posted by Brasozial,
A Reddit thread made it clear: Team Liquid are officially the only team to not change a player for more than 758 days - unofficially for even more than 800 days. We look back at their journey. Maroun 'Gh' Merhej is the last player that joined the current Team Liquid squad. He got announced on the 1st of February in 2017. However, he already played with the other Liquid members at DreamLeague Season 6 when the team didn't qualify for The Boston Major.

Back then TL was in a slump, they lost two players after TI6, but signed Amer 'Miracle-' Al-Barkawi, the best player in the world. Additionally, Sam 'Bulba' Sosale joined the team. Gh replaced him by the end of December and we all know what happened since then.

The first victory in Sweden



Most experts didn't know Gh very well back then. He was mostly known for being an excellent pub player. However, he already demonstrated in his first tournament that he's an exceptional asset for Liquid: they immediately won their first tournament, the DreamLeague Season 6 in Jönköping at DreamHack Winter 2016.




TL played in the Grand Final against Escape Gaming with Max 'Qojqva' Broecker, Yazied 'YapzOr' Jaradat and Troels 'syndereN' Nielsen.

The first international success outside of Europe



The roster qualified for the Starladder | i-League StarSeries Season 3 in January and beat every team to win the trophy. This was the first test for the squad with internationally well-known competition. Teams suchs as OG, Wings Gaming and TNC Predator were playing in Shanghai to fight for the title.



Everybody was expecting a Grand Final between Liquid and OG, but Johan 'BigDaddyN0tail' Sundstein and his teammates surprisingly lost against VGJ in the first playoff match. TL, on the other hand, beat TNC 2-0 and didn't show any weaknesses against VGJ who played with Sun 'Agressif' Zheng and Xu 'Fy' Linsen.

Disappointment at DAC and the Major



They claimed the top of the world in the following weeks - everybody was expecting Liquid to stomp their way through every tournament from that point on. However, Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017 and The Kiev Major were a huge disappointment for the team and their fans.



They already lost in the first round of the Lower Bracket at DAC against Daryl Koh 'iceiceice' Pei Xiang and Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier at Team Faceless*. Also, at the Kiev Major, they were beaten by Invictus Gaming in the quarterfinal.

The incredible run including The International 2017



It seemed like these losses made Team Liquid only stronger because they won the following five events they attended up until Starladder | i-League Invitational #3. Their biggest win was obviously The International 2017.



They are the first team ever to win the Aegis with a clean sweep in the Grand Finals. The 3-0 victory against Newbee is one of the most dominant performance we've ever seen in Dota 2.

Becoming one of the best teams in Dota 2 history



Even in the following months Liquid proved that they don't care for any so called TI curse. They won three more tournaments by the end of 2018 and finished second at the DreamLeague Season 8 Major.

Their biggest victory of 2018 was the China Dota 2 Supermajor, right at the moment when everybody thought Liquid had a weak phase.



Up to this point they were the only top 5 team that hadn't won a Major in the first Dota 2 Pro Circuit, but in the end they triumphed at the second most important tournament of the season by beating the best teams in the world.

The International 2018 didn't go as well as everybody expected. Liquid "only" finished in 4th place. This demonstrates how people see the team right now. Team Liquid proved over and over again that they're one of the best teams in the world - and maybe one of the best teams that ever entered the Dota 2 servers.

They already broke a record since they are the team that has played together longer than any other team in the history of Dota 2. We'll see what is coming next - they don't seem to be finished yet.

Can this team win another The International?



Photo credit: Valve

  • Brasozial
    Brasozial

    Brasozial

    Mike Koch
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