Team Liquids Spring split win was a surprise, not because they aren’t a good team, but because their performances have been so uneven. At MSI, Team Liquid continued a performance that has been middling at best. While there was a dim hope that TL would make it to the semifinals, Fnatic dashed them this Tuesday in a completely dominating performance.

Fnatic’s victory over TL was as much about the EU’s success at drafting and execution as it was about NA’s failure at both. TL opted for a protect the Kog’Maw comp and then managed to almost never protect him. The tankiest front-liner the team could muster was a Vlad that Impact played admirably, but who ultimately couldn’t withstand the damage. Far too often, Olleh and Doublelift were completely on their own as Fnatic collapsed time and again. After securing an early flash from Olleh, Fnatic knew to hard pressure bot lane, something TL simply had no answer for. However, even after exiting laning, the bot lane duo was constantly alone and able to be picked off.

While TL was busy not protecting their one win condition, Fnatic was busy playing perfectly to theirs. At no point did Fnatic stop pressuring Olleh and Doubelift. This was helped by Bwipo on Gangplank and Caps on Taliyah. Caps in particular played a picture-perfect Taliyah. He roamed the entire game and his ultimates were consistently used to block out key members of TL, turning the entire fight in Fnatic’s favor. While this was one of TL’s better games of the tournament, they still played like a team out of sorts.

The sad truth is, Fnatic deserved the win and TL did not. From their first game against Kingzone, TL has played like a team not ready for the international stage. Their micro mechanics were top notch, with Impact nearly soloing Khan and Doublelift and Olleh able to pressure PraY and Gorilla out of lane. The issue came with overall map control though, a weakness TL showed in the Spring split as well.

In the games after, TL slowly came unraveled. Evos beat them at micro plays – something they had previously done so well against Kingzone at – and it led to more sloppy plays. This became the theme of MSI for Team Liquid. Their successes at individual plays were undermined by their lack of skill at macro play. Also, any consistent pressure on the team forced them into sloppy, reckless plays, kinds that the winners of the Spring split simply should not have been making.

This means that NA’s hopes for MSI have been dashed in the Group stage. For many, though, a chance lives on in EU. As our rival across the ocean, Fnatic has consistently been a stellar team with massive heart. We’d like to hate them for our loss, but that was entirely TL’s fault. If we can’t win MSI, we’d at least like EU to take it. Unfortunately, they’ll have to knock out RNG – the number 1 team – to even make it into the finals.