Torzsas and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov, are more effective than the Pole when they take the opening duel, begging the question why ultimate does it at all.

Of course, an opening duel, although the most obvious form,  isn’t the only marker of aggression with Counter-Strike. Attempts to retake space, or simply the angle you choose to hold when space is lost, can also be indicators of how aggressive a player is. This is where the majority of ultimate’s aggression is found, leading to a higher deaths per round than any of the aforementioned AWPers, and sadly for him and his team, a lower kills per round than any of them, too. 

The fact is, ultimate simply isn’t skilled enough to be taking these types of duels. molodoy can, and does it to great effect, leading to 0.63 sniper kills per round. Even ZywOo and m0NESY, who are both known for rifling more frequently than other AWPers, have more sniper kills per round than ultimate, with both of them having 0.47, compared to ultimate’s 0.40.

In fact, there isn’t a single sniping metric in which ultimate outperforms any of these AWPers, and that’s a big problem for a team that is still trying to establish itself as a contender for the first time in years. This is especially an issue whenever he has to play against one of them, as explained in the podcast below. 

Identifying a New Sniper

Sadly, ultimate just hasn’t improved since joining Liquid in 2024. In fact, he’s only gotten worse as teams have learned to adapt to his playstyle and countered him more. Given that it’s now been 18 months since his recruitment, that can only mean one thing: it’s time to move on.

But who to? As we said, AWPers are having a harder time now than ever before, so who can actually shine in what is still an incredibly impactful role?

The obvious answer would be former Spirit and Falcons AWPer, Abdul “degster” Gasanov. A player who, admittedly, is slightly overrated thanks to his MVP performance at PGL Bucharest prior to his Falcons benching, he’s the only AWPer worth picking up who is also a free agent, and that makes him an appealing prospect.

He’s also an established tier one player with plenty of experience, and one who has historically levelled up in arenas at that. That’s not something we’ll be able to say about the other names we’ll suggest. 

Given his status as a known quantity, though, and the visa issues he’s had in the past, there are some issues with him. And there are also more ambitious options if you know where to find them.

One such option would be MIBR’s on-loan AWPer, Klimtentii “kl1m” Krivosheev. The former star of G2 Ares, kl1m has been tearing it up in South America ever since signing for MIBR, and like ZywOo and m0NESY, is also proficient with rifles, something that is a great benefit to have even as molodoy continues to redefine the AWPing meta.

There is the issue that he hasn’t really established himself in Europe, though, although his strong showing at the StarLadder Budapest Major despite MIBR’s struggles suggests he’s more than ready to make the step up. That just leaves a buyout to consider, although we can’t imagine that it won’t come at a high price.

However, if Liquid want an AWPer that already has proven himself in Europe, then they should look no further than BIG’s Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin. A player whose reputation took a hit after HEROIC unceremoniously benched him, he has since exploded on BIG, firing them to multiple (small) event wins and with impressive sniping stats to boot. Of course, he would also likely come at a high price, but that’s the cost that comes with trying to be a trophy contender. 

As it stands, though, it doesn’t matter which of these AWPers they go for – as long as they go for one of them. Or anyone else for that matter, just as long as ultimate doesn’t remain on the team. Roland from Poland just doesn’t cut it, and Liquid will see themselves unable to clasp their hands around a consistent playoff berth while he’s still holding the big green for them.