Stockholm major didn’t have many surprises, except for one – the failure of Team Liquid. The side led by KuroKy arrived at the Dota Pro Circuit tournament in full force and rightly was considered the favorite. As it won all the tournaments of the season, where the team played with its full roster. But everything did not go according to plan at DreamLeague Major: Liquid not only showed poor results but ended their campaign at the last place.
The failure of Liquid could be attributed to the fact that they were in one of the toughest groups of the competition. While after the group stage, the team competed in a best-of-one (BO1) match where no team was the favorite. However, for a team that claims to be a strong contender title, this is no excuse. In addition, in the group stage, the team lost both of its matches with 2-0 results which only indicates that the team simply didn’t have the spark. Moreover, the EU side did not have the time and opportunity to do re-evaluate their tactics, because after losing the match to ENCE, they were eliminated. For other top teams, the failure of one of the top competitors is unlikely to change anything: They will still closely monitor the tactics of Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi.
? @LiquidMATUMBA ?
? https://t.co/sl3BSJY6Df #DreamLeagueMajor pic.twitter.com/WLVIfHHeum
— DreamHack Dota (@DreamHackDota) March 17, 2019
The Mind Games
Another question is how much such a succession of failures will affect the moral component of Liquid players. When you come to the tournament as a favorite and take the last place, it is very difficult to accept the defeat. Given the fact that more than half of the season has passed, in the following tournaments, the pressure will only grow. At the moment Liquid occupies the 12th place in the Dota Pro Circuit table and even with a poor start to the year the team can still claim an invite for TI9. By regaining self-confidence and composure, the team can surely win one of the upcoming Majors. Considering the failures of the current season, this will be a very difficult challenge for Team Liquid.
You can’t run from @ChaosEC! #DreamLeagueMajor pic.twitter.com/WvssGNWt1l
— DreamHack Dota (@DreamHackDota) March 17, 2019
Minor Patch Changes
Immediately after DreamLeague, Major Valve released the balanced patch 7.21b. It included nerfs to several heroes who performed well in the tournament. Nerfs were subjected to all the hero’s which were in the top four picks of the tournament. Valve nerfed Pangolier the most. Moreover, they removed the unbalanced mechanics, which imposed silence and disarmament on the enemy at the same time. Despite the nerf, Pangolier may well remain relevant to the meta. However, it is unlikely that teams will pick him as mid-lane core. There are more effective and suitable heroes for this role. Valve also nerfed Oracle. Since his False Promise ability now has more cooldown time, costs more mana and has lost its long cast range.
