NAts likely to miss Masters Toronto matches due to visa issues

In a crushing blow to Team Liquid fans everywhere, Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin has announced he will likely miss some, if not all, of his team’s upcoming matches at VCT 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025. The Russian player shared he’s running into visa issues, and urges fans to show their support for the team at the complicated opening stages of the tournament whether he gets to share the stage with them or not.

Team Liquid lose a star

Team Liquid are set to kick off their journey at Masters Toronto by taking on the dangerous Bilibili Gaming on Saturday, June 7, giving nAts a short window to sort his visa issues in time.

Due to the grueling nature of the Swiss Stage at Masters Toronto, teams will need every one of their pieces working at full power to get to the Playoffs. For Team Liquid, specifically, nAts is one of the most valuable tools on the squad, and missing the star Sentinel for the team’s opening match could certainly spell trouble.

Not only is nAts the team's in-game leader and captain, but he also happens to be the only player on Team Liquid to have won a Masters event in the past (Masters Berlin back in 2021), and was also the second highest rated player on the team at the VCT 2025 - EMEA Stage 1. The impact of nAts' veteran presence on the squad simply cannot be understated.

Though Team Liquid will no doubt do everything they can to secure a visa for the player in time, nAts himself has declared that it is unlikely this will be the case before the team's first match. Whether the rest of the squad can manage to push through without the former Masters champion by their side remains to be seen.

I hope I will be able to show up to the tournament. I will keep everyone updated.

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Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games