Team Liquid will have to play the rest of the tournament without their support Offlaner
Liquid’s Samuel “Boxi” Svahn is no longer able to attend the rest of the Lima Major due to a sudden, urgent and undisclosed medical emergency. Coach William “Blitz” Lee took to Twitter on Saturday to reveal this situation to the community, further stating that the organization will be flying him home. According to him, their first priority is his health issue.
For the moment, it appears that Liquid’s own analyst Mathis “Jabbz” Friesel will take Boxi’s place from here on end. He was last seen participating in the ESL Meisterschaft events back in 2020, right after which he assumed the role of analyst for Liquid.
Thanking Valve for taking immediate action in allowing Jabbz to stand-in at the last minute, Blitz called upon everyone to show him support. However, it seems that this usage of a stand-in may affect Team Liquid after all, as it is causing them to lose 20% of their earned points.
Update, Boxi will be flying home immediately due to a medical emergency and Jabbz will standin. I hope that the community understands that Boxis health is most important to us, and to not speculate and simply send him love and support.
— William (@Blitz_DotA) March 3, 2023
The Swedish star’s sudden health issue is an unfortunate blow for the team, seeing as they were the strongest team before and during the first Major of 2023 Dota Pro Circuit season. Boxi’s contribution at these tournaments has brought the team really far, dropping just 2 games in the Winter Tour and 2 at the Major all season.
Unfortunately, things naturally didn’t go as smoothly with jabbz, as Liquid lost 2-0 to Gaimin Gladiators in the Upper Bracket Final in Lima and will now have to battle the winner of Shopify Rebellion vs Talon Esports in order to get to the Grand Final.
Due to the fact that this is one of the most competitive tournaments that will set things in motion for the coming year, and with Boxi’s skills out of the game, Liquid may be in a bit of a bother. Despite the inevitable, their coach has shown much optimism, ensuring the Dota 2 community that the squad will fight tooth and nail to win the title, 1900 DPC points and a share of the $500,000 prize pool.
Jabbz may have been away from the competitive scene for three years since his last tournament, but has witnessed his team improving and excelling over the years. Aside from this, he is a support player with 8k MMR, so things might still turn around for the European side.
Besides, this is not the first time that a stand-in player has come to the rescue during such trying times. In fact, the world has witnessed OG win with a stand-in player in their lineup, first winning the Stockholm Major with “retired” founder Sébastien “Ceb” Debs and then ESL One Malaysia with coach Evgenii “Chuvash” Makarov.
Following the Twitter updates from coach Blitz, details about Boxi’s medical issue have not yet been disclosed. However, Blitz urged everyone to show him love and support for a full recovery.
Until further updates from Liquid or its coach comes in, it is up to Jabbz and the rest of the squad to do their best against whoever they come up against in the Lower Bracket Final.
estnn.com
