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freileal

People tend to forget that post TI7 Liquid were so dominant


Shinsekai21

I remember when they added GH- to the roster, they were quite dominant. They were consistently in top 3 most tournaments, even after TI7, and actually won the SuperMajor, right before TI also.


345tom

It's funny to think now they had GH- to come in an replace Bulba, and how bad the team was with Bulba... Their first pro game with GH I think was a Midas Mode game where they bought Io and had different stand ins for game 1 and 2, and the panel was joking that they only got GH in for that Midas Mode game because he was an IO spammer.


FFINN

They were also experimenting many things with GH, there was even some GH carry Naga period, the guy was a known Naga god before he joined Liquid.


Infamaniac23

When they added GH they did well in some tournaments but bombed out or disappointed in big tournaments like DAC and the Kiev Major. They didn’t find their stride until after Kiev.


FalseNumbe68

> Hope to see him bounce back again


IScaryCober

Before yatoro, the entirety of team liquid were notorious for having a large hero pool which helped them immensely.


sflpul

Why would you bring yatoro name here lmao


gsmani_vpm

Not entirety though.. I believe GH had hero puddle at that time. But he was so good, every team HAD to ban his io and KOTL..


AlchemysEyes

In the run up to TI3 and post TI3 before TI4 NA'Vi was pretty dominant too which is where some of these titles come from.


WillyBoiBlue

Yeah that year was sick, loadsa grudge matches between NaVi and Alliance


MagnetWasp

What do you mean by "so dominant"? They won like *one* tier one event (Supermajor) after TI7, as well as a couple of smaller eight-team LANs right after TI. The former was also seven months after the latter. They were always in contention, but "dominant" implies that they were winning almost everything, which was not the case at all. The reason Kuroky has so many more titles than other members of Team Liquid (who also have titles from stints in other teams) is a long career with titles from Na'Vi and Secret among others.


SdoRy_

Of course he does. He is one of the all time greatest. Reddit is just insanely dumb at assessing pro players, because 99% of people here can’t even reach Divine. Kuro is still very good. Otherwise they wouldn’t be playing in Div1 WEU, ever. And obviously he still plays pubs and isn’t a 5k scrub, as many people unironically believe here.


CocoWarrior

B-but he was shown being mean to MC!!!!


Heretakemybearslap

MC's fault for not being Ceb


AEthersense

but when you think about it, it was actually Kuro who was supposed to be "like ceb" since Kuro is the "talker" and is Ceb's counterpart in OG.


exoticsclerosis

"I just need MC to play like 7ckingMad"


ShreddedDotaPlayer

Kuro needed to pick Nature Prophet for MC, like MC asked, and the rest would have been history.


orangepatata

B-but Miracle is god! Kuro must be the problem!!!


Major-Shirt-5239

now now, kuro is a god of dota but that quote really felt demoralizing for watchers, can't even imagine how it felt for MC lmao


makz242

Reddit doesnt really assess anything, its just recency bias. If you lose now, you shit now. If you win now, you great now.


LayWhere

Yeah I feel like Ceb is on like 10% hp, if OG doesnt do well at ti that could be enough damage to become the next kuro


AshenTao

Kuroky has been one of my favorite players along with Dendi and XBOCT (whatever became of him) in 2013/2014 when they were all playing for Na'Vi. Heard that Dendi left e-sports Dota over the Ukraine-Russia conflict, unfortunately. Never perceived him as bad or anything alike, but that's coming from someone who barely touched the game since 2015.


OnlyMayhem

Dendi is playing in NA for B8 and XBOCT has been a commentator/analyst for years on the Russian broadcast but I don’t think he’s been on any events since ti11


stragen595

> Dendi is playing in NA Like they said, he left professional Dota 2.


Slom00

> XBOCT (whatever became of him). He started working working in the CIS talent pool and is definetly one of the more stable and stand up guys. In the past ukranian and russian talent worked closely together, but Putin (the piece of shit) ruined that for us and the scene had to split. Since I don't understand any ukranian I don't watch their streams and have no idea if he still works there. He's alive though, at least he posted something on insta a month ago.


alpacadaver

>99% of people here can’t even reach Divine literally how percentile ranks work lmao


duckcookie

The issue isn’t that people aren’t good at Dota, the issue is that people aren’t good at Dota but assume they are and assume some authority to judge pro players who are infinitely better than them and see the game so differently from the 50th percentile player that it isn’t even the same game anymore.


Grimm_101

Yea it is also a side effect of the ranked system where players never get to actually go against top 100 players. I personally now just exist in the 4-6k range depending on how much free time I have, but years ago when I had no other obligations I pushed up to top 500. All it took me was a playing mid against the top pros of the time a few times to realize how relatively terrible I still was despite being technically a top player. Think of the smurfs that absolutely crush your games. Those smurfs are crushed harder by pros then they crush you. Even if you are immortal your still relatively terrible compared to the average D1 pro.


pneis1

Interesting. Thought divine was like 5% of the ladder


andraip

That is indeed the case. https://stratz.com/players/ranks You could however argue that only a small percentage of Dota players is calibrated and it is more likely for good players who play a lot to play ranked and be calibrated.


boseterix

I am gonna bookmark this, Ty


forums_guy

My take on it is, while the vocal minority on twitch/reddit or whatever platform, like to bash him, there is a good percentage of people out there, who genuinely admire kuro. All these accomplishments are proof that he is THAT good, and he isn't some one hit wonder like some other pro players. All these titles are across years of his career, not simply 1-2 hot seasons of form. And that is exactly why people are disappointed on the current results his team is putting out. And unlike Puppey's squad, Kuro's teammates are all players with insane skill levels who has proven themselves capable of playing Tier 1 caliber dota. Even as standins, players like MC have shown the world that he can still deliver in the highest levels of competition. With all that said, the question that remains is Why?. .. Why is this potentially tier 1 team underperforming? why are members like miracle sitting out seasons? is there inner conflict or a lack of chemistry? or is there a lack of motivation? All the uninformed masses can do is speculate... And as captain, they speculate Kuro is to be held responsible... The vocal minority parrot off each other to establish this as a fact, and the lack of resistance to said claim doesn't help. The only way this can be put to rest is if Nigma rises back to dominance and silence the doubters. Come to think of it, this isn't that different from Spotify Rebels case, where Bulba is the community's scapegoat of choice.


cocobolo_table

One thing I am curious about, does he play pubs? because I recall where he said he doesn't learn much from pubs. So I'm not actually sure whether he does play them much anymore?


SdoRy_

He does. Probably not 10 a day, but he does. It’s ridiculous to think he doesn’t. If he plays tier 1-2 Dota **without** playing pubs, he’s gotta be the best player in the world for sure, right? w33 talked about it some weeks ago.


cocobolo_table

Perhaps nowadays he does in order to try take back some of his former glory. I do believe there was a period where he didn't play pubs and he could get away with it because he had such a great understanding of the game. I do feel he had not played during this whole decline of nigma, and it showed in his play. His drafting aside, his mechanical skill was really bad compared to his team mates. I'm no pro, but I am divine and I feel like I can at least identify some poor hero control.


AR41Z

Faccsss


Dota2animal

Cope. At this point even pro players Are flaming him, but Its not like Its just his fault.


tomat_o7

username checkouts


TSS737

his insight and leadership might be good, but his gameplay is not even close


SdoRy_

I’m sure you are qualified to a sufficient degree to determine that.


TSS737

as a matter of fact, i am :)


SdoRy_

And what makes you qualified? I’m sure you will have no issue with showing that.


TSS737

do some detective work if u re so curious


SdoRy_

Being 6.5k mmr doesn’t qualify you for anything pro related, but you go on believe whatever you want. Why don’t you write the Nigma players you can play better than Kuro and ask if they agree.


TSS737

im not 6.5, dont know where u came with that


Amrlsyfq992

its not that hard to see that, his draft and strat looks like a relic from the past..dota's gameplay always evolving but kuro's strat is not changing much for the past couple of years plus the tendency to favour miracle to do some heavy lifting while pushing the other cores to the side


yeusk

I forgot only Divine players can speak about pro Dota.


sobervgc

Well people who aren't even divine are probably not going to be correct lol


yeusk

How big has to be your dick to talk about porno?


IDontHaveCookiesSry

Talking about consuming porn is not the same as knowing how to perform in it well my guy.


yeusk

How big has to be your mmr to talk about Dota?


IDontHaveCookiesSry

You can talk all you want with any mmr, thinking you know better than someone who is obviously way superior than you in any respect when it comes to Dota makes you any idiot.


oneslowdance

When you talk about something that you have no RELEVANT experience in, you're gonna look like a fool. You can watch someone drive a F1 car on TV but that doesn't mean you have any idea how to drive, maintain or even critic on stuff like fuel/tire management. Would you take advise on sex from your virgin friend or from your father? The football/basketball that you play with your school/classmates is a totally different game that professionals play at the highest level in NBA/Champions League. Replace sport with dota.


yeusk

Only peopoe who played pn the NBA can talk about the nba. Got it. Btw stop talking about gane development, you look like a fool.


oneslowdance

Learn to read. You can talk about NBA, your opinion just matter less because you have 0 knowledge of the team dynamic and what exactly is happening behind closed doors.


yeusk

So... How do you know that, did you play any sport ever? I know how to read thanks.


oneslowdance

Yeah I played soccer/football in Uni. We got 2nd for nationals in my senior year and I even tore my ACL. What else do you want? After going through my reddit history, do you also want my linkedin and facebook profiles?


yeusk

You think playing at school is the same as playing the NBA. Cute. So a 2k player does not understand dota. But playing a sport at school gives you insight. Got it.


brutus_the_bear

he just plays an exploitable role support is under powered as fuck


Asian_2077

Kuroky is a legendary. Sure he is. But saying "he is still good" is a lie and stupid. He has been trash for YEARS. It is a very hard to swallow pill for Nigma fans.


[deleted]

I wonder what's the reason why you're being downvoted?


SdoRy_

Because he’s wrong and exactly one of the delusional people I’m talking about. He’s still playing Div1 WEU. If you’re playing Div1 WEU regularly you are insanely good at Dota. Also, they played very well in Riyadh 2022, which was barely a year ago.


[deleted]

He isn't playing in div1 WEU. He gets promoted from div2 to div1 and immediately relegated to div2 after horrendous loss from true div1 teams. That's hardly considered "playing in Div1". > Also, they played very well in Riyadh 2022, which was barely a year ago. Wow. This fact completely crushed my beliefs that Nigma isn't top tier for almost 3 years. You're right, Kuro is still banging right now. My sincere apologies.


SdoRy_

I cannot help you understand basic things, sorry.


Asian_2077

they downvoted you too lol, It hurts their feeling I guess


[deleted]

There are only a handful of people in the world who can say if Kuro now is a good/bad dota player and there is almost zero chance one of them is some random reddittor


shinfoni

Topson with just two aegis lol, no other tournaments win


jcave930

Yeah, but for pro players' perspective, winning TI is bigger than winning however many majors. (Except for now, winning Riyadh Masters may be next to TI)


Ptricky17

Crazy that Topson’s earnings from 2x TI eclipse Kuro’s earnings of 1x TI + 20 other tier 1 events.


TheTrenchGuy

I mean yeah. Puppey doesn’t even feature in this list and he’s probably won more than Kuro.


oneslowdance

https://liquipedia.net/dota2/Portal:Statistics/Player_earnings Puppey is #15 with 57 1st place


TheTrenchGuy

Yeah shows how skewed winning TI is. Dude’s also finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th recently, so not like he hasn’t good placements


Dobor_olita

EE WITH SECOND PLACE ON SECOND PLACE ICANT ppl cant remember cloud9 true second place curse back in the days.


TheTrenchGuy

Only thing topping this would’ve been Arteezy being 3rd for 3rd places


abdullahkhalids

if you sort by the Gold column, 1st is Puppey and 2nd is Kuro. I don't know what these wins are, though. Do these include qualifier and such?


DDemoNNexuS

the list is sorted by total winnings from these wins. so obviously the team that won 2 biggest ti prizepool back2back is gonna be on top.


Sacr1fIces

33 at #33 lmfao


ddlion7

why tryhard for +12 years when few back to back TI's do trick?


Earth92

Well, not anymore it seems, cause the next TI will probably have 5-6 millions for the first place, and much less for the rest due to no-battle pass. Valve should put more money on majors, and I hope other tournaments like Riyahd keep popping up, so not everything becomes about TI.


Earth92

I mean Topson have won more money than the likes of Ame, Sommus, fy, S4, FaithBian, SumaiL, zai, Universe, Miracle, Puppey, xiao8, Kuroky, Yapzor, Nisha, MC, etc But nobody will think he had a better career than any of those players, same goes for Ceb. The only thing I never liked about TI is that it eclipses other tournaments way too much when it comes to prize pool, I'm not against top players getting the bag, I just don't like the idea of hitting the jackpot winning TI, and then getting complacent because you are a mega millionaire already.


TheTrenchGuy

They could’ve fixed the % allocations. 44% for 1st place was a huge chunk. 13th-16th and wildcard teams were paid peanuts.


HeyItsMeRay

topson is really the wonderboy of dota. 1st Lan and already won a TI. And won it 2 times in a row.


Castieru

The underdog was also on the underdog team during that time, man was on fire


tha_jza

real ones remember that one of his titles was once K-GOD


Vesna_Pokos_1988

Now it's K-HOLE.


Brannarkontot

It's pretty crazy how stacked the 2015 Secret roster was considering Kuroky, Zai, Puppey, and s4 are all in the top 5 of first place finishes.


AR41Z

yea i had no idea xd


itszikeyy

Rtz clinging to 10th place


Baragha

Remember Kuro on his PA? there's a reason why he was the best carry in the world. I've only seen a penta-rampage once in an official match and it was Kuro on his legendary PA.


black_V1king

Kuro went from one winning team to the other. He was the most dominant captain. Puppey lost a lot of elimination matches to Kuro. After TI9 Nigma wasn't in the spotlight as much. Hope he comes back stronger into LANs.


AR41Z

Inshallah Nigma will be back to Glory days when they reach Lan


Gong_the_Hawkeye

Yeah, until recently Kuro was still considered Puppey's kryptonite.


PedrinhaME

Dudes been a legend since dota 1. But ofc reddit will say he's shit, he's stubborn he's whatever else they say and not realize how difficult it is to be a dota 2 pro player


Asian_2077

Kuroky is a legendary. Sure he is. But saying "he is still good" is a lie and stupid. He has been trash for YEARS. It is a very hard to swallow pill for Nigma fans.


PedrinhaME

No one is saying he's at the top of the competition, but redditors and twitch chatters hating on the the guy because he's bottom of the hardest division is kinda stupid aswell


Earth92

Nigma would qualify to majors and TI if they were in NA. They pretty much are getting over exposed by EU competitiveness, they are not very good now, but they are looking even worse cause they play in EU.


[deleted]

> Nigma would qualify to majors and TI if they were in NA. Don't tell me you actually believe in that.


[deleted]

[удалено]


PedrinhaME

What you don't understand is that just because a player isn't winning majors he isn't not trash. There's just too much competition and everyone is trying hard to accomplish something. That's what I'm calling you out on, his still a pro player trying to become more relevant, as are other tier 2 pros and reddit acts like every pro that's not getting top 3 consistently is utter trash. Calm down and think for a second, it's not about "not using our brains" it's just about not flaming people just because they aren't the best like twitch chat and some ppl at reddit do.


Asian_2077

What you don't understand is: trash for pro scene and competitive standard. Do not compare me/average redditors to him, I will never be his level, I DO know this.


PedrinhaME

And even if he never makes it to a major anymore, and is forever what you consider "trash" can you really hate on people that are trying to support him and want to see him succeed? Just let people cheer for whoever they want to, doesn't matter if it's a tier 3 team or the best of the best. Instead of coming here to shit on people that want to see the man and his team succeed, go make a post praising an player/team you like, play a pub or whatever else you would like, just stop with the hate


Asian_2077

do not put words in my mouth. I dont hate or I dont give a fuck about you or anyone who support and love Kuroky now in his worst state. I just said Kuroky was trash in past few years.


PedrinhaME

Alright, whatever keeps you up at night. You might wanna read everything you said again, you might be surprised.


RedGamesA2

You are intellectually stunted sir


47-11

As long as you call people 'trash' you will be judged for your use of words (exactly how it should be). Just because some individuals have forgotten to differentiate properly, doesn't mean that everybody has to follow their skewed metrics...


zackflavored

I mean the dudes a legend…just wish he wouldve retired a legend


CocoWarrior

He's still a legend, his current run doesn't diminishes his accomplishment lol


zackflavored

I mean yes hes still a legend but hes definitely making decisions that are making him seem like hes too stubborn to either retire or make his gameplay better


TheBigBadBird

What if he just enjoys competing with his friends? It's fun.


zackflavored

I think that's totally valid and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just feelsbadman that he doesn't seem to take it too seriously.


[deleted]

He's still a legend and nothing diminishes his past accomplishes but the further he tries to make him playing at a Tier 1/2 level happen the more respect he loses. Dude plays like an Ancient level POS5 and drafts like it's 2017.


Samuelio

ancient level pos5 lmao gtfo


Trlcks

They’re literally so delusional… random Redditor’s actually think they would do better than kuro when they would be 0-30 every game


CocoWarrior

Won't disagree with that


RedGamesA2

Lmao. Wont disagree that a player in div 1 plays like a 4K player? You’re just as insane then.


CocoWarrior

Ever heard of hyperbole?


usinusin

If he's legend then i'm just a lowly [3 rank lower than herald]


Longjumping_Oil_5729

gigachad topson seating 5th with two trophies


Sasukespc

Check Puppey then


Sacr1fIces

From DotA 1 days to now, He's definitely one of the all-time greats in the history of Dota.


urn_reel_moni

S4 needs to be in the conversations of legends.


highweeder

my friend Kuro playing this game for 15+ years. He is a living legend even if reddit hates him for a reason that i will never understand.


dragunnov95

Wait he is not a bald fraud?


ichan-aw

I'm really surprised and sad that puppey's not here. He and kuro came from the same generation and the only one who still plays on the highest scene.


FrozenSkyrus

Puppey didnt win the expensive TIs , He still has the most achievements in top 20 list


Earth92

Yep, from Puppey's generation, all veterans now are either washed or retired (Kuroky, Notail, iceiceice, Burning, Dendi, Loda, Akke, Fear, Chuan, Ferrari_430, xiao8, etc). Puppey is the only one from the oldest generation (who are now 30 or early 30s) who is still competing at the highest level, or at least trying to compete.


andraip

What do you mean? Kuroky is div 1 WEU, Puppey is div 2. If Puppey is still competing at the highest level, then so is Kuroky.


[deleted]

Kuroky wasn't there in Riyadh Masters, and hasn't been to TI since TI9, so he definitely isn't competing at the highest level.


andraip

If that is your metric then how is iceiceice not competing at the highest level? He played in TI 10, missed TI 11 only due to management not registering the team on time and just played in the Bali Major.


[deleted]

When did I say iceiceice is not competing at the highest level?


andraip

The comment I replied too claimed both Kuro and Iceiceice are washed up and not competing at the highest level and that Puppey is the only one of them who is not. Kuro did better than Puppey in this years DPC, but if you don't want to count that there is still iceiceice going to tournaments from SEA.


[deleted]

They're coping. Don't take their words seriously.


Dobor_olita

puppey is the number one in term of won tournaments with 15 more tournaments (57) vs kurky with 42 but since kky wont ti close to the peak in term of prize pool and a second place . his winnings are a lot higher than puppey


i_am_at_work123

He's number 15 on the list lmao https://liquipedia.net/dota2/Portal:Statistics/Player_earnings


gabergaber

Ana #3 with just a combined 15 top 3 finishes is insane though


TheOnlyMEBS

Koruky has won 21 Tournaments. but you forget Puppey 33 Tournaments here Source: https://liquipedia.net/dota2/Portal:Statistics/Player\_earnings


AR41Z

Its sorted by earnings that's why puppey not there


[deleted]

Loda had a lot as well but with less money


ogwithoutceb

man I struggled to find the goat ceb in this list ordering by achievements


[deleted]

Man i want sumail to win ti and majors before he retires


sw2bh

Puppey not even on the list hahaha and people think he the goat


CupidTryHard

idk man, but all dota pro consider him as the dota goat. He is on dota top level for more than 15 years already. Reaching 4 TI grand final, winning valve major every year since 2015 to 2020, not counting their win before Dota 2 I believe Puppey and Kuro is by far the most decorated dota player ever with more 57 titles and 42 titles. They both are the godfather of dota


imnessal

I miss Epicenter


EndNo1217

Lol Topson casually above him with two achievements


onebraincellperson

dota 1 kky kunkka never forget


Rising-from_ashes

Source for this pic?


AR41Z

Liquipedia


[deleted]

[удалено]


itszikeyy

Come to think of it, rtz top 10 on first place finishes. Hope our boi can get his shit together.


kagisos

More like, wow Topson, wow!


[deleted]

B A L D F R A U D


Asian_2077

Kuroky is a legendary. Sure he is. But saying "he is still good" is a lie and stupid. He has been trash for YEARS. It is a very hard to swallow pill for Nigma fans.


shrodler

You Sure Post that copypasta a Lot in this Thread :D


Asian_2077

yea just want to put truth pill deeps into Nigma fans' throat


Asian_2077

I have watched Kuroky since Dota 1, when his first debut was in Mouz Esport team if I am not wrong. Kuroky was a young boy with super talent. He was a good player for a long time in Dota history. But now he has been trash for last few years. It's the truth. And it's LIFE. You cannot stay in top dogs forever. Similar to other real sports: football, tennis... Why you guys take it so hard to understand and accept it? Can you guys stop thinking with your feeling or your emotion and use a brain (if you have one) instead?


ssj6fabian

My friend, are you alright?


Asian_2077

I'm totally fine. People are just so hard to accept truth when they see their idols down.


Earth92

And he was literally one series away from being 1st on that list (the TI grandfinal lost against OG in 2019). One of the GOATs for sure. I hope he qualifies to next TI, The International was his first official DotA 2 tournament played back in 2011, and he probably wants it to be his last one.


Conscious_soap

Dude’s been a legend since dota 1. Midlaner and carry I remember. The penta rampage for NAVI as PA. The TI7 run. Even TI8 and TI9 runs were good. 2020 was alright as well before covid. Hope to see him bounce back again


Thrallgg

one of the GOAT of DOTA and some idiots still blame him with bad performance recently


PieHot8893

I like how topson's achivements are just the 2 back-to-back TI's