They were the 2017 champions. They have one of the most consistent top 10 placements in the game. But they have also been watching that No.1 place from behind for some time now. Is 2020 the year Team Liquid will be reborn, at least when it comes to Dota 2?

How Did The Game Change For Team Liquid

As all Dota 2 fans know, there is no bigger game on the eSports scene, which also means there is no more a competitive one, especially on the professional level. Reaching number one is hard, except if you ask Team Secret, who often seem like they are impossible to dethrone. For everybody else, it’s an open (and a very fierce) game. Millions are in play in some of the biggest tournaments, with all eyes pointed in the direction of The International’s. But, as faith would have it, Covid-19 changed many things in the community, one of the most important being the inability of offline tournaments. That alone changed the overall dynamic of the way the game is played, switching the focus back to the online tournaments, as it used to be, in the “old” days.

The change in that dynamic also means that many teams get more opportunities, and we have yet to see how everything plays out globally, but for now it seems as though it will be a change for the better.

So how does that transpire to Team Liquid? It’s not as though that massive franchise needs any more recognition, with an organization so large and so spread out across so many genres of eSports games, but their European roster in Dota 2 has been gaining some serious ground (and attention) in the past few months, reminding everybody of the organization’s glorious win in 2017 The International.

The “new boys” have just won the dramatic ESL Germany, which was their first tournament win since 2018., and the biggest win overall for these players in the Team Liquid roster. Because, as you’ve probably already guessed, this isn’t the same roster that won the biggest tournament in the game in 2017.

The Secret To Success?

When we look at this “new” team, it’s important to know that there’s a significant difference between this roster and the current general practice in Dota 2’s forever changing rosters: these guys have been together for more than three years now. They’ve begun their journey as team Alliance in late 2017 (except Maximilian Bröcker who was the only one to join the team six months later, in June 2018), and transferred to Team Liquid together in October 2019. Their teamwork and willingness to stay together obviously brings them a certain advantage in the game, at least their latest results seem to point to that conclusion. They are currently playing Epic’s new tournament (which you are free to play too) so we have yet to see if this ESL Germany win was just a (greatly coordinated) fluke, but so far they are looking very good. Could it be that this kind of “hermit” online gaming, without all of the drama of the big arenas, suits this tight-knitted team so well?

It is very early to predict if they will continue with their rise to the top (they are currently second in ESL Rankings, behind Team Secret), but they have stirred the waters of the elite Dota 2 world pretty good. We’re sure mammoths like Team Secret or OG will have a lot to say about this (at least in-game), and we’ll have some of their answers very soon – watching EPIC league closely. You should do that with us too, so you don’t miss out on Pick 6 fixtures we’ll have up and running any time now.