Tundra Esports and Team Liquid clash in DPC 2023 kick-off

Word has been going around that the clash between Tundra Esports and Team Liquid will be legendary. Well, we can confidently vouch for that as we await the decisive series between the two rivals, which secured top-three finishes at the International 11 (TI11).

Yet, Team Liquid never face off against Tundra in TI11 Playoffs during their lower bracket run to truly call this a rematch.

Tundra Esports vs Team Liquid

As the Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023) kicks off its first week, both Tundra and Liquid have played a couple of series. While it’s only two series played, both teams dealt with formidable opponents in the Western European Division 1 bracket.

For instance, Tundra swept the floor versus team OG and Nigma Galaxy. OG, albeit without Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf, still rocks their signature playstyle with cheese strats. The support Riki by OG was a popular pick in pubs recently for its disgusting Meteor Hammer combo, but Tundra wasn’t having it with OG’s cheap tricks.

Nigma, on the other hand, has the reputation of two prodigies in its team, namely ATF and Syed “SumaiL” Hassan. Nigma looks much more confident with their versatile drafts but ultimately lost to Tundra. If there’s a key takeaway from what Tundra is doing right, it’s definitely their commitment to late-game potential. Both OG and Nigma failed to one-up on Tundra by pulling off snowballing strats that are viable in the midgame.

Hence, Tundra merely needed to outpace its opponents, where classic carries, Spectre, Naga, or Broodmother are undefeatable at late game.

Nisha and Team Liquid

The former golden boy of Team Secret, Michał “Nisha” Jankowski, lives up to his reputation as the best carry player. It felt symbolic for Nisha to defeat his ex-team in his first debut match with Team Liquid at DPC 2023 WEU.

Team Liquid has already been a strong contender at TI11 since their journey started from the Last Chance Qualifier. Making their way towards the semifinals with the hope of giving Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen one last hurrah of his professional career. Liquid had the backing of fans and a strong will to win.

Team Liquid in shambles after placing third at TI11

Even though Liquid fell short of their TI11 run at the hands of Team Secret, they are still commendable. As many viewers on that faithful day would tell, it could have gone both ways in the semifinals.

With Nisha as the power-forward, Tundra does not want to mess around against an opponent that knows a thing or two about their tactics.

Potential drafts and outcome at DPC 2023

In terms of potential drafts, we can expect Nisha to play any hero that fits the drafts. After all, the Team Liquid captain, Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi is renowned for his drafting expertise, which rivals Clement “Puppey” Ivanov. Having a versatile carry player, such as Nisha, will only mean he has more options to pull off unorthodox drafts.

It’s difficult to find any fault in Tundra’s methods even if Puppey blatantly labelled them “cheaters”. In a post-match interview with Puppey, he blatantly called out Tundra for abusing overpowered item builds, Wraith Pact and Pipe of Insight. The combination of damage-reduction items is affordably obtainable by offlaners with viable farming potential.

While this infamous item combo is nerfed after TI11, it won’t be long before Tundra exploits a new meta. Perhaps not in the DPC 2023 WEU, but it’s likely the sly captain of Tundra Esports, Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun has some tricks up his sleeves.