Liquid made it look so easy that it’s hard to believe they’re still close to elimination. Check out all the clips and details here!
Team Liquid found themselves at the bottom before facing Tundra in the second Group Stage of DreamLeague Season 24. Despite finishing second in the first Group Stage, they struggled in the best-of-three (Bo3) rounds.
Previously, The International (TI) 13 winners faced and lost to Team Falcons, PARIVISION and Team Spirit. However, it wasn't that good for Tundra, either. Neta "33" Shapira's new team beat BetBoom by 2-0, but also lost to Spirit and Falcons.
PARI Falcons Liquid Tundra XG Waska BB Team Spirit | Liquid 1-2 0-2 - 2-0 Nov. 6 Nov. 5 Nov. 7 1-2 | Tundra Nov. 6 1-2 0-2 - Nov. 5 Nov. 7 2-0 1-2 |
Game 1: It's all about getting Morphling fed
For Team Liquid, it was all about how much pressure they could create with the Invoker pick in their DreamLeague Season 24 Group Stage match against Tundra. However, despite the pick’s potential, they struggled to gain an advantage.
Despite being countered by the Invoker pick, the Bristleback timings were working. Tundra managed to survive the early game and needed to punish SaberLight's Pangolier pick with their Bloodseeker.
Team Liquid managed to play around their team fight control with every Rolling Thunder opportunity. After getting the mid-game Roshan, it was as easy as going on the high ground with micke's huge net worth difference with Morphling. It wasn't a game with many great plays — just Team Liquid making the Bristleback look like a soft core instead of the tank he usually is.
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Game 2: The Shadowfiend was too strong
This game was scary for one reason, and a clip will be better than a thousand words:
In this game, 33's Broodmother died two times to Nisha's Echo Slam. As for the rest of the game, it felt like he was playing to avoid him, which gave Team Liquid better chances to start team fights. On the other hand, the Dragon Kinght took advantage of these skirmishes to start farming and, by 25 minutes, Nightfall's pick was at the top of the net worth chart.
It looked scary for Team Liquid, but they had a plan: wait for the Roshan, fight with Aegis, and exploit pick-offs. Despite how complicated it was to kill Tundra's heroes on paper, they managed to build a Silver Edge on Shadowfiend, which countered DK's resistance. After this item was ready for micke, it felt like it was game over.
Can Team Liquid still qualify to the DreamLeague Season 24 Playoffs after beating Tundra?
Team Liquid is no longer at the bottom of the standings, but is still very close to elimination. Their next opponent is Team Waska, the South American stack formerly sponsored by BOOM Esports, which has been seeking a new organization since finishing third in Elite League Season 2.
During the post-match interview, Insania said that he loves playing against them, as they remind him a lot of the old Thunder Awaken that almost got them out of TI 11.
"They're good. They're like the old Thunder Awaken team. I always enjoy playing against them. Matthew likes to joke around saying that we always knock them out of every tournament, so hopefully we can live up to that and continue beating them."
DreamLeague Season 24 continues, and it's still feeling like do or die for Tundra and Team Liquid. The first team will face Xtreme Gaming at 2 a.m. PT while Team Liquid versus Waska will be played at around 12:30 p.m. PT. Both matches will happen on Nov. 5, and you can watch them live on ESL's Twitch channel.
Make sure to stay tuned to our Dota 2 section for more news and updates!
