Team Liquid’s performance from the first day to the third day of The International 2019 was arguably very disappointing, they looked like they had lost their true identity. There are many factors that cause a decrease in the performance of Team Liquid, but the author will discuss the 3 most obvious factors, namely:
1. W33 Cannot Replace the Role of MATUMBAMAN
Many people think that MATUMBAMAN is only a burden on Team Liquid, even though he has an important role.
MATUMBAMAN acts as a core of “sacrifice” where he will always lure the enemy to target him and MATUMBAMAN must buy time until his teammates arrive. This cannot be done by w33 because he is an aggressive player.
When EPICENTER Major, w33 did a good role like MATUMBAMAN, but on this TI9, w33 looked like a core that rivaled Miracle – so the role of Miracle – overlapped with w33. In addition, W33 too often “throws away lives” in vain throughout TI9 that is taking place.
2. Lack of Initiation From Gh
Want to know what’s scary about Team Liquid besides their core? yep, one of Team Liquid’s frightening factors is the initiation of Gh, a very rarely seen thing in The International 2019.
Try see when Gh uses Earthshaker against Alliance on the third day of TI9. The initiation of Gh made Team Liquid win the war.
If Gh is given a hero in charge of initiation, then Team Liquid can win over 70 percent, while Gh is now more often using heroes such as Mirana, Phoenix, and Elder Titan which requires Gh to be present during the mid-war rather than at the beginning of war.
3. Changes in Strategy that Bring Disasters
The most fatal factor from the decline in Team Liquid’s performance at TI9 was a change in strategy that brought disaster, where Team Liquid’s strategy that made Team Liquid win TI9 and appear stable on DPC 2017-2018 was the use of heroes with summons such as Lycan, Lone Druid and Beastmaster.
Team Liquid will focus on objectives, that is the first strategy. But now, the Team Liquid draft relies on individual mechanics by choosing a hero who can fight the enemy alone like Timbersaw, Templar Assassin, Ember Spirit and Lifestealer.
Although the mechanical capabilities of W33 and Miracle- there is no doubt, the harmony between Team Liquid heroes is incompatible and tends not to prioritize team play, so that if one of the cores dies, Team Liquid cannot do anything.
Those are 3 important factors why the performance of Team Liquid can be said to be very bad at The International 2019, do you agree?
