In April 2025, Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis was benched by Team Liquid and joined FURIA as a temporary stand-in.
But soon after, the team started to play significantly better than before. At PGL Astana, FURIA finished in 4th place.
More importantly, at BLAST.tv Austin Major, where FURIA had to survive stage 2 and stage 3 against the world’s best teams, the Brazilians finished 5th – 8th, defeating The MongolZ, Aurora, and Virtus.pro in the process.
These results clearly indicated that YEKINDAR was doing a great job and that the entire roster played better thanks to him, so it’s not surprising to see him joining the organization, especially now that Team Liquid is no longer the org it was when he joined back in October 2022.
With so many failures in 2025, it’s probably just a matter of time until Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, arguably the most accomplished member of Liquid, will ask to be sold to a top org as well.
FURIA’s Potential
FURIA is currently ranked 9th globally, which is roughly where they were at the end of 2024. In the current competitive climate, which is full of formidable teams, it’s hard to imagine FURIA clinching a spot in the top five. However, even a top eight would be a notable achievement.
For a team of their caliber, the goal is probably to reach the playoffs of each S-tier tournament they attend, which is more difficult than it seems. Many important events offer just six playoff spots instead of eight. Furthermore, the competition in the group stage is high.
The likes of Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, Team Falcons, and even FaZe Clan currently look unbeatable, at least for FURIA. But with a few more months of practice, perhaps their new roster can start to take down some of these CS2 titans.
