There’s nothing like the rush of watching your favorite esports team make a huge clutch play for the big win. We all have a moment like that — something explosive that drew us in and made us invested in a team’s success. Team Liquid fanbase is about much more than just clippable moments, though. The org’s success may bring in the fans, but it’s the community that gets them to stay.

This is true for James, aka Huntyy, a die-hard Team Liquid fan and a longtime Counter-Strike cheerleader. For him, Team Liquid is familiar ground — his brother’s interest in the budding Team Liquid CS:GO scene is what first brought James to esports, and to TL. Now, the apprentice has outpaced the master. Through Team Liquid, engineer James has found a hidden love of art and design, and both his CS skins and TL-inspired sloth characters have made the rounds on CS Twitter. 

Though he’s always got eyes on the CS team, the drive that keeps this Naffer dedicated to Team Liquid runs much deeper than game allegiances. James and his adorable little jersey-clad sloth avatar are a common sight in the Team Liquid Discord, in CS chat, and on MyBlue, where you may see him outpacing the rest of us to nab that #1 spot. 

We had the opportunity to chat with James about his introduction to esports, his favorite Team Liquid memories, his impressive jersey collection, and, of course, the sloths. 

Can you introduce yourself to all your MyBlue rivals out there? Who is the man behind the adorable sloth profile picture? 

I’m James, more often known as Huntyy for Liquid, and in Discord, and on games in general. I’ve been a TL fan for quite a bit now, mainly for CS:GO, or CS2 now. I originally got into that through my brother introducing me to the game, and introducing me to the Liquid team as well, and it sort of snowballed from there! When Liquid+ came out, I got more and more involved with TL, following them and participating in the community. From there, I’ve now met quite a few friends through Liquid, and I’ve actually managed to meet up with them at a few events, which has been so nice. 

My brother got so into TL through their vlogs and very early videos, and, well…I’ve really overtaken him in the fandom! I got really involved around October 2020 and started making my own TL-related characters, artwork, graphics, and really following the CS scene.  

I noticed your sloths! Are you an artist? 

Not particularly — I’m an engineer, which is a completely different thing…I’m a structural engineer so there shouldn’t really be a correlation, but I like making my TL sloth characters and repping my favorite player Naf, who is very much a sloth character. I guess I just really like doing those bits of design that relate to TL, and I think they turn out quite well! 

They are very cute! Did you make your profile picture, as well? 

Yeah, I’ve made a few versions of it with different jerseys, but I’ve had this one for some time now and I quite like it. 

What is it about Team Liquid that has kept you so loyal to the org since the start? 

When I first got really involved with TL, they were the best team out there. The summer of 2019 was amazing because of the Grand Slam and everything. So at first it was all about the team hype. 

I think the thing that really got me into Liquid for good was a bit later on, with the community I was able to meet through Liquid+. We have our own chat now for MyBlue early access, but I’ve been talking with so many friends for the last few years. I’ve been gathering with my TL friends and watching CS regularly. I’ve watched most games with a friend I met from Germany. We went to the last CS event in London, which was my first esports event I went to in person. 

Really, besides the community itself, it’s the cool things that TL does for their community - they didn’t have to let me look around their AWTF in the Netherlands, and they don’t have to interact with us fans as much as they do, but they do all this stuff for us to get us involved directly, which…I really appreciate it as a fan, to be part of a community like that. 

Are there any particular TL players or rosters whose growth you keep an eye on? 

As I’ve said, my favorite player is Naf, who has been in TL for quite a long time! He’s been there since it started. Any Naffers in the chat? Twistzz is up there with Naf, for me. He’s been on Liquid for a long, long time and it’s nice to follow him. I’m so happy he’s back with TL. 

Really, I guess I could say I follow any of the CS team. I keep quite a good eye on them. I also watch the Valorant team, which is such a fun game to watch. I guess I’m invested because I got to meet them all in the Netherlands.

What are you most looking forward to from Team Liquid this year? 

Normally at this time, there are a million leaks discussing which teams are picking up which players and which coaches, but for the first time in forever, I think there have been no leaks, which is quite refreshing. I’m looking forward to a hype announcement and picking up a few players and getting the team back into its winning ways. I’m excited for us to make the Major this time and do a great run at Cologne. 

I’m excited to see the future of MyBlue, because that’s such an interesting platform. I want to see what’s going to come from that. And more drops! I liked the Star Wars drops and I love any sort of collabs - they’ve been great. Anything I can do to add more jerseys, I think…

How many TL jerseys do you think you have? 

Too many! I think it’s above 25, which is… quite a lot! I have two signed by the CS team, one from 2020 and one from earlier this year, but I also have quite a few that I actually wear. I think it’s like… at least 20, and they go back right to the start, [from] 2016 all the way to the most recent one this year. 

What is your favorite TL-related memory? 

One of them is definitely going to the AWTF in the Netherlands. I can’t believe I got the opportunity to spend time with the facility team and have them show me around. I had a tour with myrthe and sjoerd and that was a great experience. I got to see all the trophies on the wall, the streaming pods, the game rooms. I got to try out the setups. I was also able to meet the TL BR Valorant team and I loved looking at all the trophies! That trophy wall was huge and very impressive. It was very surreal to have that opportunity and to see it all. That experience was so cool as a fan, to actually tour the facility that I’ve seen in all the vlogs. Though I didn’t get to meet the CS team while I was visiting, they actually all signed a Blue for me and left it for me at the facility. The time and thought that went into that gesture is the really nice thing about being a Liquid fan.  

In terms of actual esports memories, I guess this is a cliche answer, but it has to be the Grand Slam run in 2019. That was like… the peak moment for Team Liquid CS and we want to get back to that! That was such a dominant period, we were unbeatable that summer. 

Oh! And I just thought about another fun TL moment: they did a YouTube video a while back where it was five fans playing against the TL CS team. CadiaN was trying to go for a kill record and went against a random five of us fans, and, uh… we didn’t do great… but it was really fun to play against them. I did get a few kills in and I managed to sneak up behind Naf and backstab him… which I guess doesn’t sound great, but he’s my favorite and I’ve watched him and the team for so long, so to play against them all was such a fun experience. 

It’s almost like TL does so many cool things for their fans that you forget some of them, that’s how many great memories I have. I think that really speaks to them as an org. 

‍You mentioned meeting up with your online TL friends IRL. How was that? What was most meaningful about it for you?

We’ve spoken for so long online and we’ve watched so many games together! It was quite nice to really put a face to the voice and to actually watch CS in person, even if Team Liquid weren’t there. We had a fun experience getting to see what CS:GO looks like on stage. It was a blast. The light shows, the entrances… they really did put on a cool show. It’s unfortunate, Liquid were quite close to getting there, but they didn’t in the end, so I still haven’t met the Liquid CS team!

‍Do you engage with the TL community every day?

I think I talk in Discord most days. And I’ll be on Twitter on match days for CS and other stuff. I try to interact with the community, and when TL interacts back with me, that’s quite nice, whether they’re replying to me on Twitter, following me, sharing things that I’ve made… it’s so cool to see other fans appreciate them! 

I talk to most people within the [MyBlue] beta chat most days, and in the CS chat most days, and there are a lot of familiar names who pop up with me every day. It’s a great community and I’ve really gotten to know most people. I’m always excited to see [Team Liquid] do even more with the community of fans. They don’t have to do it, and it’s not for any financial incentive, but they do it for the fans and that’s what’s really appreciated. 

‍I just learned today that you’re currently #1 on the MyBlue leaderboards, which is incredible!

Maybe not anymore! I think I’m number 6 now. But I think it varies depending on who’s the fastest to see the next challenge, and it can change day by day. I’ll try and get back up there!  

‍What do you like best about the MyBlue platform? 

I like the customization a lot. You can make your own Blue character. That is very cool. I also like the challenges; the challenge right now is a CS-related challenge, which is getting me to play more CS again! Normally I watch, but I’m getting back into playing a bit more because of it, and getting that competitive side back. 

Really, it’s everything about [MyBlue]. You always want to get to that next level because you want to unlock that next item! It’s got all those different quests, which are always fun to do, and it’s basically just building on how great the Liquid+ hub is.  

‍What kinds of quests and challenges are your favorite? 

Definitely the game-related ones. In the early access, they had a few games I hadn’t played before. Through the quests, I actually started learning to play DotA, and quite enjoyed it. I also started playing Valheim, which is an enjoyable game. I quite enjoyed building my own base, and just playing a more slow-paced game. Getting to play a few different games that I haven’t played before has been enjoyable, and I really liked them compared to the regular old FPS games!

‍What are your “old reliables,” your standard favorite games to play? 

CS is the main one, obviously. The other thing I like playing a lot right now is Apex Legends. It’s more relaxed than CS, so you don’t have to have as much focus and it’s not as mentally taxing for me. I don’t have to think so much, so I can chill and relax and not stress quite as much about the outcome. It’s a fun game and I’m happy Liquid’s got back into it now. It’s so cool to see them back in with their Mexican team, getting into a different audience. 

Other than that, I’m a boring gamer. I’ll play mostly FPS with some single-player games. I’ve played the two recent Star Wars games. I’ve played a bit of Hogwarts Legacy. But mainly it’s CS and Apex and a little bit of DoTA now. So, yeah… I’m quite a boring gamer, it’s not a huge selection, but I’m always happy to get into more games to find ones that I enjoy. 

‍Besides gaming, what other hobbies do you enjoy? 

The biggest thing I do outside of gaming is field hockey. It’s a game I’ve been playing since [I was] probably 6 or 7. It’s a very fun game and I enjoy competing at a high level. I’m happy to be getting back into it and I’m enjoying playing team sports again. I like playing. I like watching. It’s quite a contrast between this and gaming, but it’s nice to have a balance between the two. 

‍How much time do you think you spend a week playing hockey? 

Summer is sort of the off season, so during the summer there’s just a Summer League, which is like… more relaxed because it’s way too hot to play by British standards! We think 24 C, 25 C is too hot to play sport. 

The competitive season is during the winter time, where I train twice a week and play once at the weekend. 

‍What’s coming up next in your life? 

I just got my job 5 or 6 months ago, and am getting into working life after graduating from university last year. I want to get more and more into hockey again after having a break. Hopefully I can do some more traveling to go see other esports events in other countries — I want to go to Cologne, or the Majors in Europe. Now that I’ve been to one event, I want to see much more!

We just got a 10 or 11 week old Black Labrador. Her name is Willow. We’ve got another Fox Red Lab called Amber, who is probably about two and a half now. They get on very well! It’s been a lot of fun to have a puppy again, but it can also be quite a frustrating experience!

‍Do you have any closing thoughts you’d like to add? 

Nothing particularly stands out, but it’s been nice to talk about Liquid, which is something I’m clearly very happy to talk about! I’m very passionate about the players and the teams. It’s so nice to be able to express some of that fandom that you feel!