Week 29 esports roundup: Liquid signs two, Luken available

Team Liquid signed Johnny “JT” Theodosiou and Georgi “Jorko” Mitev to compete at Stake Pulse Beat I in Stockholm from July 31 to August 5. The $60,000 event will begin with a double-elimination best-of-three group stage before advancing to a single-elimination bracket that takes the top two teams from each group. Liquid announced the additions as it finalized its roster for the tournament.

Luca “Luken” Nadotti posted on X that he is no longer under contract with Gaimin Gladiators and is available for new offers. The Gladiators benched their entire Counter-Strike roster after the Cologne Major while conducting a strategic review; the organization currently lists only Henrique “HEN1” Teles as remaining on its books. On X, Luken wrote, “Unfortunately, following the changes made by Valve regarding the stickers, the organization understood that the project was no longer profitable and the team could not be sustained.” He added that the organization treated the players well.

FUT made its BLAST Bounty Season 2 debut with a win over SINNERS. Yasin “xfl0ud” Koç appeared for the first time with the team and drew attention for his in-game communication. András “coolio” Fercsák addressed the roster change on the broadcast: “We had an issue with lauNX with voice, like he wasn’t really talkative. We were also looking to other players, and we were missing a guy who was speaking in the middle of the map, middle of the pack. With the addition of Yasin [xfl0ud], he’s able to communicate more.”

Aurora, now led by Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski, opened the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 Europe Closed Qualifier with wins over K27 and Nemesis. Aurora posted 13-3 and 13-2 results on Nuke but lost their opponents’ map picks and had to work to close both series. Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo led Aurora’s individual ratings with a 1.23 match rating. The qualifier moves to playoffs on Saturday.

100 Thieves lost their opener in the StarLadder qualifier with Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen in the lineup, falling narrowly to Ninjas in Pyjamas and dropping into a Group D elimination match. The team is set to face Falcons, the Cologne Major champions, later in BLAST Bounty Season 2. EYEBALLERS announced Simon “yxngstxr” Boije will stand in for Max “maxster” Jansson, who took a pre-approved vacation; EYEBALLERS are scheduled to face FaZe in the first round of the single-elimination stage.

Valve adjusted sticker economics earlier this year. Since the Cologne Major, several teams and organizations have reviewed rosters and budgets while tournaments continue with regional qualifiers and invitational events through late July and early August as teams finalize lineups ahead of the fall calendar.