Team Liquid show dominance on day one of the Arlington Major

Team Liquids started off day one of the Arlington MajoR against NA DPCs second place, Soniqs, and WEU DPCs third place, OG. Team Liquid looked great versus Soniqs, beating them 2 - 0 before going even with OG. From the first two series of the major, Team Liquid are showing us that their drafting is back to top tier.

Team Liquid began the Arlington Major by facing Soniqs for the first time since March 29th, 2021, when they played at the ONE Esport Singapore Major 2021. This was back when Tommy "Taiga" Le and Maximillian "qojqva" Bröcker were on Team Liquid, and Wilson Koh "Poloson" Chin Wei and Avery "SVG" Silverman were on Soniqs. So this current Team Liquid and Soniqs' lineups had never faced each other before this tournament.

Game one started with Team Liquid winning two out of three lanes, leading into a 4K gold lead at minute-14. This spearheaded them into grabbing important map control and the ability to take Roshan when they wanted. Team Liquid looked in control of the game for most parts of the game, as they played textbook Dota - getting map control, transitioning into an Aegis of the Immortal, and leading up to a decisive team fight forcing Soniqs to tap out.

Game two treated us to a Michael "miCKe" Vu Pudge and a Matumbaman Lone Druid, two comfort heroes for Team Liquid. The lanes were more even for this game, giving every core around the same net-worth at minute-eight. Sadly for North American fans, this didn't last too long as Liquid started running amok on Soniqs. An Aegis lost to a snatch from Boxi, and Liquid getting a four-for-zero teamfight win leds to Team Liquid taking full control of the map. Team Liquid climbed Soniqs high ground at minute-36 with an 18K gold lead, resulting in another good game call from Soniqs.

Compared to the previous series, Team Liquid versus OG were two games showing how much these teams can snowball and win a game, simply from lanes. With Team Liquid completely stomping every lane in game one, all as a result of a double kill for Matumbaman's Bristleback at minute-four. The double kill lead to Team Liquid being able to make moves around the lanes so they could always have the man advantage. After this it was carnage from Team Liquid, with the team never giving OG any chance back into the game. Matumbaman ended the game with a KDA of 14/0/12.

Game two on the other hand was much of the same but in OG's favor. OG's lane setup in game two was a masterclass in knowing how to manipulate a draft, giving them favorable matchups in every single lane. After dominating the lanes OG never let go of the pressure. Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov ended the game with a KDA of 23/2/13.

As the number one team in Group A for the moment, all eyes are on Team Liquid. Can they keep their momentum and win their upcoming matches? Only time can tell. Be sure to follow esports.gg for LIVE updates on all upcoming matches at Arlington major!