Made me sad to read this. Good luck Fluff, I hope you guys figure something out. I really wanted to go to TI4 but I don't think I'd enjoy it as much without Liquid there.

Corgi Apocalypse

United States52 Posts

March 12 2014 05:19 GMT

Nice write-up Fluff. TI2 CoL is what got me into competitive Dota, and I've been a fan of you/TC since then, and have always thought highly of you both since then. I'm glad you're making conscious steps towards improving the team, and I hope to see all 5 of you in Seattle this July.

nicoacademia

4 Posts

March 12 2014 05:25 GMT

explains alot about why TL performs the way they do. not everything in life works out in the 1st round(well ask Blitz)... i believe this is like your last desperate scream... hopefully if conditions occur that the rest of the TL team agree... because against fnatic... qojva was just maintaining his standards as a player while the rest of TL just went bonkers. arguably watching TL through the past few months and everything building up from pre-monster/post-monster things have really detoriated.

hopefully the rest will let you claim the throne. because the team as a whole do not look like a team at all anymore(and this is just from watching games).

while you have suppressed your ego... i think others(bulba) needs an ego check.

if not...like all painful relationships that go on and on... a break up is needed for the sake of all of the individual member's sanity and dota2 careers.

good things will come no doubt.

woojaekeem

United States32 Posts

March 12 2014 05:27 GMT

no offense, but why are you showing us this before telling your team?

I think it's good for the team that someone is finally willing to light a fire under all of you guys, but this should be a private 5man conversation, not a public blog.

Proof.

505 Posts

March 12 2014 05:30 GMT

I don't know how much of this you've explained or let on to your teammates in the past two years, but better late than never to speak your mind. I sincerely hope you can find the fire again.

LedZepp1109

2 Posts

March 12 2014 05:30 GMT

Honestly, I think it comes down to certain players on Liquid (not going to say who) just having reached their peak potential (and it's not very good). Liquid can never be a top top-tier team if some of its members are just above mediocrity.

That being said, loved seeing you guys at the monster cup; it's too bad Bulba's poor positioning had to lose you that second game though. For what its worth though, you guys definitely got the loudest applause (despite getting third place).

ch33psh33p

3039 Posts

March 12 2014 05:31 GMT

I hope you talked to your team about everything in here before you posted it on a public forum.

LuckoftheIrish

United States2875 Posts

March 12 2014 05:47 GMT

Indeed.

Noya

Uruguay4396 Posts

March 12 2014 05:47 GMT

#10

takes balls to write something like that, I hope it helps your team to overcome its problems. good luck man

Skyline026

Netherlands984 Posts

March 12 2014 05:47 GMT

#11

Question remaining for me is... Now what? Ranting is fine to get stuff out there. But it's time to change shit. It has been time to change shit for quite some time now.

What makes you believe things will be different from now on?

Targe

United Kingdom5978 Posts

March 12 2014 05:49 GMT

#12

On March 12 2014 14:27 woojaekeem wrote:
no offense, but why are you showing us this before telling your team?

he said he wants to vent in his blogs

megacrack

Australia117 Posts

March 12 2014 05:53 GMT

#13

cheer up dude.. as a fan of alot of sports... every team has up and down period, no different to liquid. GL and ill always go foor liquid
question: did someone actually read all 30 pages of clockwork project?

rabidch

United States10988 Posts

March 12 2014 05:56 GMT

#14

Playing a game of Dota 2 with 4 other players isn't a team. A team is a group of 5 players who trust and respect each other and work hard to reach universal goals set by the leader.

seems close to what i and some other people think of liquid's situation right now. i wouldnt really know how the internal guts of trust or accountability in liquid, let alone any dota team, but either way it seems liquid lacks all of it. i do really hope you showed your teammates first though...

andyrau

3131 Posts

March 12 2014 05:57 GMT

#15

honestly sounds like a very angsty rant about not having the courage to do what you should've been doing all along. I mean it's one thing to realize what you should have been doing all along and another to actually resolve the problem by confronting it in the beginning.

instead you're waiting for everyone else to become cognizant of it because you're cowering in fear that people may not recognize your ability, and that's seriously the exact opposite of what leadership is.
if you didn't have the ability or grit to handle/address the failures your team, then maybe you shouldn't have led that team in the first place.

your blog post makes it seem like you're frustrated with some far off, abstract leadership problem rather than coming up with a coherent plan. I hope as a team you can figure something out.
or you know, like you've been venting about for several paragraphs, finally come out and give them the solution.

better late than never I guess.

9001

573 Posts

March 12 2014 05:57 GMT

#16

On March 12 2014 14:53 megacrack wrote:
cheer up dude.. as a fan of alot of sports... every team has up and down period, no different to liquid. GL and ill always go foor liquid
question: did someone actually read all 30 pages of clockwork project?

I just did, and I'm supposed to be studying for an exam. SMH

Caladbolg

1365 Posts

March 12 2014 06:03 GMT

#17

While this is very heartfelt and well-written, the glaring issue is whether leadership is something that just falls into your lap, or something that you normally have to earn. Sometimes, it will mean performing better than everyone else on your team (if they're the type to follow the "alphas"). Sometimes, it will mean making people feel good about themselves. Sometimes, it will have to be you giving up a position or status, and just doing your best in the shadows.

Leadership is service, it's servant-hood to the those being led. It's not about power over others, or control, but about sharing and learning and growing together, and being the catalyst for that even at the cost of your own "self-respect."

Maybe the team is just full of too many "egos." But hey that's what people say about DK, Na'Vi, etc. and they're still able to function really well. At the end of the day, you have to be able to share yourself, share your vision, and do your best to make the others do the same. There is no manual for leadership. It's built gradually on a case-to-case basis.

EDIT: Forgot the most important part I'd like to share.

Fluff, just take responsibility. And show that you deserve that responsibility. You don't have to go off on teammates, or be a dictator, to get things done. Prove yourself, and earn that captaincy. But in all of it, you have to show that you have all their best interests at heart. You don't have to be best friends with them, as this is a professional team, but you have to be able to communicate that adage: "I've got your back, and I'll leave you to take care of mine."