Team Liquid has mutually parted ways with Adrian "Adrian" Ma; the support player confirmed his departure from the team in a statement to ESPN, but declined to give specific reasoning. Sources say Adrian is leaving following disagreements concerning pay and the player's role within the team.
"I really enjoyed my time on Liquid but we have decided to part ways on good terms," Adrian said. "They already have a great support in [Matthew "Matt" Elento], so we agreed to release me from my contract so I can fully explore all my options. This will actually be my first ever break since I've been a pro gamer so I want to reset and come back even stronger for summer!"
In his initial contract with the team, Adrian was signed as a full-time active player for the team's lineup.
However, sources say following the team's desire to use Matthew "Matt" Elento as its active support, Liquid attempted to have Adrian sign a different contract for a substitute position on the team, with a lesser salary compared to his initial agreement. Adrian declined this modified contract and the two parties have since decided to part ways.
Adrian will enter the free agency market for the mid-season, and teams are allowed to start signing players for the 2017 League Championship Series summer split starting April 25th, per developer and tournament organizer Riot Games' ruleset.
The end to Adrian's run with Team Liquid comes after he was acquired by the team on March 8th in a buyout exchange with his former team Phoenix1. During his time with the team, Adrian competed in three games across March 17th and 18th against Team Dignitas and Phoenix1. Both games ended in a loss.
During his time on Phoenix1 and Team Liquid, Adrian averaged a collective of 74.05 percent kill participation, ranking second among supports who competed throughout the spring split. He also ranked highest among his North American peers in wards placed per minute, totaling an average of 1.74 wards per minute in his 31 games played in the season.
Adrian started his career with now-defunct Team Impulse in 2015 and competed with Immortals, Phoenix1 and Team Liquid from 2016 to 2017.
"We mutually agreed to part ways," said Michael Artress, general manager of Team Liquid. "Adrian is excited about options for next split is completely free to decide what team he would like to compete on."