Transcript for:
Team Liquid at MSI Preparation and Journey

We are at the Alien Space in the Chengdu. We are practicing for the upcoming MSI. It was really great to actually be able to come here quite early for a boot camp. We've been really lucky with the facility that's been provided with us at Alien Space.

We've got two rooms, one for the coaches, one for the players to be able to screen in. That's been another thunder to see us. I think it's set up pretty well. All the staff is very helpful and kind of like, you know, giving us like gifts and like food. Yeah.

Oh my god, this city is massive. I was just so impressed by the number of buildings. It just felt kind of like a much bigger New York City to me. The food is nice in Cheongju.

Even though I'm sweating a lot, I love the Mala taste. So we're having a good time. First year, you're playing with the God APA.

It's your first year without that. Good luck. I play summer as well. Summer, summer, summer, you get to have my gloves.

I really got the APA, maybe. It's been really good and yeah I think that the guys are enjoying the different culture. Ready? One, two, three! I'm so strong right now, I have everything and I want to fight here.

Just wanted to tell you something about that. I live on the first, like, then I get full weight. I live on the second. I'm full weight. Coming into scrimming, it's always tough because we haven't played together for about three patches now, so we come back together.

I think the first couple of days were really rough. I think that Europe comes in with a really good understanding of MVP and macros, so it's actually been really enjoyable scrimming with those guys. It's just like a first experience playing with this very new team.

Some of the teams are playing a new play, which made us challenge to the next step. Otherwise we wouldn't be behind. I think we are catching up pretty well.

I will say it feels like we are a little bit sloppier, but we are playing a lot faster and that opens up a lot more mistakes, especially when people are trying to do more things. The team evolved so much from spring and it just felt like the right storyline for like we're going to go to international, we're going to do really well. Honestly, the guys just enjoy the process, which I'm really happy with because I'm a big process-driven coach and I think that makes it a much more enjoyable experience. We just moved into the live hotel today after bootcamping about 10 days at the Alienware Esports Hotel.

I actually don't even know the name of the hotel. I think it's a Fairmont hotel. The practice room right now, the room is pretty nice.

It definitely feels a lot more fresh because we've I met Hans Salma, said hi. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel.

I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel.

I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel.

I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think it's a fairmont hotel. I think It doesn't feel like now we are in MSI, now we are in the daybed.

What do you think I fear the most? This one, please. Okay, this is what I fear the most.

We have very good team culture, which means that everyone is happy to give and receive feedback from each other, no matter how direct, straightforward, positive or negative. And I think that what that does is it builds trust, and I think that people that have similar interests that you trust, then naturally you start to form bonds, and when that trust exists, then it's hard to not be close with the people on the team. And I would say You know, probably.

I just really enjoyed it. Just one. Just put your chin to it.

Yeah. Plus one. I'm scared. Kingpots.

Looking at the details to my profile. Kingpot, kingpot, kingpot. Uh... Kids these days, they're going all day.

I try and remind them as much as possible, you know, we are so lucky. You know, everyone on this world is in their 20s. I don't know many other, you know, young men in their 20s that get to travel around the world playing a video game that they love, earning some good money, but, you know, also creating some really memorable moments with each other. Good morning, Tiger.

If he's in a car, he's a five-star. Oh, a five-star. Got a model over here.

Action! And... cut! I just hope everyone's able to look back on trips like this really, really fondly and just remember how full it was of them, you know, good thing comes with changes.

You're so cute. What do you mean? Oh my god he's going for your feet! Oh! How do you feel?

I'm tired. You're tired? Yeah, one night, nine more months. Yes, definitely, they just made it out of the playing stage and they're in the bracket stage and we scrimmed them before as well.

So I think we knew they were good. Yeah, I think, I think pretty good chance to be coming against them. But I think the guys are definitely getting in shape and yeah, I think just everyone is really eager to go on stage and play the game. Going to the venue, I was just kind of shocked by the number of fans that were there.

Just throngs of people and so much fandom like it was super cool. I loved all that I mean, I'm literally done with boss you fade into because finally I can put a big crowd But many people can watch some direct game Success would be for sure Making some damage getting better Whilst we talk about the process right and the fact that we're looking to build success is winning the game in australia We understand we're not here to fight, you know We're here to uh Go out there, win state games, and show that North America can do some damage. Best of five. Be prepared to play for five hours.

Also, let's go out there and have fun. We're an aggressive team, they're going to be an aggressive team. It's probably going to be a very spicy best of five, right? I want to see us take the five-season out, guys.

And then just remember, when you're out there, take a deep breath, and just enjoy the month. There's a lot of people at breakfast, eat a couple of people's seconds, and we train very, very hard. They shut down TL and they will move on to match point. When they're hearing about Rick Keller and Chase DeLisle, they need to be willing to buy them.

Welcome to brand new TL down to the lower bracket. T.J. Dominic will start the match.

I want to see something really cool. This is the Honda Prologue. We can go anywhere we want.

We got smashed, I mean like embarrassingly bad. It makes no sense the way this game went. Like we're talking like the actual lane pop itself was good. We got our shot, we went at top, you're on top now.

Either face with my bottom lane so you're throwing the flash, or we just need to take that top and rerun it together. And I caught dying there and burning flash and now having to burn flash is fing terrible for the game. After that the game is just fed. I thought, I mean, not gonna lose like that.

Because I have confidence how we play the game, game wise. Like, we find the way to come back play or do something crazy play. But how we played the game, I remember, we not try to find the game condition. That's our big problem. We were really disappointed with our performance.

We felt like we just didn't... It's like we didn't rise to the occasion. We knew there were great things. And then I think we came in and we just kind of went through the motions.

It was a personal rising to the occasion. Our basic fundamentals just weren't good enough and we could never get a good feel for the series. Leaving the stage, I saw that almost like 50, 70 people trying to spend way more, like 50 hours, that actually made me more of them.

You know, maybe in my career that was more embarrassing than that thing. I think that after that, obviously you have to have some pretty serious conversation with players without stepping out there, you know, just questioning why we did it. Like, we come into an event, we said we want to win games, we want to do damage, we want to be that thing that a lot of people respect. So to have a series like that was pretty disappointing.

I think you can walk off the night. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. A couple of games in a row, and we're just not able to kind of leave it.

Leave it, leave it, leave it. I think I want to know why you were mad. So that at least you can understand the situation. I want to understand why you were mad, why you were in that way. This is a learning process for a young guy.

And I think that he's done well in taking accountability when he's gone too far. But honestly, at the end of the day, the reason he does get some upset is because he cares a lot. I think the energy was.

I'm the frustration. It's the right kind of energy that you want in a team. So it's about making sure that we are doing things that we think are culturally acceptable within the team, but then also allowing him a platform where he can come in a situation where he can talk through why he's annoyed, using that platform and make sure that we're holding everyone else to the same life standards as well. I was just upset.

But to be honest, I didn't know what to talk about. I came back and it was like a terrible time. It was a terrible time. So that's what I want to hear.

If you guys have a friend, it's better to talk. I guess. I talk a lot that's why I think it's good.

Better than hiding your emotion. Because if you just talk, it's turning into your mind that you have emotion. Then I think it's gonna be bad later. I think the main thing is to talk to the face. Like, I feel like I can.

I feel like I can. I can make everyone stressed every moment. I can feel how much you guys are strong.

It's not easy to give a feedback about stress. And then after the game, I don't think I can go through with it. I mean, I'm going to do the best.

Creating this like, this is the battle, right? Regular season was a battle. We lost. Like, let's call it what it was. And then playoffs was another battle.

We won that one. And good, we won that one, right? That MSI, we're losers.

We're in the trenches right now. And we've already talked about this. Like, going up is never just like actually up.

It's once more like this. There's ups and downs in everyone's journey. This is one battle of many battles that we will face and a journey to...

Evolve as a team. Don't give up. If anything, rally, you know?

Have a battle cry. Win the next one. You want to say something really cool? Where is Killian? This is a Honda Barlog.

We can go anywhere we want. Benny, leave it. Leave it. It's shaping up to be a faggot day.

The stage is set for our first international best of five between EU and NA, Sydney v. Honda vs. United. Oscar maybe a bit too confident in his statement, he's gone, he clashes off to... The hard read.

J-Cold? Not as far as I'm not as in. Goodbye! Ah! Turnpike, turnpike, no.

Putz is out of the fight. What is he going to do? He's got no aim, no. Don't get, don't get hit on this thing. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Lost in action. No over the wall. He can't do much of anything. Early damage on the Oscar.

Passed 40 clock. And Fnatic now realize this fight might just be done. Perfect!

Ah, no one! Turnpike looks good. That kick bite is no one.

No one there, okay? I really needed Paul to get back in there for us. He's a phenomenal philosopher.

The fact that I... I can play at a world-class level, but then also control the pace of the game. Truly one of the most special players that I haven't played yet. I'm reporting it. Report it.

A one-sided slaughter as Team Liquid, completely white fanatic off the map, holding the line, holding home for North America. Let's f***ing go! After game one, where I felt like we just set such a positive tone for the series, and Cora especially, shot for us, just staying for it, I knew we were on for a good day.

I thought Fanatic was also a really good team, so it wasn't guaranteed we were still going to win. I mean, I said two times, but I just knew that we actually were going to win. The one thing that APA took away from the first series was he didn't feel like he played great.

You know, he wasn't happy with the kind of exposure he's getting again. They did call him early for the play, and then he expected to either keep backing him up or like count him down slow. And I think that when we get that really positive loop going between APA and everyone else, then like the sky's the limit for us there.

The special moments are starting to become a little bit more frequent. When the jump's looking for me, get out of the jump! I walked closer, then walked in, and I got returned out there just like one of these links and I'll be out. I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to lie. Very very proud.

And I know you're going to choose because you played really good on Lusion. I actually challenged him to play Lusion Blue a really high level. I said that if he played well I'll buy him a pair of shoes and if he played poorly he'd get me a pair of shoes.

So I'll probably owe him two pairs of shoes. But yeah it was a really fun series to see if I could win. One, two, three!

I'm not going to mess up with it. So after we beat Fnatic, our next matchup is versus 2-1. The Japa timeline versus Faker, like the rematch, right?

It's definitely cool to say I'm going to face Faker twice, but to me I'm trying to just trade it as another match. Obviously it is against Faker, so he's still a really good player. I'm not trying to psych myself out even for the match. The team that comes out of this being unified, being together, making sure that they're riding the speed bumps of the unit as opposed to individuals with finger pointing is going to be the team that comes out of this successful.

And then you can define what the unit was successful at last. That was what we wanted and I think that we've been able to do that. This is the Haunted Roblox. We can go anywhere we want.

We have really good scrim apartments that are really tough, so we've had some really close games. It's like 1 into the 6th, the game just comes crumbling down. We've been learning from it.

I think overall we're really really happy with how this bootcamp and journey and MSI event has gone so far. You know, there's still work to be done. We definitely don't want it to be like tea yet.

So hopefully we go out there and play our game and make it a little... I agree. Hey, hey.

It's up to TL to really subvert expectations even more and bring home maybe one of the best days in any history. I hope that Team Liquid plays with patience because I do think they have the ability within them to win this series if a few things go their way. So as long as they're not trying to overforce it, it gives them the best chance of it. Take it slow and make it happen. The world champion is on the other side.

The loser goes home today. Team Liquid versus Team One. We said that. We're here to do some damage.

We've done that. Damageless keep doing it today. Alright? Pressure's on them to win. Must make sure that they have the betas, right?

Alright. One, two, three, LECKDRAD! Lightning, Shuffle, Knocking, Dr. Chase continues!

I've been once anymore! Turn it up, guys! Oh my god, it's brutal in Midland! And the rest of T1 are coming to help. Game one, we really called that card.

It is the 3v4 for JJ, going back in with a base call. And on the run, top team LECKDRAD starts off a pack! And they're going up to the A, the all-out pack! I mean honestly, this is as close as we can get.

We could have won. Should have won. Okay, let's go guys. Let's fire up, yep? Let's go!

We couldn't make a cross play and they made it. Oh, shut up. Ah, come in. I'm not going to tell you what the next team that I.

Our early game, this game, was so good. Our swap, better than theirs. We had huge advantages across the board.

What I need is our connection to be so much quicker, okay? Slow down. We're winning.

Why do you like the team that is winning? This team is not the world champions. We're not playing against the same team, right? We have the advantages.

Slow down, open your eyes and play with confidence. Because I actually think we're better than them. I think we're just getting nervous and making mistakes.

They're not beating us, we're beating ourselves. Everyone on the flesh! Everyone on the flesh!

Topside after topside after topside! Team Liquid Can we just sit? Me and Upte? Yeah, you guys can make it We have front B, we have front B TL against T1 Sneak, the big pop will arm under the bag noses I can't go, I can't find it Don't bless, don't bless Don't bless Come down, bless He's up He's up What we said, they are so beatable, right?

Our aggression this game was a winner's mindset. That's exactly how we want to play. Okay?

Hey guys, this is fun. They're the defending world champions, and they're getting comprehensively beaten every single game. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. Oh please, come on guys, give me the game plan.

The two-in-two, the arm and core, JJ! And who has buried? We had a good early lead and then obviously Freud.

Oh,. And then just a series of mistakes made the game unplayable. It is an absolute massacre.

T1, we're left in with Sharks of an A. Definitely disappointing that we could have won many games, but we couldn't finish the game. Losing a close view like that, diverse things, but overall, I'm obviously happy with the content of it. For a lot of the games, we played pretty good League of Legends and on a different day, potentially we could even win the best of fun.

But at the time, I'm pretty excited because this was the tournament that I saw the most growth out of the players. During the hardest moments, you get to see how the team responds and whether they'll come together or not. And just time and time again they proved that they're going to work through it together.

Today we could have very easily created this table together, but what I want to say is this is not the end, right? This is actually the start. Think about how long this team has been doing it.

Think about how long Jesus has been doing it. I want us to think about this as the start of our dynasty again, okay? So let's hold our heads high, let's take what we learned, and next time we'll be...