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Teams Liquid and Curse Announce Surprise Merger
Team Curse to Play Under Liquid Name – the 50/50 Partnership will Benefit Both Organizations
Curse will likely retain their dedicated fans
© LoL eSports
After months of turmoil and confusion, Team Curse fans have a much better grasp on the fate of their favorite team.
Curse Gets Wet
First hinted at last month on reddit, the move will place Team Curse’s players, coaches, and administration under the Team Liquid name.
In the co-announcement by Team Liquid owner Victor Goossens and Team Curse owner Steve Arhancet, both emphasized that the move is a merger, not an acquisition or reassignment of sponsorship.
The new Team Liquid
© Team Liquid
“What we're doing is no ordinary partnership. It's not Team Liquid becoming the new title sponsors of an LCS team,” Goossens wrote. “This is the full-blown merging of two organizations under the Team Liquid banner.” As such, all members of the Team Curse organization will retain their current titles and Arhancet will become a co-owner with Goossens.
Earlier last year, Team Curse became a wholly separate entity from Curse Inc., although the latter continued to sponsor the team. Team GM and previous Director of eSports for Curse Inc. Arhancet took ownership of Team Curse at that time.
In conjunction with the merger, Team Liquid is using the opportunity to build a League-based forum similar to those they already run for Dota and Hearthstone.
Bigger and Better
Both Goossens and Arhancet touted the move as hugely beneficial for both organizations. Indeed, the sponsors of neither team overlap, allowing them to combine a long list of sponsors. This only adds to what is looking at becoming one of the strongest organizations in the NA LCS.
After the departure of Team Curse’s mid laner Voyboy, many wondered who could fill his shoes. The team had lost its ADC Cop the month prior and replaced him with famous South Korean ADC Piglet, introducing a language barrier and serious culture shock for a key player. Curse’s move to replace Voyboy with Korean mid Fenix both introduces a solid replacement and is certain to ease the strain on Piglet.
Arhancet claimed that in his five year of managing teams, “without a doubt, this team is better than any team that I’ve managed.”
With Team Liquid’s experience in managing myriad eSports teams and the entire Team Curse organization on board with the merger, Liquid’s initial foray into the world of professional League of Legends is already off to a great start.
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