Team Liquid dodges Gaimin, Secures Top 8 at Bali Major

The DPC 2022-2023 Tour has been going well for Team Liquid. Although they had no luck against Gaimin Gladiators at the LANs grand finals, the team became the first to qualify for The International 2023. However, their DreamLeague Season 20 run fell short of expectations, but the team more than made up for it at The Bali Major.

Although Team Liquid was shaky during the initial group stages at The Bali Major, they quickly found their footing. After the dust had settled, Team Liquid, with four wins and four losses, secured the top seed in Group A and advanced to the playoffs at The Bali Major. Since Liquid topped their groups, they got to choose their opponent for the upper-bracket match. Their selections were the third and fourth teams from Group B. As Gaimin Gladiators was in third place at Group B, Liquid dodged against them and opted with PSG.LGD.

It was a close series as LGD stepped up to the Liquid challenge.

Game 1 

In game 1, both teams went with a slow-paced draft. PSG.LGD had their Naga Siren safelane backed by a midlane Primal Beast, while Liquid had their safelane Morphling backed by an Ember Spirit. Team Liquid enabled their midlane Ember Spirit with perfectly timed rotations from their support duo during the laning stage and built their advantage. However, after the end of the laning stage, LGD, with the perfect map awareness, secured back-to-back kills on Liquid’s Ember Spirit, making the game even. Their Naga Siren came online faster than Liquid anticipated and pressured objectives. However, Liquid played methodically, dodging the fights and only forcing favourable. As their Morphling came online, Liquid had all the answers for PSG.LGD attempts, and at 55 minutes, they took game 1.

Game 2

Team Liquid stuck to their slow-paced draft in game 2, but PSGLGD, on the other hand, went with a fast-paced game draft. They picked a Broodmother as their offlane to create space, along with their midlane Primal Beast for their safelane Phantom Lancer. LGD heavily pressured Team Liquid’s safelane Terrorblade, and Liquid, in return, pressured their PL. Liquid played their best after the end of the laning stage, taking objectives. However, eventually, Liquid fell off as the game progressed, and their Terrorblade got kited. At 34 minutes, Liquid tapped out from game 2.

Game 3

Liquid switched their playstyle in game 3, opting for a fast-tempo draft. Picking Bloodseeker for the safelane and paring a midlane Storm Spirit with a support Pugna, Liquid started strong by drawing fast blood. From there onwards, Liquid slowly build its advantage. They snowballed their advantage to victory, taking the game at 33 minutes.

Team Liquid has secured a top-eight finish at The Bali Major as they took the series against PSG.LGD. They will be facing up against BetBoom Team in their series.