They never banned it for the entire series, for three games. It's crazy to think that Team Liquid never banned it when the first game Lina had already given them a problem. Even it's jabbz that played for pos 5 and insania for pos 4, the adjustment was quite hard on them but it's too obvious for them to just ban comfort heroes of GG. They all knew how good this team was even before the other tournaments. On the game 3, it's funny that the whole Team Liquid was just laughing with what they're doing, that's already a sign that they accept defeat.
The problem is not the hero but how Nisha is dominated by Quinn in all of their game. GG will just use a different hero if they will ban Lina and it's very easy to counter Lina if it doesn't have a good laning phase which he always has since the rotation doesn't help Nisha at all compared to when Boxi does it to support Nisha. I think the gameplay is purely relying to Boxi when they are facing strong team. They just manage to beat Talon because they are ahead in skills individually which is why they are strong on laning phase. GG deserves it because they always have a flawless team fights. RIP to those who bet an outright bet for Team Liquid as wnner.
They also failed to make meaningful rotations in GG's jungle. Watching the replays of Liquid with boxi playing, I can see that he's actively seeking whether there are camps stacked already, and if there is, Nisha will then position himself to move towards that stack and try to force rotations in there and make plays. Insania will then tp to where that stack is, leaving the carry to hug the tower or clear the wave then move to the jungle until the next wave appears. It has always been like this, but with boxi's absence Liquid has become passive. Doesn't matter if Quinn is owning Nisha or not; their early lead advantage is generated from knowing where to move the fights and how to give space to their carry.
This is the Lina Major, not the Lima Major, but congrats to GG for winning it, although I'm not sure a lot of people enjoyed watching it apart from those bettors who just won their bets
I do not know why Team Liquid won't ban Lina. It is obvious that after 2 maps, they are owned by Lina. Is it pride that keeps them from banning it? I do not see any other reason.
As hard as Lina hits this patch, she's also a pretty squishy hero that can't really solo in the early laning phase. See what heroes they are picking for boxi and zai? Mostly aggressive heroes that can dominate the lane. Where they fail is execution, and I think it's to be understood considering that jabbz isn't really made for professional dota games. They are hoping that they can close in on the Lina, a ticking time bomb, before it explodes. What they fail to account for was there are four other heroes in the map that does the same (and even better, that nasty Io - WD tandem) for them. Micke has survived the ordeals of those stupidly efficient offlane that GG has been throwing, but it isn't enough especially if all the cores and supports of GG has items.