Team Liquid retired their last Dota 2 team after the International 4 and decided to patiently wait for the right moment to pick up a team that will do justice to one of most respected organizations in e-Sports.
In the post TI 5 shuffle Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi decided to take a leap of faith and formed his own squad rather than going to yet another famous team that might have had a free support spot. And so the 5JuNGz was created. The interesting mix of the players that KuroKy put together had immediate success and only two months after its creation Team Liquid stepped in and acquired Kuro’s stack, just in time for the Frankfurt Major qualifiers.
Team Liquid roster:
Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen
Adrian "FATA-" Trinks
Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Borislavov
Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka
Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi
Team Liquid fell short in the European main qualifiers for the Fall Majors and missed the train to Frankfurt but the team stuck together and they are now actually the first to qualify for Shanghai after the controversial decision of Valve - who didn’t invite TL straight into the main event.
Team Liquid achievements after Frankfurt Major:
4th place: Nanyang Dota 2 Championships
1st place: Dota 2 Champions League Season 6
1st place: The Defense Season 5
5th/6th place: The Summit 4
3rd place: World Cyber Arena 2015
3rd/4th place: SL i-League StarSeries
Although when you say Team Liquid you instantly think at Earth Spirit, given their all time super star on the hero, Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka, the European squad manages to surprise almost every time with their hero choices.
But one thing is for sure, no matter who they face, Team Liquid will draft around Adrian "FATA-" Trinks. Luckily for them, FATA- is one of the most experienced mid players in the scene and a very talented one too, with a vast range of heroes and a very short adapting curve to the meta.
In the current 6.86 patch TL’s mid player is one of the fewest in the scene with a 100% win rate in 10 official games played on Invoker. Liquid has adopted the super fast push tactic of these days and that allowed them to sweep through high ranked teams. They are not afraid to go with a full push line-up and often they couple Invoker or Death Prophet with Lycan or Razor with Shadow Shaman.
If FATA- has a good start and a dominating presence in the mid lane, the game is 99% won by Team Liquid and that’s why they emphasize duo supports that can have immediate impact into the game like Shadow Shaman, Earth Spirit, Vengeful Spirit or Tusk.
Top hero picks in the 6.86 patch
MATUMBAMAN
Gyrocopter: win rate 81%
Lycan: win rate 80%
Anti Mage: win rate 75%
FATA-
Invoker: win rate 100%
Death Prophet: win rate 62%
Razor: win rate 60%
MinD_ContRoL
Dark Seer: win rete 53%
Broodmother: win rate 60%
Natures Prophet, Earth Shaker, Nyx Assasin each played in three official games with 100% win rate
JerAx
Tusk: win rate 77%
Earth Spirit: win rate 69%
Vengeful Spirit: win rate 83%
KuroKy
Shadow Shaman: win rate 80%
Io: win rate 71%
Dazzle: win rate 100%
During the last two weeks Team Liquid experimented a lot with their drafts at WePlay Season 3 and DotaPit Season 4 qualifiers. KuroKy was spotted playing a few Lifestealer games, FATA- practiced his Puck and Outworld Devourer while MATUMBAMAN tested his Tinker skills.
Whether all these picks are indicating new strategies or they just reflect a relaxed state of mind before Shanghai - only the Winter Major will show.
