Exactly what was needed with TL’s backs against the wall.
The League of Legends world has credited an inspiring team talk from Team Liquid head coach Jake "Spawn" Tiberi for turning the tide against GAM Esports and setting the LCS second seed up with a chance to make the 2024 World Championship quarterfinals this weekend.
When backs are against the wall, players need to stand up — but when things have collapsed on-stage, it can be difficult for even the game's biggest superstars to dig deep and go again. That's where the head coach in any team, in any sport, cuts their teeth. When everything's falling apart, they have to be the ones to get things back on track, and quickly.
On Saturday, TL found themselves in that hole. Enter Spawn and his undeniably inspiring speech that's already making Worlds history.
The “incredible” crunch-time TL team talk
The exact speech from Spawn — which the LoL community is already describing as "incredible" — was quickly shared across social media after Liquid's victory. The moment in question happened back stage at the LEC Arena in Berlin, Germany where Worlds 2024 is taking place, with Spawn calling his stunned LoL stars into a mid-series huddle immediately.
"Look at me. We can't go out like this," Spawn began, speaking to Liquid's dejected squad soon after their first-up game loss to GAM in the best-of-three.
The TL head coach continued: "We worked 10 months of this year as hard as we could, we cannot go out like this. Stop fucking dropping your head… I understand the frustration, but we are a better team than this, so think about what it takes to win the next two games here, please. Okay?"
"I want us to go out there and be positive. I love the energy at the start of the game. Shit went wrong in the start of this game, okay. They need to beat us another time [and] we still get two more cracks at beating them.
"So chin up and let's go, alright?" he wrapped up, nodding back to the stage.
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Spawn's speech turns tide for Liquid
The effect from Spawn's inspirational speech was instantaneous, with Liquid looking revitalized as they marched out onto Summoner's Rift in game two. TL rolled out to a 17.2k gold lead by the end of the second map, demolishing GAM by 19 kills.
That momentum continued into the deciding game, which Liquid closed out with aplomb in 28 minutes. Jeong "Impact" Eon-young was a particular standout on K'Sante, running 5/0/7 and dismantling GAM as a TL brickwall. Eain "APA" Stearns on Neeko was another explosive point for the victorious LCS second seed in the match fans described as "an astro gap."
Applause for Spawn's speech quickly rolled in too, with many attributing his calm team talk as the difference in the series. Others claimed he had carried the series for TL and some compared him to famed football coach Pep Guardiola for how he inspired his team to greatness.
"Team Liquid played 700 hours of solo queue between games one and two," one impressed LoL fan wrote on Reddit after the match. "Spawn team talk overpowered."
Liquid now faces one final hurdle to make the Worlds 2024 quarterfinals, and interestingly enough its a well-known domestic foe they have to beat: LCS Summer champions FlyQuest.
On Sunday, the two NA representatives who made it to the Swiss stage — 100 Thieves flamed out badly in Play-Ins — will play one final best of three series. The winner will enter the final eight at the year-end glamor event and knock shoulders with the best from Korea, China, and potentially Europe (should G2 Esports overthrow Bilibili Gaming). The loser goes home.
Stick around on esports.gg for more Worlds 2024 news and updates.
