Team Liquid had a solid 2019 season, but that didn’t keep the team from making changes for 2020.
According to Jacob Wolf on the ESPN League of Legends Free Agency Show, Liquid has added Fnatic jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen. He is set to replace Jake “Xmithie” Puchero.
Broxah leaves Fnatic after more than three years. He first joined the organization in 2016 with Fnatic Academy but was promoted to the main roster not long after. During that stretch, Fnatic has been solid on the international stage. Broxah helped the team reach the World Championship in each season since joining, most notably helping the team reach the grand finals in 2018.
The 2019 season saw Broxah make headlines both for his in-game skills and out-of-game drama. Rumors of a blowout between himself and bot laner Martin “Rekkles” Larsson followed both players throughout the year. Though Broxah vehemently denied any sort of beef with his teammate on multiple occasions, now-former Fnatic coach Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool alluded to various issues within the team.
Replacing Broxah on the Fnatic roster is SK Gaming’s Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek. The organization also added former Origen player Alfonso “mithy” Aguirre RodrĂguez to serve as the new coach for the 2020 season.
With the addition of Broxah, Xmithie now finds himself without a team. The jungler is a veteran of the North American LoL scene with a career dating back to 2012. He had a breakout year with Counter Logic Gaming in 2015 and landed with Team Liquid in 2017.
Xmithie’s two years with Liquid have been incredibly successful, with the team winning four consecutive LCS split titles and qualifying for Worlds in both 2018 and 2019. Though Liquid washed out in the group stage of both events, the team enjoyed some international success by reaching the grand finals of the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational.
Broxah likely represents an upgrade at the jungle position for Team Liquid, but it remains to be seen whether this will invigorate the organization. Xmithie has performed quite well throughout his tenure with the team and the addition of Broxah doesn’t seem to be part of any larger shift within the team.
Fans will get to see the new look Liquid in action with the start of the 2020 LCS Spring Split.
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