LIQUID LIGHT UP STARLADDER

The Post TI transitional period was a tough one for the team, especially after missing out on the Boston Major. But after finding our magic formula in the tail end of November 2016, Team Liquid is once again on the cusp of something special. DreamLeague Season 6 was the perfect debut for our current lineup, as it marked our first big title since Epicenter Moscow. Now, the team has added StarLadder Season 3 to its trophy case—the perfect audition tape for the Kiev Major.

It was a nervey start to the tournament when our team lost a 78 minute slugfest where we almost completed an impossible comeback from 2 sets of rax down before the 40 minute mark. With patience and excellent team fights, the team managed to draw it out, but a disastrous dive onto the throne resulted in defeat. The next two games against VG.J turned in our favor, with a classic 26 minute stomp and a Sniper mid game included.

Against Wings in the winners match, it was a battle between our standard against Wings' unconventional. We picked Lone Druid twice in an unrelenting tower siege, and not even Wings' clever Lycan + Night Stalker combo could counter our big ultimate lineup in game 2.



On the other side of the group stage, OG and TNC—off a 2-1 upset of Secret—sailed into the playoffs. Yet the Filipino squad, a revelation over the past few months, offered scant resistance in the quarter finals against a Liquid squad finding its rhythm. The scoreboard read 2-0 in a fraction over an hour, and the kill tab showed how gruesome the matchup was: 25-9 and 39-12 in Liquid's favor.



A face off against rivals OG was on the cards, but VG.J, the only team to hand Liquid a loss thus far, outlasted the Boston Major champions in 3 games. The crowd favorites stepped into the finals confident that they could beat anyone.

Anyone, that is, except for Liquid. While VG.J kept their form in Game 1, they looked far from the same team that beat OG the series prior. After losing a 24 minute Game 2, Team Liquid completely dismantled VG.J’s Game 3 lead through some of the finest split pushing that we’ve seen in years, if not ever. Their play throughout the finals, and in this game in particular, was a statement to Europe and the rest of the world: they are a completely different squad from what we saw before the Boston Major and worthy of a Kiev invitation.

Next up for Team Liquid is the Dota 2 Asian Championships 2017 in March, which will also be held in Shanghai. For now, we celebrate with our Dota team for their newest triumph, and we look forward to coming back to a city that has hosted so many great memories.