DeKay Mailbag Part 3: What to Expect with Team Liquid, Project A, and Team Form Predictions

Welcome to Part 3 of the DeKay Mailbag, a monthly feature in which Counter-Strike reporter and insider Jarek "DeKay" Lewis answers questions from readers on Twitter. Do you have a question you'd like to see in a future mailbag? Tweet @dekay.

The 2020 CS:GO scene is sure to be a memorable one and there are plenty of questions about which teams will rise above the rest. Will C9 or Gen.G have a better year? What about FaZe? These questions and more will be answered in Part 3 of this month's DeKay Mailbag.

Despite Zywoo still being so young, I don't really see how he could have played any better last year. Sure, there are matches where the rest of the team let him down and then didn't get the result they were looking for, but overall I don't think there was much he could have done better. While the team can improve in a ton of areas, I don't really think they handicap him much.

From what I've gathered, they are very much committed to making this lineup work and go on another incredible run to start 2020. Should they find success, I think they and others like Evil Geniuses will approach travel differently this year. However, should things not work out for Liquid and they have a horrible start to the year, I would expect a roster move. For who? I have no idea.

An entire year is a long time, so I'm going to have to go with Gen.G here. They will find a way to become the better team one way or another when it is all said and done. Autimatic and BnTeT are just too impactful for them to not get something going.

From what I had heard recently, that was the only move they planned on making moving forward. TSM is out of the question now though, I don't expect them to sign at a team anytime soon. This could change on a moments notice of course, but that's the situation right now.

I have them making it out of the Challengers Stage but then not making it to the playoffs. I don't really see any upside with them other than their raw skill.

While it may appear that a ton of unproven talent is just out there for the taking, that's really not the case. It is really hard to find a star player that someone hasn't at least tried or played with in some capacity. Many don't want to have to cycle through players they know nothing about over and over until they find "the" guy.

The other side of it is that some players have difficulty separating a veteran players accomplishments from their current and recent form as a professional. Some have been great at avoiding recycling players, like Steel on Chaos for example. His teams are always based on finding newer talent and trimming the fat when he has the chance.

Everyone has a different opinion but I prefer the Astralis or Complexity setup where players show up to the office every day. Having a specific plan of attack is important and making sure that the team isn't practicing for the sake of practice. There should always be a goal in mind. I'm no expert though, I've never run a team.

I have not heard anything about them in over a year, unfortunately. I think that ship has sailed, although, I hope I'm wrong.

There has been general interest overall, I don't expect a top 10 team to actually join. That was never my personal expectation either, they have to prove themselves as organizers before top teams will forgo ESL.

Probably not until they find a level of success they are comfortable with. It's not easy to build a competitive team from scratch. Hopefully, this one works for them.

No, it wasn't even close at all. TACO, zews, and coldzera considered the possibility and it didn't really progress from there. The rest of the team wasn't interested and as you know, TACO instead left for MIBR not soon after.

The Valve I have become familiar with will not admit defeat on Vertigo until every possible change is made to make it work. I don't think we are there yet. Cobblestone is a map I don't ever see returning to the pool, not enough are in favor of it. I think it is more likely that Cache returns, which would probably replace something like Mirage. That's all speculation though.

That purely depends on if the organization is willing to spend money on players or not. Given that they are interested in "B Site," I'm going to assume they are. They might be able to assemble a pretty good roster as we get further into the year, especially if the first season of "B Site" delivers.

One would hope so, I really enjoy competition because it helps encourage both parties. While I don't see it as a true competitor, there is a world in which regular players and pro players prefer it over CS:GO. Valve has stepped up as of late, so I'm not complaining if things don't pick up from here though.

I wouldn't describe it as war, because we are only talking about a few months out of the calendar. I believe this is just the first time that ESL has had a real competitor come in and offer a competitive product that exists at the same time as their league. Obviously they feel threatened so we are seeing all of that play out in front of us. This isn't even close to the end of the story.

It is a cool idea but would feel a bit inauthentic if it wasn't something Valve created. Maybe someone smarter than myself has a better idea on how to set something like that up.

No, I don't think so. The American college system is largely antiquated and broken systematically except for a few key pathways, in my opinion. That paired with the fact that the NCAA has openly exploited their athletes for so long, means people like myself have no respect for them. I also don't believe the schools will ever actually support something video game related. I admire the students who do form teams and compete against other schools, but the system as a part of the pro circuit will never happen.

All that needs to happen is for teams to spend more time bootcamping and playing against the best teams. I don't know what is stopping that from happening, but once it does, you'll see a ton of growth with those teams.

I don't find it equally as important, but it is still right up there as almost as important as the play itself. I can't imagine the Happy Deagle Ace without Semmler included. The calls are what helps some of them so memorable.