Team Liquid waltzed into the Regional Finals with a convincing stomp against OG. Here’s what MATUMBAMAN had to say.
The star-studded lineup of Team Liquid chose nothing but violence in the opening series of the Western European Regional Finals. On the road to grab some DPC points, Team Liquid put on a spectacle to shut down the eager youngbloods of OG with a score of 2-0.
The series was a walk-in-the-park for Liquid and Michael "miCKe" Vu even had ZERO deaths throughout both matches - a rare sight to see in a high tier matchup. And today, the veterans of Dota 2 managed to put the younger players on hold. So what was going on behind the screens of Team Liquid to have earned that luminous victory? Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen, the carry player of Team Liquid had plenty to say in the post-match interview.
MATUMBAMAN talks about Liquid's victory and a fun mentality
For carry players, their time to shine is almost always during the late game. However, this series wasn’t so exciting for MATUMBAMAN as they ended way too quick for him to pull out the big guns. The first match lasted 35 minutes while the second game was only 29 minutes.
“I was pretty much useless both games, more so in the first one," said MATUMBAMAN. "I think at one point at 15 minutes, I was checking the score and I checked my own score and I was 0/1/2 and I’m like yeah, I’m doing my job, they have 20 kills, it was all good. Practice paid off. I’m not even needed here.”
MATUMBAMAN then explained which teams they had been scrimming with and their excellent results.
"We scrimmed a bunch of CIS teams, I think they went pretty decent. Against Team Spirit we had pretty successful games and we felt pretty good. It worked out apparently," he said. But he elaborated that scrim results might not mirror your real abilities, since nothing is at stake. "This series felt a little bit random because nobody really played officials in a long time so you can’t really tell if you’re good or not. You can never really tell if your scrim partner is taking the game seriously so it’s nice to see that some of our ideas are pretty spot on.”
The picture of having fun while competing is something we often see portrayed by players. Teams like T1 are known for their laid-back, stressless environment when competing. That philosophy has spread more and more throughout competitions. When the panel asked MATUMBAMAN whether the fun mentality matters to him in Dota 2, he believes that each individual has their own ways of pursuing their goals.
The end goal is the same right. There shouldn’t really be any problems with how you achieve it and you have to make some compromises because it’s a team of five players. For me personally, I’ve played this game for too long to not have fun while playing.
MATUMBAMAN talks Chess
While the Regional Finals are created to replace the canceled Major, players and fans just don't get the same vibe. Clearly, the feeling of competing in your own comfort is different from an offline LAN event. And so, the panel asked MATUMBAMAN if the team's motivations remained the same after the cancelation of Major.
Obviously not. Lost Ark just launched and Chess is a pretty good game and there’s a couple of good, arcade games in Dota 2. Definitely not quite the intensity that it would’ve been if you were to play for a LAN.
Dota 2 and Chess are two huge strategy games that are often compared with each other. It's not surprising to see fellow pro players picking up on the classic game and MATUMBAMAN shared his grinding experience.
“I’m grinding my Chess ELO rating right now and it’s going pretty well. I started a week ago, but I think I’m better than Blitz Dota already, my coach.”
Team Liquid is on their track for the throne
The Regional Finals Day 1 for WEU has concluded and what awaits Team Liquid on the next round is Gaimin Gladiators (formerly Team Tickles). They have just delivered a convincing stomp against the formidable Tundra Esports 2-0. This showdown would undoubtedly be epic and it will take place tomorrow on Feb 12.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Dota 2 news and updates.