Team Liquid sign Bwipo as a content creator

It’s been a hard free agency period for the former LEC fan favorite. In just 12 months, Bwipo went from the hottest commodity on the market, to teamless. After failing to secure a roster spot as a top laner, Bwipo is back on Team Liquid as a streamer. 

Bwipo before Team Liquid

Just a year ago, Bwipo was coming off a disappointing loss at the World Championship. But Fnatic and LEC fans rallied around their Belgian superstar. He had become the ultimate team player, an example of how professionalism in esports should be conducted. He gave up the starting top lane, role swapped to jungle and did everything he could. All to improve Fnatic’s chances of winning. But after internal drama tore up Fnatic at the 2021 World Championship, Bwipo was on his way to the LCS.

Team Liqiud 2022 super team 

And just like that, everything Bwipo knew about his life, went out the door. The public break up of his relationship, four years at Fnatic and a new life in the states. Expectations were plentiful, as the weight of the names surrounding started to create a burden. The greatest LCS player of all time, Bjergsen, just came out of retirement. After a year of coaching TSM, Bjergsen was ready to dominate the mid lane on Team Liquid. Santorin and CoreJJ were already there , providing invaluable international experience.

And Bwipo wasn’t coming alone. One of the best bot laners in Europe at the time, Hans Sama, was also packing up. Rogue didn’t want to give up their franchise player to their arch enemies. So both Bwipo and Hans were flying to the LCS, on a massive buyout agreement. All of that, for two fourth place finishes and failing to qualify for the World Championship. Which was held in North America, and was the main reason that Team Liquid’s new sponsor, Honda, had broken the bank. Just days after their season had ended, Team Liquid CEO Steve Arhancet announced that the entire roster was getting restructured.

Bwipo’s options in free agency

As the days went on and on, we got little news in terms of Bwipo. While Europe and LCS were in hot pursuit of the available names, nobody mentioned Bwipo. And then we got the rare Bwipo stream on Twitch, which turns out, would be a lot more common now. Bwipo came out in his usual unfiltered manner, providing invaluable insight on the inner workings of the scene.

Despite having a generous offer from Team Vitality early in the offseason, Bwipo had committed to his LCS career arc. Unfortunately, his potential employers didn’t feel the same way. Despite making it known that he’s available, none of the 10 LCS teams offered Bwipo a contract. He didn’t help himself either, announcing he was only looking into offers for the top lane role. Despite having a down year, many believed that Bwipo would be more suited for the jungle role. But on the other hand, the jungle is probably the strongest role in the LCS.  

Team Liquid keep Bwipo in NA

And that has led us to where we are now. Instead of having his work visa revoked, Bwipo will get to stay in the USA. Not finding a team must have been hard, but being a streamer is his best outcome at the moment. Apart from going back to Europe, he also gets to interact with his loyal community. And there’s little doubt that he won’t be successful in that role. 

Apart from the high-quality educational content, Bwipo has also provided a lot of insight on his previous teams. He has tried to expose nepotism in the community and why Nemesis is still teamless. On top of that, he has leaked that he might be showing up on the LCS stage. Regardless if he’s casting, playing or on the analyst desk, we are ready for Bwipo’s Caedrel arc. Former pro players that can articulate well will always find a niche in this industry, due to their knowledge. Bwipo is still looking for his next playing opportunity, but until then, we will be enjoying content creator Bwipo. 

Header: Riot Games