Second place has been a curse for Team Liquid. Other squads might look at the consistent top-four placements that Liquid has achieved as goals to aspire to, but for Liquid its always been disappointing coming in just shy of the top prize.This teams first and most recent major LAN victory in 2016 was at Epicenter this past May. That hard-won 3-2 victory against Newbee is a high point the five members of Liquid would like to achieve again, this time at The International, Dota 2s biggest tournament. How are the players handling this challenge?For now, we are slowly shaping ourselves to the form we were at Epicenter, which was our strongest point, said four-role player Jesse JerAx Vainikka.Back to boot campTeam Liquid isnt a new name in esports, but this fresh-faced lineup is new to the banner. Picked up wholesale by the organization last October, the former 5Jungz squad has been further reinforced by the know-how and tools available to an established brand. This includes knowledgeable support staff and intensive boot camps.JerAx points to coaches William Blitz Lee and Lee Heen Seung Gon, as well as team manager Mohamed Morad, saying the team is lucky to have [them] and that they help by bringing up key points for improvement. That support, according to now-former coach Blitz, has been a catalyst for the teams success.The team has all the skill in the world, Blitz said. Having a good support staff just allows them to fully utilize their potential.Of course, Liquid is no stranger to large tournaments. This lineup has played in almost every major and premier in 2016, and always performed at a high level. The pre-TI boot camp is different, though, and Liquid is going at it with much more determination.Before, [for] previous tournaments, we felt like the boot camps were extremely useful for the team, but lasted only for a week, which we found too short, JerAx said. Before TI, we are going to stay together for a straight month, with some days off here and there.This level of preparation is crucial for The International. Eighteen of the top teams in the world will be competing for a massive prize pool. Money and status ride on the line, and every team will be focusing, preparing for any and all opponents that might stand between them and the cup. Its a lot to manage, but Blitz says the focus is on the team, and not outside factors.At boot camps we work primarily on improving ourselves and less about reading our opponents, Blitz said. Things like working on communication and chemistry are the most important factors to us.Writing a new playbookThe plays of Team Liquid are fast, coordinated and sometimes appear effortless. The cohesion of this team is something to behold, and its a factor that has pushed it ahead of many other teams in the pack.If youre looking for a standout player, it might be JerAx. Most well-known for his Earth Spirit play, JerAx was adept at playing the rolling roamer, making aggressive plays in the mid and side lanes, and securing space for his carries.According to JerAx, though, his role has changed a lot since the days of first-pick Earth Spirit.That used to be the old days of Liquid, when we played extremely aggressive, he said. Right now [Kuro KuroKy Salehi Takhasomi] is playing the roamer, and Im sticking to the safelane with [Lasse MATUMBAMAN Urpalainen].That switch-up might seem odd, given JerAxs skill at executing roaming ganks. The four-role player seems used to adapting to new mindsets though, as its something he says hes had to do against discerning opponents. I used to switch things up a lot when I went into new games, when people figured out what Im doing, he said.His lane companion, MATUMBAMAN, also has a wide pool of heroes. In just The Summit 5 alone, the most recent tournament the team attended, Matu played eight different cores across 13 matches. Morphling, Huskar, Drow Ranger, Timbersaw, Storm Spirit and Anti-Mage all comprise a highly varied pool, and it doesnt even include what might be his best-known pick, Lycan.MATUMBAMAN told me that when looking for new picks, he looks to places some might see as odd. Whenever I develop new heroes, its a combination of pub games and other pro game replays I have watched, he said. Obviously I might [mess] up, but thats life.Switching roles, getting new pick ideas from pub matches, and staying in the same house together for an entire month might grate on a lesser teams nerves, but for Team Liquid, the squads bond trumps all of those concerns. These five have been together a long time; theres a level of trust and a shared commitment to the goal that keeps them going.We are definitely friends with each other, JerAx said. And I think it plays a huge part when we stay together for multiple weeks at boot camps and tournaments.Team Liquid has seen the highs and lows. It has put in the prep time. On the precipice of TI6, MATUMBAMAN summed up his goal for Seattle: Leave the venue knowing that I and my team did everything we could to produce the best performance. Grover Stewart Jersey . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Malik Hooker Jersey . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. http://www.cheapcoltsjerseyssale.com/ . 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They were breaking up its top surface and subjecting it to jets of hot air from blowers that looked like vacuum cleaners mounted on backpacks.This patch of turf was as long as a pitch, roughly, about twice as wide, and saturated with moisture that simply refused to go away. By breaking it up, the groundstaff were hoping to increase the surface area exposed to the sun and their blowers, and thereby speed up the drying process.It was day three of the fourth Test between West Indies and India, and not a drop had fallen all day. Apart from a brief shower in the afternoon, there had been no rain on day two either. Two nearly rain-free days, and play was nowhere near starting because parts of the outfield were still damp.Almost exactly when the new pitchforks and shovels came out of their wrapping, a dark cloud appeared over the Oval, and covers came onto the field. On day one, when rain stopped play after just 22 overs, the groundstaff had only covered the pitch and the rest of the square. Now, apart from the square, they had covered the bowlers run-ups as well. Apart from its regular blue covers, the Queens Park Oval had acquired a pair of fluorescent yellow ones too.They were the same colour as the ink of a highlighter pen applied over the words too late. For when they arrived in the morning, the umpires had been just as concerned by the run-up areas as they had been by the damp patch near the square boundary.In order to minimise rain delays, some grounds around the world have begun covering their entire outfield. Here, in a Test match scheduled during the wet season, the Queens Park Oval had only begun covering the run-ups on day three. The ground did not own a super sopper either.The third Test in St Lucia lost an entire day to rain that was heavier than the downpour Port of Spain experienced on day one. It left the eexposed parts of the outfield totally sodden.ddddddddddddBut play managed to begin at 10am the next morning. The Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium owned a super sopper and, perhaps more importantly, its drainage was able to handle a large volume of rain.The drainage at the Queens Park Oval simply seemed inadequate to host a Test match scheduled in the wet season. A major pity, since crowds at the two washed-out days have been far bigger than any seen in the series so far. On the third day, a group of schoolchildren were at the Scotiabank stand, right behind the sodden, dug-up patch of outfield. Some of them must have been coming to watch their first ever day of Test cricket. They probably did not enjoy it.But perhaps the biggest reason for the grounds failure to drain properly was simply the amount of rain it has taken over the last few weeks. It has rained consistently through August, and August is always a wet month. On average, according to the World Meteorological Organisation, Port of Spain receives 244 mm of rain in August, more than in any other month. Scheduling a Test match here now was perhaps not the wisest decision in the first place.It has never happened before. Of the 60 Test matches the Queens Park Oval has hosted, this was the first to be played in August. The venue has never staged a Test in July, only two - in 2010 and 2014 - in June, and only one, back in 1965, in May. The other 56 Tests have all been played between January 19 and April 26, in the dry season, in West Indies traditional cricket season.But once the series had been scheduled, the authorities responsible for staging the Test match - the whole chain running from the WICB through the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board to the Queens Park Cricket Club, which owns the ground - could have made the best possible arrangements to minimise the rains impact. 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