"Crack the raid boss all over again": miCKe talks about Gaimin Gladiators, Liquid's form, current Dota 2 meta, and more

Team Liquid's miCke is one of the most renowned faces in the Dota 2 community currently. The carry player for the European outfit has delivered a strong showing this year, with the team posting consistent results throughout the DPC. Team Liquid has retained the same roster from the last TI, with the only change being MATUMBAMAN retiring and Nisha joining the lineup.

Team Liquid's miCKe talked to Sportskeeda before DreamLeague Season 21, discussing their DPC form, battles against Gaimin Gladiators, the recent behavior score changes, and plenty more.

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Team Liquid's miCKe discusses Dota 2's latest meta, his team's form, and more

Q: Liquid has had a dominant run throughout the current Dota 2 Pro Circuit season despite missing out on silverware. What would you attribute as the reason for the team’s consistent performance?

miCKe: It’s just been constant. Ever since we got third at TI, everything has been easy, as we got the confidence we needed to show that we are the best.

Honestly, it made us feel less pressure in a way when we played tournaments, which we had before when we were not as good, I guess. We got lucky, too, in a way, as me and Boxi switching roles did not screw up the team.

A lot of the time, there can be complications. We all worked hard, and we all tried to understand each other in a Dota way, and it made it easy to play for all of us. And it helps we have the best player in the world, so... [laughs]

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Q: Sort of building on my previous question, despite Liquid’s form, Gaimin Gladiators has been your bane in the Grand Finals (barring the one in Riyadh Masters). Did the defeats have an impact on the team’s morale and upcoming preparations?

miCKe: I feel like we had a very good read on them in Riyadh. We were very comfortable playing and drafting against them, which I feel like we weren’t before in the previous majors, where we didn’t feel like we had a good read.

Obviously, the patch came now, so we are going to have to do it all over again - crack the raid boss all over again. That’s going to be interesting.

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Q: The Dota 2 Map is now larger than it has ever been. 7.34 and subsequent patches have brought significant tweaks and changes to heroes and items. How has that affected your picks, gameplay, and mindset?

miCKe: The way we thought about the game before doesn’t work in this patch. Obviously, we have to adapt and think of new ways of playing the game.

It has been fun for me as a carry player because the map is so big, and there are so many camps to farm. It makes it fun for me.

But I don’t know how it is for the other roles. Also, adding the Twin Gates was a pretty cool and unique map change.

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Q: Any idea which Dota 2 heroes will be popping off in TI?

miCKe: All the meta heroes that are being played now, like Treant, Venge, and Warlock. They are very popular in pubs right now. I think they will be the main characters.

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Q: What are your thoughts regarding the updates to the player behavior system in Dota 2?

miCKe: It hasn’t affected me that much, but I like it a lot as I can report the noobs in my games so they get punished finally, as before they did not get into trouble for griefing.

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Q: With Dota 2 The International almost around the corner and DreamLeague being the final pitstop, how have the team’s preparations been coming along? What are your expectations for TI?

miCKe: I don’t really have expectations for TI, as I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on the team or me. We just do our best every game and see how far we go. The entire year has been a banger. Just got to keep going.

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Q: Having played with Matumbaman at TI11 and with Nisha for the entire current season, how has your experience been with these two stalwarts of Dota 2?

miCKe: I learned a lot from Matu - not only inside the game but also outside. He was a big reason and help for where we are today - the reason we are at the top. I think that is a big part because of Matu. He kind of jumpstarted everything, and we just took control.

Playing with Nisha has been very fun and interesting, you know. I don’t know - I can’t compare the two - I just think they are the two players who influenced me the most.