Brazilian mid laner, Rafael “Rakin” Knittel, is parting ways with CNB e-Sports Club and CBLOL this offseason. He is joining up with Team Liquid as a full-time streamer alongside TF Blade, Dominate, etc. as well as integrating with their Academy system with a possibility to sub in and become more involved with TLA. Rakin started his professional career back in 2014 and jumped around various challenger teams until 2017, when he was a sub for paiN Gaming, winning both games with them. He then moved to a starting position on CNB Season 8, where he helped the team get 4th and 3rd in his two splits. Most recently, Rakin was voted into the 2018 All-Star Event, where he competed in the 1v1, East vs West, Nexus Blitz, and Tandem modes.

While Liquid has many streamers, this will be their first with a Brazilian audience. Team Liquid is no stranger in Brazil, however, with a fully Brazilian Rainbow Six team and two of their former CS:GO players (who were both announced to be traded off the team just this morning). Liquid’s former NA LCS support, Olleh, also had a large Brazilian following after playing in the region in 2014. Picking up Rakin here seems like a strong move to stay solidified in the country and keep growing its fanbase.

At the time of the signing, Rakin has just over 500K followers on Twitch and 200K on Twitter, but expect it to grow with his new partnership, joining the many before him to be “Paid by Steve.”