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Team Liquid starts strong at DreamLeague Season 24
DreamLeague Season 24 has officially kicked off. There were many highly anticipated series, and one of them was between Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators.
Both teams have faced each other numerous times in the past. Gaimin Gladiators used to lead in terms of wins, Team Liquid, on the other hand, hold the edge in prestige, having emerged victorious in their most recent encounter at the TI13 grand finals.
Since that match, both teams have undergone roster shuffles, introducing new faces to their lineups. While both teams had participated at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024, they did not have a face-off as both were early exits.
MiCKe talks about the difference maker for the series
DreamLeague Season 24 began the day after the conclusion of the BetBoom Dacha in Belgrade 2024. While both teams were among the early exits at the prior tournament, they made different decisions after their elimination, which impacted the overall outcome of this particular series.
This time the rematch didn't even pass the hour mark, as Team Liquid took a clean and swift victory dominantly. The win also mirrors their TI13 grand final victory against the same opponent. In the post-game interview, Team Liquid's in-game leader, Michael "miCKe" Vu, spoke about how their decision gave them a slight advantage in this particular series.
" Flying early definitely saves us this game. If we didn't do it, I think this game would have been very disaster for some of us.
Micke talks about being the new captain
Team Liquid has undergone some significant changes this season. With the departure of their former in-game leader, Neta "33" Shapira, the team has not only welcomed a new member, Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek but also entrusted the captaincy to miCKe. He revealed how this role fell on him and discussed the responsibilities that come with it.
" I'm still a little bit skeptical about it. William kinda forced me onto the role because no one else wanted to do it on the team. So, you know I have to kinda do it. It's been going great so far. I definitely noticed things, like more things than I used to do because now there's more responsibility now than before. So, there's some more things I noticed that I get annoyed by but it's life of a captain– I guess."
Being a captain in Dota 2 comes with additional responsibilities, the most notable being in charge of drafting during the game's drafting stage. In his post-game interview, miCKe also talked about how his team helped him adjust to this new role.
"I think with Neta leaving us, I have to a little bit more responsibility in that sense as well – I don't think anything has changed much. Boxi is still calling a lot and I'm just calling the mid game and late game; I guess. I was doing that before with the help of Neta. For now it's exciting, I'm learning new things and it's fun to I guess lead the team. There's nothing new I think. It just this extra responsibility outside the game like drafting and what not."
Micke on Saberlight
In this particular best of two, the offlane duo of Samuel "Boxi" Svahn and Saberlight dominated the laning stage, allowing the team to snowball into effortless victory.
This is not Saber's first time on Team Liquid. He notably had a stand-in for the team at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 where they secured a podium finish. In his post-game interview, the new in-game leader of Team Liquid shared the decision behind recruiting the team's newest offlaner and reflected on what has changed since then.
"He's a goofy and funny guy– he fits our vibe obviously; he's just a fun guy to be around and he's owning it so far. I think for sure, getting additional hours will help him. We have changed a lot since the last time we played with him. Obviously, we played with Neta for a year so the playstyle shift is a lot. I think he'll take a little bit of time before he 100% feels comfortable, I guess. Right now, we're just taking it slow – making sure he's fitting into our system, I guess."
The group stage at DreamLeague Season 24 has just begun, and Team Liquid has had a strong start. However, it's been a while since Liquid made it out of the group stage at a DreamLeague tournament, so it will be interesting to see if things change this time. Stay tuned to Strafe for coverage of all the latest action as the tournament unfolds.
Featured Image Source: Valve
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