Team Liquid vs Immortals

For our first match of the day we have a rather fascinating clash between Team Liquid and Immortals. Now, on paper, there's not much to get excited about. In reality, however, this is going to be an absolute must watch for a multitude of different reasons.

First of all, this game will mark the grand appearance of Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen under the Team Liquid banner. That, in itself, is more than enough reason to tune in. The legendary European jungler will finally be able to compete with the rest of his team after spending multiple weeks in visa limbo. To say that Liquid struggled during that time would truly be an understatement. If you're a TL fan, the last couple of weeks must've been unbearable. In a way, they did well all things considered, but there was a point at which a good chunk of their roster simply surrendered. It was as if they didn't want to tryhard any longer and were just waiting for Broxah to come in.

The sheer notion of Doublelift and CoreJJ losing to FBI and Keith (of the Golden Guardians) simply boggles the mind. And yet it happened. Liquid looked like a shadow of their former selves, and their play was absolutely horrendous, both individually as well as a five-man unit. With Broxah, however, one has to assume that they'll improve tenfold. Now that they finally have their full roster they should be able to correct course and get back to their winning ways.

Still, a day or two is not enough to fully synergize so don't expect Liquid to start dominating as they did in 2019.

Immortals, however, are playing far better than anyone expected. They're not exactly a top-tier team, but it's becoming increasingly hard to doubt their potential and overall prowess. It feels like they're winning more often than they should, and they're finding these wins even against solid opposition. It's a mix of good coaching and a lot of veteran presence. Their head coach Zaboutine often spoke how he didn't look to sign a couple of mechanical deities, but rather players who are cerebral and who have a deep understanding of the game and its many nuanced layers.

We often see this brilliance in those split-second decisions in the mid and late game, like the mind-blowing backdoor against Counter Logic Gaming. While other teams are still struggling to develop synergy and lock down an identity for themselves, Immortals seem to be doing things in an organic manner. They focus on what they know best, and they follow their instinct. Whether or not that'll be enough in the grand scheme of things still remains to be seen, but they're getting away with it at the moment, that's for sure.

A 4W-2L record is spectacular, given what they had to work with. Watching their play over the coming weeks will be an absolute must. Are they a playoff contender? Will they actually upset the status quo, or is this just a small resurgence before they ultimately fall down in the standings? It's impossible to know at this point in time, but they'll have their hands full against Liquid tonight, that's for sure.

There are also many questions regarding Broxah's first appearance. Will he live up to the hype? In a way, Liquid was far worse with Shernfire than they should've been. Now yes, Shernfire is nowhere near as good to actually start for Liquid, but they still have four LCS champions within their ranks. That alone should've allowed them to be competitive and win more than they did.

Many folks will tune in tonight just to see Liquid's full line-up in action, and with good reason. If they improve and play as well as everyone expects, the fight at the top will become even fiercer than it is right now. Still, Immortals have a puncher's chance and they should not be underestimated.