Team Liquid Destroyed Taiga's OG Return
Taiga’s mysterious disappearance from the DPC Summer Tour caught a lot of attention from the community. It was later revealed that he was struggling with anxiety and depression. As OG’s substitution thread got thinner and thinner, Taiga returned to OG in their series against his former team, Team Liquid, playing his first match for the DPC Summer Tour.
However, despite his return, things don’t go well for OG. Team Liquid dominated the series and took a clean 2-0 victory. Here’s a quick summary of what happened.
Game 1
In game 1, both teams planned to snowball the advantage they received from the lanning stage. Team Liquid drafted Ember Spirit for their midlane, Bloodseeker, as their safelane hard carry backed by an offlane Magnus. Seeing an opportunity, OG drafted a Void Spirit mid and a safelane Ursa backed by the offlane Keeper Of The Light. OG’s draft was a little greedy compared to Team Liquid's.
Team Liquid figured out what OG wanted to do to their draft and quickly adjusted to counter OG’s strategy by switching lanes between their safelane hard carry and offlane. This gives an advantage to Team Liquid. Team Liquid played aggressively during the laning stage with their newly set-up lanes. Even though Liquid’s offlane Magnus got heavily pressured at the safelane, their safelane carry Bloodseeker at the offlane, on the other hand, stomped OG’s safelane Ursa.
Liquid’s midlane Ember Spirit played marvellously, giving the midlane advantage to Liquid. Liquid slowly built its lead as their safelaner took part in early skirmishes. They successfully snowballed their early-game advantage to the mid-game and gave no room for OG to breathe, pressuring objectives. Eventually, having no answers to the momentum from Team Liquid, at 33 minutes, OG tapped out from Game 1.
Game 2
In game 2, both teams had weird picks on their drafts. Team Liquid drafted an offlane Winter Wyvern, while OG had a midlane Earth Spirit. OG played aggressively in game 2, bringing numbers and winning early skirmishes. However, Liquid played patiently from behind, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
A failed high-ground push attempt with Aegis from OG at 21 minutes gave Liquid what they were looking for. Even though OG had answers for Liquid’s Void Spirit mid, they nothing Liquid’s safelane carry Slark. With Slark coming online, OG was on the back foot. Eventually, at 39 minutes, Team Liquid closed out game 2 with a Rampage of their midlane Void Spirit and took the series.