Team Liquid Struggles at League of Legends MSI, Hopes for Group Stage Diminish
Team Liquid has suffered another defeat at the 2018 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, leaving them at the bottom of the standings with a record of 0-3. This loss has greatly impacted their chances of advancing past the group stage.
Doublelift’s Flash Wolves Déjà Vu
This defeat for Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng brought back memories of his performance with TSM at Worlds in 2017. The Flash Wolves managed to win enough games to force a tiebreaker with Misfits, which TSM ultimately lost.
A One-Sided Pubstomp
The match between Team Liquid and Flash Wolves was completely one-sided. Flash Wolves built up a significant 10,000 gold lead by the 24-minute mark. Unfortunately, Team Liquid faced numerous issues throughout the game.
In the beginning, the substitution of Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung for Joseph “Joey” Haslemann proved to be a mistake. Joey died twice early on against the Flash Wolves bot lane. This change was made at Olleh’s request, as he was feeling the pressure of the event more than expected. However, after this game, Olleh may have no choice but to return.
Additionally, the draft strategy focused on empowering Eugene “Pobelter” Park, which is not typical for Team Liquid. Pobelter usually excels at control mages who influence fights with pacing and zoning. However, he blind-picked Yasuo, a champion that relies solely on damage. This decision proved fatal, resulting in Pobelter having the worst score in the game.
Furthermore, Team Liquid departed from their usual style of forcing early teamfights and instead attempted a splitpush strategy. This backfired as Pobelter was caught out and killed twice in a row, opening up the map for Flash Wolves.
A Larger Problem with Mentality
While this is speculative, Team Liquid’s departure from their usual picks and strategies may be a symptom of a larger mentality issue. North American teams often struggle with this at international events. To have a chance at advancing to the top four, Team Liquid needs to regroup, focus on their strengths, and remain calm.
However, the current version of Team Liquid seen at MSI is vastly different from the team that faced 100 Thieves in the NA LCS finals just weeks ago.
Team Liquid, League of Legends, MSI, Flash Wolves, defeat, group stage, Doublelift, Worlds 2017, Olleh, Pobelter, strategy, mentality