Team Liquid wins StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3

Each tournament in this season of Dota 2 carries more weight than ever before. Valve’s new system involves teams receiving qualifying points for placing well in both their Minors and Majors, which are used to directly invite the eight teams with the most points to The International 8. Team Liquid started off the new season by securing themselves first place at StarLadder and earning themselves 150 points after their 3-1 win over Mineski in the finals.

Many wondered how Team Liquid would perform after the long break between games after winning TI7. We have seen teams in the past lose form due to taking extended breaks and not practicing—but the same could not be said for Liquid. They went undefeated in the group stage with all 5 members of the team showing no signs of rust as they secured their playoff spot. While this is on the same patch that TI7 was played, Liquid’s drafts have continued to evolve. We saw KuroKy play Chen in the first four games and MinD_ContRoL put the team on his back with an unbelievable Pugna game. Neither hero had been prominently featured in their TI winning run. The semi-finals match against Team Secret was also a 2-0 affair which meant Liquid was going into the finals without losing a single game up to that point.



While Mineski was able to take the first game off Liquid in the finals, we saw each progressive game become more and more one sided for TL until eventually they claimed the deciding win in just 20 minutes. With another title defended Team Liquid will set their sights on the upcoming Major in Hamburg at the end of the month.