After their disappointing fifth-place finish at The International 2023, rumors have been swirling about potential changes to Team Liquid’s Dota 2 lineup. Now, the team’s coach has confirmed that only one player will be replaced.
Following their elimination from TI12, zai, one of Liquid’s players, announced his intention to take a break from competing and even hinted at the possibility of retiring from Dota entirely. While there were initially only jokes and speculation surrounding zai’s comments, the post-TI roster shuffle has shed some light on the situation.
Liquid’s coach, Blitz, has now confirmed that zai will be stepping away from the team in some capacity. However, he also clarified that Liquid will not be replacing any additional players besides zai. This means that they will only be filling the offlane role unless any unexpected changes occur.
Blitz’s previous tweet jokingly mentioning kicking zai right after their elimination turns out to be partially true. It is still unclear whether zai will completely part ways with the team or simply move to the inactive roster for the time being, similar to Ame with LGD Gaming or Topson with OG.
If zai’s departure holds true, Liquid will retain their star midlaner Nisha, as well as the trio of miCKe, Boxi, and Insania for another season. This group of players broke the Dota 2 record for most games played together by a trio during TI12, and it seems they will continue to build on that record in the future.
Losing zai will undoubtedly be a significant blow to Liquid, considering their third-place finish at TI11, the addition of Nisha after MATUMBAMAN’s retirement, and their consistent top-three performances throughout the 2023 season.
As for the replacement for zai, Blitz revealed that the team has already been in talks with “every single free agent offlaner.” The signing of the new player is said to be almost finalized, and Liquid plans to announce it before the WEU qualifiers for ESL Kuala Lumpur 2023, which are scheduled to begin on November 16.
According to Blitz, Liquid specifically had discussions with Tundra’s 33, although it should be noted that Tundra’s roster is likely to become free agents. The coach’s statement suggests that we can expect an official announcement regarding Liquid’s new signing within the next two weeks.
Source: DOTESPORTS
