Is 2023 the year of Team Liquid?

Team Liquid, one of the most successful esports organizations in Europe is not a stranger to Dota 2 scene. The organization won The International 2017 under a different roster that would eventually go on to become Nigma Galaxy.

The new roster that has been signed consists mostly of former Alliance players and the team has been on consistent improvement ever since they got signed. Although the team showed mixed results last year, they made up for it by finishing last year with a top 3 finish at The International 2022.

Was Nisha all that Team Liquid needed?

Going into the 2022-2023 DPC season, Team Liquid made some major roster changes. With the retirement of their hard carry player and former Ti7 champion Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, Team Liquid brought in a superstar midlaner  Michał “Nisha” Jankowski from Team Secret. The team’s former midlaner Michael “miCKe” Vu also switched his role as the team’s new hard carry player.

Most teams would show mixed results at first with some major changes to the team, however Team Liquid broke this traditional norm, going undefeated in their Winter Tour becoming the second team to qualify for the Lima Major.

Strengths, Draft and Reflections

Going undefeated with a 7-win (s) and 0 loss(es) record, there are some things that Team Liquid stuck to regarding their drafting and playstyle.

Team Liquid mostly drafted a midlane Tusk in nearly all of their series completely ignoring the meta pick —  hard carry Lina.

Team Liquid currently plays a fast pace game utilizing their midlaner power spike after the laning stage. They are also known to play a position 4 Rubick. Only Gamin Gladiators and OG were able to take a game away from Team Liquid thus far.

The Only Weakness

In the 2 games that Team Liquid lost, the opponents were able to play a much faster-paced game compared to Team Liquid, not only that, they also managed to win the laning stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJodFX6c-PQ

Most notably, in the game against Gaimin Gladiators, Gaimin Gladiators banned most of Nisha’s comfort heroes and forced him to play Ember Spirit against their team’s mid Huskar which is a direct counter to Nisha’s mid Ember.

A preview for Team Liquid

Going into the Lima Major, Team Liquid is considered one of the favorites to win the tournament as everyone on Team Liquid is playing in their best form.  Although Team Liquid is currently the strongest team in Western Europe, some teams from other regions might have a decent chance of going up against them. Team Liquid needs to figure out other ways than relying upon Nisha.

Featured Image Source: Twitter/ @TeamLiquid