Team Liquid bench Valorant player L1NK and add Dreamas

Declan Mclaughlin
L1NK in a gaming chair on the Masters Iceland stage

Team Liquid have confirmed that Valorant player Travis ‘L1NK’ Mendoza Valorant team has been moved to the bench halfway through the VCT EMEA Stage 2 Challengers.

L1NK is moved to the bench before Team Liquid’s week 4 match in VCT EMEA Stage Challengers against NAVI, as initially reported by Dot Esports.

Stepping in for the British player will be Aurimas ‘Dreamas’ Zablockis, who competed for LDN UTD in VCT Stage 1 Challengers before moving to the bench in Stage 2, replaced by Tautvydas ‘hype’ Paldavicius. The 23-year-old mostly played Sentinels during Stage 1 but has also logged matches on Duelists and Controllers.

In his recent matches for Team Liquid, L1NK had played Breach and Sage, but he mainly used Controllers for the team while flexing to different agents on certain maps.

L1NK competing on stage with the rest of his team
L1NK has been with Team Liquid since the start of their venture into Valorant

This move comes three weeks after Team Liquid’s Valorant head coach Connor ‘Sliggy’ Blomfield stepped down from the squad. This leaves Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom and Dom ‘soulcas’ Sulcas as the only players remaining from Team Liquid’s original lineup, when the organization signed fish123 in August 2020.

Team Liquid have seen mixed success in 2022. They currently sit 2-1 in VCT Challengers and could lock up a playoff spot if they beat NAVI in their upcoming match.

The team also attended VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík, in which they were eliminated in 7th-8th place after losing to LOUD and ZETA DIVISION in the playoffs.

But the team did not technically qualify for the tournament as they placed fourth in the Stage 1 Challengers playoffs. They were invited as a last-minute replacement for FunPlus Phoenix, who could not attend due to travel restrictions.

Team Liquid will debut their new roster with Dreamas in the squad on June 3 against Navi and will finish off the VCT Challengers group stage against M3C on June 10.

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About The Author

Based in Indiana, Declan McLaughlin is an esports reporter for Dexerto Esports covering Valorant, LoL and anything else that pops up. Previously an editor and reporter at Upcomer, Declan is often found reading investigative stories or trying to do investigations himself. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. You can contact him at declan.mclaughlin@dexerto.com.