W33 spotted playing with Team Liquid following MATUMBAMAN’s benching

Just one day after Team Liquid made its first Dota 2 roster change in two years by benching longtime carry Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, the team was spotted playing with a fifth player online.

Former Chaos Esports Club support player Aliwi “w33” Omar was seen teaming up with Liquid’s four-stack earlier today, which could mean the timing of his benching on Chaos signals a team change in the future.

After Chaos announced they were moving from the South American region into Europe, two players were let go and w33 was benched. He hasn’t played in an event for Chaos since May and it looks like the organization is trying to fill the three spots on its roster with new players.

Liquid benching MATUMBAMAN this close to a Major means they need to add another high-level player who can quickly slot in with the current roster. As far as seamless transitions go, w33 would be almost perfect considering he has a lot of playing experience with both Maroun “GH” Merhej and Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi.

Liquid’s captain, Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi, has gone on the record after losses in several past events that even though their team performs well and has almost unrivaled chemistry, their drafts have become predictable after two years of playing together. MATUMBAMAN specifically was being focused down as a way to force Liquid into more defensive play during the last Major, which severely hampers the play of Miracle-.

W33 and GH frequently teamed up during w33’s days on Team Secret when GH rose to prominence with Liquid. He also played with Miracle- when the two were on the Balkan Bears roster in early 2015.

Those connections and the experience playing in this year’s Dota Pro Circuit alongside Chaos make w33 a great option to help improve Liquid’s playstyle while also bringing in someone who can easily slot in on a top roster. And Liquid wouldn’t need to worry about playing w33’s Timbersaw again if he’s on their team.

This is, of course, just speculation based on the timing of both Liquid making its first roster change in two seasons and w33 being benched by Chaos in a period of flux. Liquid might just be doing their due diligence in testing some top-level players before making a decision on their next signing.