TI13 Team Liquid profile: Can they Pierce the Veil?

Team Liquid is one of the most storied organisations when it comes down to their history at The International.

Their flag has flown high on the TI stage since 2013 and through all the editions that they attended, they never placed below top 8 except for TI4. The TI7 Aegis of Champions is proudly sitting in their trophy case and heading into TI13 they are once again one of the favourites at the title.

How it started

Before looking into how the current competitive season shaped up for Team Liquid, let’s remember that in the 2023 season the Dota 2 scene witnessed the biggest rivalry unfolding throughout the entire year. Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators reached the grand finals of every single major tournament, with the latter winning every time. The rivalry carried through TI12, where Gaimin landed the most important win against Liquid, eliminating them from the pinnacle tournament of the year in the top 6.

That was the most painful loss for Liquid, and heading into the new season, changes were in order. Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg retired from competitive play, leaving not only the offlane role vacant but also a bunch of other in-game attributions.

His place was taken by The International 2022 champion Neta "33" Shapira, who came from Tundra Esports.

Team Liquid roster

Micke “miCKe” Vu
Michał “Nisha” Jankowski
Neta “33” Shapira
Samuel “Boxi” Svahn
Aydin “iNsania” Sarkohi
coach: William “BlitZ” Lee

How it went

Team Liquid have a unique cohesion recipe in the current Dota 2 landscape. Their foundation lays on a trio formed by miCke, Boxi and Insania, who have been together since the 2017 Alliance days. miCKe and Insania go even further back to the HoN era, from where they transitioned as a duo to Dota 2.

That translates into their gameplay and that’s what makes Liquid’s safe lane one of the strongest you can find among all the teams. Their lane synergy is unmatched, and even when the early game might go poorly for them, you will rarely see a support player excelling at securing comeback ways for his carry like Insania does.

However, having such a trio foundation might get tricky when new players have to be introduced into the roster, as both the old and the new members need to make an effort to adjust to the new setting.

33 is probably the best option they could have gone with to fill Zai’s shoes. Since his arrival at the team, 33 took on drafting duties alongside coach Blitz, while also being responsible for analyzing the game in micro aspects. 33 is a unique player in that regard, always being a step ahead of many when it comes to figuring out tiny, but crucial, aspects of the game. His two years alongside Aui_2000 at Tundra have definitely helped him develop even more in that sense, but as he came with a lot of new ideas to Liquid, it took time for everyone to get in sync.

Inconsistency defines Liquid’s 2024 competitive season. They had tournaments where they would reach the finals but they also had a couple where they bombed out at the bottom of the groups. However, a few top 4 and top 6 placements were enough to grant them a direct invite to TI13.

Team Liquid's most successful hero pairings before TI13

Team Liquid finally found their stride as TI approached. They finished runners-up at Riyadh Masters in July, reigniting last year’s rivalry with GG who defeated them once more. At the beginning of August, they also landed their first tournament victory at Elite League Season 2.

What changed

After a disastrous 9th-10th finish at DreamLeague Season 23, Liquid came to Riyadh Masters prepared with new strategies and a new play style. They were one of the few teams to have a clear understanding of how to play a fast-paced oriented meta and plowed through the group stage matches and playoff upper bracket with 33’s Lycan, miCKe’s Shadow Fiend, Razor, and Gyrocopter. They added new heroes to the support lines, Insania providing the lane stability and protecting everyone through the early pushes with a position 5 Sven, while Boxi enabled the team with a flex pick Morphling.

While some of the teams heading to TI13 chose to test their ideas for the new 7.37b patch, Liquid took a bigger break to refresh and recharge in the month leading up to TI. That doesn’t mean their players have become completely inactive. Quite the opposite.

Looking at their pub game history for the past few weeks, the team is busy testing the new meta flavours and we should expect to see miCKe having already mastered the new Lina, Windranger or Mirana carry playstyle.

Much like in Riyadh, Liquid will most likely show some pocket strats at TI13 too, as they have players with extremely wide hero pools. You should keep an eye on niche picks such as a carry Riki or even Void Spirit, while 33 is notoriously famous for his Visage, who although hasn’t been a hot meta pick in a while, can still make an appearance.

While Ringmaster has just hit the server and it is unclear if the teams will attempt to make it an integral part of their strategies for TI13, Liquid supports are testing quite a few new things. So don’t be surprised if you see Boxi changing from Morphling support to Naga Siren, Medusa or even Sniper played from position 4. At the same time, Clockwerk and Omniknight are some of the options that Insania is exploring in order to secure the laning dominance for miCKe’s ranged carry heroes.

Team Liquid is one of the competitors heading to TI13 that have some of the biggest brains when it comes to understanding the game. They’ve dominated the scene along with Gaimin Gladiators for a whole year in 2023 and nobody should be fooled by their inconsistency throughout the first half of 2024.

The past couple of weeks should only show that they are peaking at the right moment, and we should look at Team Liquid as one of the strongest contenders at this year’s Aegis of Champions.