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Team Liquid at MSI 2018

By Everett Zarnick

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Success for Team Liquid requires three things, and I don’t know if they’re up to the task.

While 2018’s Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) draws nearer and nearer, questions begin to pop into my head regarding the chance of a North American / Team Liquid first place finish. It sounds nice, don’t get me wrong. But I’m just not sure its plausible. And I”m quite the optimist.

Team Liquid is a great group of 5, to be sure. And the star power of Doublelift, Olleh, and Pobelter can never go underestimated no matter what team they happen to be playing against. But against the best opponents in the world, a few things will need to be absolutely perfect for the entirety tournament, absolutely yes sir.

So let’s take an early look at three things Team Liquid need to keep an eye coming into MSI 2018 to maximize their chances of success.

Doublelift, And the art of positioning

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It sounds mundane, right? Like, no kidding? Doublelift needs to not get caught out, not make poor trades, and not die etc. etc., right?

Well…yeah. That’s correct…

It does sound rudimentary, but league these days (especially with evenly matched professional teams) usually draws out for extended periods of time, and with the late game power of an ADC (supplemented by a gross Janna shield? Gathering Storm?) its imperative that an ADC stay even with his counter part in the early game to keep equal footing and stay alive long enough in the late game to clean up on team fights when all of the CC and burst has been expended.

Yes, aggression will matter. Yes, proper itemization will matter. But those are two things I can 100% trust Doublelift to perform well on. It’s the final touch on the game that will make the difference when the group stage games hang on a thread, and the ADC powerhouse will need to keep his distance perfectly to ensure his team’s success.

This will be 20% Olleh’s job, and 180% Doublelift’s.

And with that, we can move onto what I think is the least important of the three points I’m going to make.

Pobelter and “Be Agressive!

Be – be aggressive!”

If there is one thing the first split of 2018 taught me, it’s that mid laners just don’t have the carrying power that they used to.

Just take a look at SKT or TSM. Two teams that had incredible talent all across the board, sure, but were known for their mid laners. SKT boasts Faker, the best in the world, while TSM has their ‘face-of-the-franchise’ Bjergsen in their grasps, and both teams have done, by their standards, horrendously.

Don’t let TSM’s late high-tabled finish fool you. They were just a few losses away from being the “what went wrong?” team we all thought they would be. But the final two weeks of the NA spring split showcased a tight finish between the top 6 teams, and TSM happened to be on the happy end of it.

Had things gone just a little sideways, they’d be SKT tiered in disappointment.

It just goes to show that these hard carry mid laners, the strikers of League, if you will, simply do not have the influence that they used to have in the game. That’s just the way it is. It’s true for Faker. It’s true for Bjerger king, and its true for Pobelter.

So what does that all mean, exactly?

Well, it means that Pobelter needs to grab himself a nice cc-ish laner, and stick his neck out for those picks every chance he gets. No exceptions. No half-decisions.

No miss-clicking cleanse.

Galio, Syndra, Azir, and Malzahar all fine options in my eyes. Heck em, even Twisted Fate could be good. Or at least fun. But I digress, the point is engage.

He needs to be the first to engage every single fight. Asking questions is easy, answering them is hard. So ask as many of the opponent as possible and make them find the correct answer, not the other way around, because the teams Team Liquid will be up against WILL ask questions if given the opportunity.

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Xmithie, and the art of

For the love of god keep track of their jungler.

Really. That’s it. Keep track of him. Doesn’t matter who it is, doesn’t matter the match up. Just keep track of him.

It’s too risky to fight him, because these non-NA players aren’t trash (so I’ve heard), and it’s not enough to just assume that he did his buffs and is now roaming top lane (So my bot is fine, amirite?) Nope. Not right. Not enough.

The vision game will be how I judge Xmithie this MSI. I don’t think there can be any greater indication of how well he did or did not do this tournament than how he played the game of wards. Obviously throwing down 100 wards and dying every two isn’t good, but if I were to look at the situation in front of him realistically, I’d say that if he can maintain a 1/1 KDA and beat the enemy jungler in overall information gained, he’s done more than enough to lead his team into group stage victories and beyond.

But that’s all in the future. And only time will tell whether or not these three focuses will be enough for the team to succeed this invitational (Or whether or not they will even be able to accomplish them.)

Until that time comes, I’ll be waiting with a doubtful n’ worried look on my face.

(Seriously, the whole time.)

-GLHF

Image credit: Patar Knight

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