Workforce Liquid talk about days of Dota previous and their very own journeys to the primary stage on the TI Finals Week press meet.
Workforce Liquid, are one of many 4 remaining groups in Singapore. All 5 of Liquid’s lineup — Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, Michael “m1CKe” Vu, Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg, Samuel “Boxi” Svahn, and Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi — had been current. Liquid’s coaches William “Blitz” Lee and Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka had been absent, however the workforce was in full circulation with their solutions.
With TI 11 nearly at its finish, we requested Liquid to look again; each at Internationals previous, and their very own careers, to study a bit bit extra about their journey into skilled Dota.
The journey to Professional
Do every of you’ve gotten a selected second up to now the place you determined you’d go professional with this Dota factor, or did it simply occur with out you realizing? If there was such a second, what was it?
iNSaNiA: I do know for myself not less than, it was an lively determination to change from HoN to Dota, and it wasn’t like I used to be gonna play Dota for enjoyable. So yeah, there was a really particular second once I determined to change. It was like both change or go research or do one thing else, and I made a decision I needed to play Dota. So it was all the time… with a objective in thoughts to make it.
m1CKe: Yeah, just about the identical.
zai: I suppose for me, by the point I went to my first Dota LAN, I used to be 16, I used to be nonetheless at school, however we performed some… it was at South by Southwest… It was some monster event with like 4 groups. *inaudible*… in all probability Workforce Liquid on the time. We performed BuLba (Kanishka Sosale) and a few dudes, and like two different groups. We simply went by way of this four-man event and we received, and I feel after that it was identical to I used to be on EG.
What are your favourite heroes to play 1. in your position 2. exterior your roles?
m1CKe: Rubick, in all probability. Most enjoyable Hero in Dota. In my position? Now in all probability Pango.
iNSaNiA: I agree. Exterior my position, Rubick, in my position, Rubick.
Dota gamers generally have extra inventive nicknames than CSGO gamers, a number of whom use their very own names or initials. You guys have fairly fascinating handles. What’s the story behind every of your nicknames?
m1CKe: It’s “miCKe” with a 1 in it. That’s it. My nickname.
Boxi: I simply copied my brother’s pal’s nickname once I was 8.
iNSaNiA: I selected mine at my cousin’s. I used to be making Guild Wars characters and my cousin had Latin nicknames for all of his… and I needed to be cool like him. I additionally needed Latin phrases so I simply regarded up a bunch of Latin phrases and this was the one that folks bought to know me by so I caught by it.
zai: Mine was kinda simply random… no that means, actually. Simply… cool letters.
MATUMBAMAN: I answered this query like 30 instances! I can say my first nickname truly was from Latin, too. In Warcraft III I performed below the identify “lacrima,” which implies “tear” I imagine. It’s nonetheless my Warcraft III nickname.
Wanting again at previous legends
Should you guys might go up in opposition to any TI lineup from the previous, what workforce would you need to play and why?
zai: I’d play in opposition to TI4 Newbee, as a result of I feel… I don’t know, they form of simply received the event and disappeared, by no means got here again once more, and I feel we had a very good shot at profitable that 12 months. I’ve been salty ever since. Particularly Banana (Wang Jiao)… I’d wish to play in opposition to him once more.
Whether or not or not Newbee might make a return to face Zai and grant that want must wait till subsequent DPC season. Within the meantime, there are three present line ups for the workforce to deal with.
Subsequent up, Liquid will face Workforce Aster throughout Finals Weekend, starting October 29.
