iNSaNiA on Team Liquid: We're tired of getting second

DreamLeague Season 22 is currently underway. The opening day was full of surprises as up-and-coming teams took down many titans, including Team Liquid. They drew with 1win in their opening series. After the series, Team Liquid’s captain, Aydin "iNSaNiA" Sarkohi,  sat down for an interview to discuss the new patch and the team’s intentions for this season.

iNSaNiA at the International 2023, thinking about his draft to beat Gaimin Gladiators. He wasn't successful.
Credits: Valve

iNSaNiA on their series with 1win

Team Liquid had a rough opening day at DreamLeague Season 22. They tied their opening series, and Team Spirit, the current International champions, took a clean victory off them in the following series.

iNSaNiA at The International 2022, after getting eliminated by Team Secret.
Credit: Valve

While Team Spirit is expected to win against them, tying the series against 1win was unexpected. In a post-match interview after their series against 1win, iNSaNiA gave his thoughts on how 1wins’ strategy caught them off guard in Game 1.

Reflecting on the series, Team Liquid’s In-Game Leader gave credit to their opponents for their bold strategy. They noticed that 1win was prioritizing giving their (Liquid) team’s midlaner a miserable game. Thus, in Game 2, Team Liquid responded accordingly, which resulted in them taking the game. Aydin even hilariously commented it’s Team Liquid’s tradition to lose their opening match.

iNSaNiA on the new patch

Patch 7.35c is the newest Dota 2 patch update, Valve released.
Credits: Valve

Valve released a gameplay update patch before the start of DreamLeague Season 22. The patch focuses on nerfing overpowered items such as Mage Slayer and Disperser while bringing back some forgotten heroes.

When asked about his thoughts on the topic, Team Liquid’s captain was more than ready to share his experience with it during the last few days.

Mage Slayer was one of the strongest items at Patch 7.35b due to the buff it received. However, it received a slight nerf in this current patch update.
Credits: Valve

At first, he thought Mage Slayer’s nerfs were insufficient. However, he admits he could be wrong because he has yet to see the item picked up in his matches.

iNSaNiA, the current in-game leader of Team Liquid at The International 2022.
Credits: Valve

“ I don’t think I’ve seen a Mage Slayer yet in my games, so I dunno. It seems like it has done the job, and Mage Slayer is gone, which I think a lot of people are happy about.”

The Heroes 

On talking about the heroes, the player commented he was interested in playing Leshrac as a support because he has seen the hero popping off in his pubs in the role. Leshrac is one of the heroes that has received buffs on this new patch update. The hero’s third ability, Diabolic Edict, got its damage increased.

Leshrac is often known as Disco Goat because of his taunt.
(Credit: Valve)

Thus, it is now easier to take objectives, and the skirmishes have become more chaotic. Additionally, the items that Leshrac usually itemizes, like Bloodstone, Kaya and Snage, also got buffed.

Team Liquid’s Plans For DreamLeague

Team Liquid has been one of the strongest teams in the professional Dota 2 scene for over a year. However, they have consistently fallen short at the grand finals, always placing as the runner-up.

iNSaNiA at The International 2023 with Team Liquid .
Credits: Valve

Despite undergoing a roster shuffle, the team can’t manage to close out tournaments. Thus, when iNSaNiA was asked what fans could expect from them at DreamLeague Season 22, his reply gave hope to the fans.

The player explained that they are committed to winning a tournament since BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024.  iNSaNiA continued to say that the memes are funny about how Team Liquid always placed second. However, the team is trying to fix their problems to win a tournament.

“Ever since the BetBoom Dacha, we decided we really wanted to commit to try to get over our last hump and try to figure out how to win finals 'cause we’re tired of getting second. We are attempting to put a lot of more focus into trying to fix our problems and trying to really secure a tournament win in the upcoming couple of months."

DreamLeague Season 22 results for Group B at the end of day 1.
Credits: Twitter.@ESLDota2

Currently, Team Liquid is in sixth place in the groups. Their upcoming match is against Aurora. The group stages of DreamLeague Season 22 will conclude on February 28th. Stay tuned to our articles, as we will be providing you with all the latest updates and details about the tournament.

Featured Image Source: Valve

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