Manila Major Team Preview: Team Liquid

One of the very best Dota 2 teams right now, Team Liquid have steadily grown in stature over the last few months, with their successes building in this time.

The new roster was officially announced in October last year, with Liquid signing up Dota 2 veteran Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi’s team 5Jungz. Liquid are probably the best example of the winning formula which often prevails in Dota 2 of veterans playing alongside fresh talent.

Things were quite tough in the early days for Team Liquid and they failed to qualify for the Frankfurt Major. They didn’t let this setback bother them though and the team began to perform increasingly strongly in Premier tournaments.

By the time the second Major took place, Liquid had already started to be considered one of Europe’s top teams. They sailed through the Shanghai Qualifiers and performed well at the Main Event, making their way to the Grand Finals only to lose to Team Secret.

Another 2^nd place at ESL One Manila followed and heading into the third Major in Manila, Team Liquid finally won their first Premier tournament – Epicenter.

 

Roster

Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen – position 1
Adrian “FATA-” Trinks – position 2
Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov – position 3
Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka – position 4/5
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi (c) – position 4/5

 

2016 achievements:

Epicenter – 1^st

ESL One Manila 2016 – 2^nd

The Shanghai Major 2016 – 2^nd

Star Ladder Star Series Season 13 & i-League Season 4 – 3^rd-4^th

 

Current form:

May – 100.0% win rate (5 wins, 0 losses)

 

Top 5 most picked heroes (patch 6.87c)

 

 

Top 5 most banned heroes (patch 6.87c)

 

 

KuroKy’s vast experience was instrumental in the development of the team as the Dota legend became a captain and a drafter for the first time in his Dota 2 career. Being the shot caller wasn’t something unfamiliar to him from his early Dota days but the drafting had significantly changed in Dota 2 and while KuroKy provided the necessary guidance to his younger teammates, he also developed his drafting skills at the same time.

MATUMBANMAN is one of the young talented carries and is very proficient with the Gyrocopter, while MinD_ContRoL’s stable performance in the offlane provides security for the team. FATA- is the other veteran and he has established himself as an invaluable mid player.

In the most recent patch, Team Liquid have used lineups with pushing potential to end the game early, as well as late game compositions. They often rely on early aggression and rotations from JerAx (who often plays a roaming support) to gain advantage from the start. Whenever they go for pushing lineups, Liquid uses pushers such as Lone Druid, Beastmaster and Lycan. KuroKy and his teammates generally do not focus on winning the lanes and ganking rotations are much more valued.

In terms of heroes, the team often use Rubick, who doesn’t seem to be favoured by too many other teams in the meta. Although KuroKy is known as a legendary Rubick player, he is mostly played by JerAx. Earth Spirit is their most used hero and one of the heroes with whom JerAx is a master. The use of Earth Spirit is crucial whenever the team wants to build an early advantage which they can then capitalize upon in the later stages of the game.

Liquid generally prefer to stick with heroes that they know and some of their players have a rather low hero pool (particularly MinD_ContRoL). This can occasionally be detrimental during the drafting phase.

KuroKy’s boys have been making progress ever since they became part of the Team Liquid organization last year. The team finally received the necessary confidence boost by winning Epicenter in May and are certainly one of the best Dota 2 teams on the international scene currently. They will surely be a top contender for a significant slice of the Manila Major prize.

Dafabet will be providing competitive odds on The Manila Major.