Coming out of a cinematic thriller victory against Team Falcons, Team Liquid has quickly become the team to watch in Bangkok. They’ve had their backs against the wall, facing elimination throughout the entire Playoffs stage, and their next match against Team Spirit is no different.
The On-Stage Gods
As a Liquid fan for four years, my boys displayed a dismal performance in the Group Stage, but they are a completely different beast when playing in front of a crowd. Team Liquid is known to bathe in the chants, energy, and high-pressure situations, riding momentum as they go, as made evident in their flawless TI13 run to claim the Aegis.
miCKe has been a reliable factor for Team Liquid in their past bouts, showcasing he can carry games on his own, especially on his trusty Morphling. However, the newest recruit, Saberlight, has understandably been the team’s weak link in past tournaments, but it seems like he has entered the comfort zone with impactful maps in the Playoffs.
I’ll admit the match against Falcons wasn’t the cleanest, but Liquid is really riding the momentum, and I feel we’ll see an even stronger force against Spirit today.
A Chance To Prove Themselves
Facing TI winners are TI winners themselves, except we’ve swapped out three players from the 2023 winning roster. The new pieces on the squad, Satanic, rue, and Malik, have everything to prove in this ESL One Bangkok run.
Though the two Yellow Submarine graduates don’t have the most crowd experience, they have played very calm and collected Dota, doing everything systematically. Satanic is really presenting his mechanical prowess, as I’ve been seeing him win all of his lanes comfortably. Meanwhile, the laning duo of Malik and rue are playing very stably – no complaints from me.
Team Spirit has been looking sharp in their lanes, and Miposhka has been coming up with a solid game plan to snowball with any lead obtained.
Head-To-Head Match History
The two rosters have played against each other three times this year, with Team Liquid coming out on top twice. Two matches were Group Stage games, but the one that mattered was the Grand Final of the 1win Fall Series, where the boys in blue rinsed Team Spirit in a 3 – 0 series.
What To Expect from Liquid vs. Spirit
I think the drafting stage will be very interesting, especially when we look at the carry players. Both Pos 1 players prefer ranged carries, namely Templar Assassin and Morphling, so it’ll be interesting to see who will get their hands on who or if both will just straight up be banned.
However, both lineups love playing strong laning heroes and have depended on a good early game to get the ball rolling. I think the laning stage will most likely decide the games, but the two sides are always down to play some late game.
I believe the Liquid boys are in better form, have more on-stage experience and will take this series. I’ll be watching the mid-lane matchup between Larl and Nisha. These two components will be responsible for dictating the pace, which is crucial as both teams love capitalizing on early leads.
