Team Liquid fell short again after losing 3-1 to Team Spirit in the finals, and the series is almost the same as the upper bracket finals, where they started out strong in the first game, and then Team Spirit started to click on the remaining games. Team Spirit's team fighting was overall better after that first game loss, and they punished Team Liquid so hard in the third game by countering their Io Lesh with an AA pick. In the fourth game, Team Liquid tried to gain an early lead but failed because Team Spirit is always getting something back.
Team Spirit is good in countering picks and also in slowing down the game to give space for yatoro and have him his farm and items. I think with Team Liquid, they have to restrategize if they've been reusing strategies again and again. Like if for Talon, the fast game worked for them then they should have at least tried a different strategy if that fast game didn't worked for Team Spirit. Whilst zai and nisha has always been a performer, it seems that every fan is putting blame on micke.
They did try to change things up, but Team Spirit is way ahead of them in this tournament. It is the little things that they do that put Team Spirit to be better than Team Liquid. Like when have troll warlord on Yatoro and they are at a big disadvantage, the supports itemized to make troll better. Eventually, Yatoro was able to catch up and they won the map. Aside from Yatoro always on point, like he knows where to go to avoid Liquid and when to push for the kill. That eventually put fear on team Liquid and you can see that they are very afraid of Yatoro. They cannot complete a high ground push even when they are way ahead. Team Spirit is just a better team in drafts and execution.
Micke is a shit carry and always picking up that Drowranger
I do not think he is a shit carry, but they were just out drafted and outplayed by team spirit. They were executing perfectly up until they faced Team Spirit. GG and Team Liquid has been the top dog for this year and have played most finals. It is bound that other teams will eventually break them and uncover their tendencies. It is not a coincidence that both teams are dropped by the most unlikely teams. Team Spirit has been mediocre this year up until Riyadh Master.
I do not know if Team Liquid is not happy with Micke anymore and they would replace him but I do think that it will not happen this year. Maybe after TI but not before. It will be hard to go to TI with a new team mate you and expect them to be able synchronize automatically. I think micke will still be with team liquid and if he underperforms again in TI, then maybe Team Liquid will break this current line up.
This is the result of my bet today in Intel Extreme Masters Cologne.
I got G2 vs Faze right. G2 was able to sweep Faze in their series 2-0. Never expected it to be a sweep and they could easily beat Faze but they did.
Navi vs OG did not go as I thought it would be. OG gave a good fight and was able to force a third map. On the third map, Navi was just better and won the series.