Liquid benches Ultimate, explores other AWPing options

Team Liquid has moved Polish AWPer Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak to the bench after 715 days with the organization’s Counter-Strike 2 roster.

Ultimate originally joined Liquid on July 12, 2024, arriving from Illuminar to fill the primary AWP role. His aggressive style was intended to anchor defensive setups and generate opening picks, the kind of high-impact plays that can swing entire rounds in professional CS2.

A pattern of roster churn

YEKINDAR was benched back in December 2024. Then jks got the same treatment in April 2025. Now ultimate joins that list, making three significant roster moves in roughly six months.

The timing is particularly notable given that coverage from just days before the announcement had detailed Liquid’s apparent commitment to keeping ultimate on the active roster. That kind of rapid strategic reversal suggests either new information came to light or internal evaluations reached a tipping point that couldn’t be ignored.

Despite the benching, ultimate remains listed on Liquid’s active CS2 roster alongside established names like NAF, EliGE, malbsMd, and siuhy.

The AWP question

For those unfamiliar with competitive CS2, the AWP is the game’s most expensive and powerful sniper rifle. A team’s dedicated AWPer is roughly analogous to a starting pitcher in baseball: a specialist whose individual performance can single-handedly determine the outcome of rounds.

Liquid’s decision to explore other options at this position signals that the organization believes ultimate’s particular brand of aggressive AWPing wasn’t producing enough of those round-winning moments.

What this means for the competitive landscape

Team Liquid sits in an interesting strategic position. The core of NAF and EliGE represents some of the most experienced talent in North American Counter-Strike. The addition of malbsMd and siuhy brought fresh energy to the lineup.

Star AWPers tend to become the public face of their teams in CS2. Players like s1mple and ZywOo didn’t just win rounds, they generated highlight reels that drove viewership and social media engagement.

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