ICYMI: Liquid'Dota take 1st, The Defense Season 5

December 11 2015
A LAN, At Last...

Over the past weekend, Team Liquid, as a team and as an organization, hit a crucial milestone with their 3-1 victory over Team OG in the Grand Finals of The Defense Season 5. It is the first LAN win for the new squad, who only came together in late August of this year following TI5. This is also a first for an organization who, up until this October, had only sponsored a North American squad whose most notable accomplishment was their miracle lower bracket victory over LGD at TI3. It was a smaller LAN, with only four teams in attendance at the joinDota studio in Berlin, but underneath lies a larger narrative for the team in their road to victory.

Liquid’s first series against Alliance served as a grudge match. Harkening back to a heartbreaking elimination series in the Frankfurt Major European qualifier, Liquid succumbed to an overwhelming push strategy, orchestrated by Alliance offlaner Admiral Bulldog, in the decisive game 3. This time, Liquid would hold firm. Despite going down in game 1, Liquid rallied to overcome Alliance and win the series 2-1, besting Alliance’s signature picks in the third game. When midlaner s4 took his fight-turning Magnus and Admiral Bulldog pulled out his nightmarish Broodmother, Liquid put MATUMBA on Gyro and FATA on Alchemist.

Despite high morale, a 2-0 sweep would soon follow at the hands of Team OG, echoing the upper bracket elimination during the Frankfurt Major qualifiers. They were highlight reel games for OG’s midlaner, Miracle, who put up commanding performances on Huskar and his trademark Shadow Fiend. Liquid would have another rematch against Alliance, and once again would emerge victorious. There would be no mistakes this time—a 2-0 sweep in little over an hour—with the second game showcasing an unconventional Omniknight pick to back up MATUMBAMAN’s carry Ursa.

The final showdown with OG in the grand finals would be Liquid’s message to the global Dota community:

“We’re here.”



Four games later, Liquid would claim the championship, on LAN, from the team that bested favorites Evil Geniuses and Team Secret to take Frankfurt’s title not even a month ago. It was a European-only contest, but with this victory, the sky's the limit for the freshly minted Team Liquid. Later this week they will travel to Los Angeles for The Summit 4, and next week to China for WCA, to face an international field of competitors to defend their legitimacy and begin to carve out their legacy.

WATCH THE FULL VOD HERE


Liquid vs OG (Grand Final)




Writer // Dan Klein
Graphics // shiroiusagi
Photo Credit // Lawrence Phillips
Video Credit // Dota 2 Esports TV