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Team Liquid defeated Shopify Rebellion in the opening series on the third day of DreamLeague Season 19 Group Stage 2. They crushed Shopify in straight games and secured a clean 2-0 victory, and sit comfortably in the top half of the table. In the post-match interview, Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg shared insights into the draft synergy between William "Blitz" Lee and himself, the upcoming patch, DreamLeague Season 19 patch and more.

(Image via Valve)

 

Zai talks about the DreamLeague Season 19 format

Can you tell us more about the draft synergy between Blitz and yourself? Yes, Blitz and I discuss sometimes together [about the drafts] as that's usually the first step of preparing for the team. We look at what they [opponents] have done before and what we think they are going to do. For example, we knew they [Shopify Rebellion] were going to first pick Doom and probably Invoker, so that was in our box already. He [Blitz] focuses on a lot on drafts making sure we tick all the boxes and don't miss any heroes that we wish to play against, and also protecting our own heroes. The synergy is working well and it's getting better. How do you practice the synergy? I think Team Liquid is the only team taking that approach [of two great minds working together] and it seems very difficult. For most of the teams I've been part of the drafting process is usually like a shared kind of thing. You always try to come to an understanding and stick to the builds and the ideas. Maybe the way we work is special but I'm sure people have similar relationships with coaches and approach towards their drafting in general. Do you like drafting with Blitz since Matumbaman left after TI? Yes, it's pretty fun. Clicking buttons has been working out pretty well for now so it feels really good. It is like an added responsibility so you can't be lazy otherwise things will just fall apart. You got to last pick in the last two games. Do you prefer last picking your heroes? I'm not a big fan of last picking my hero because I don't like playing with that pressure. I think there's different types of off-laners who are last pick players and some people are better at it than others. I don't consider myself as that type of player and it's not really kind of my forte but when the draft goes in that particular direction then you've to do it anyway. Last year it seemed like Team Liquid had difficulties in finding yourself in the new patch with lackluster performance up until TI. Do you think TL is also in the current state for the upcoming patch? There are rumours that the upcoming patch is going to be massive with big changes. It's hard to predict how the patch is going to be like but we are all going to play as much Dota 2 as possible and try our best to adapt. I think we've done really well in this patch especially since TI with the game as is now. We are all very comfortable playing together so hopefully that part sticks after the new patch release where we discover what's good and what's bad in the new patch.

(Image via DreamHack)

Why did you take longer to adapt to the patch last time? I think we were really struggling for quite sometime in figuring out a certain style. There were many strong teams last year with set styles such as OG, Team Spirit, etc. On the other hand, we tried a multitude of different styles and struggled finding a common ground. Eventually we found it and since then it's been good. But yes, it took us sometime to kind of gel. Are you satisfied with the state of drafting right now [first pick and second pick] or would you like to see that changed in the new patch? I think second pick is a bit too strong since the patch has gone on for a long time. It's usually the first pick that has the advantage -- you get like the most broken hero and form a lineup around that. The current patch has so many heroes so the first pick isn't getting much value. I think they [Valve] should switch up the order [draft] a little bit to make things a little bit nice. What do you think of the different format of DreamLeague Season 19? I like playing Dota 2 and playing matches, and now we have matches pretty much everyday. The only complaint that I have is that the early morning games come with the early morning "debuff" for the teams, including ours, but now we are done with our early morning games so it's all good.

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