When Team Liquid had walked into the hotel conference room hosting the group stages of the Six Invitational last year, they had done so with swagger and confidence.
Or, perhaps more accurately, over-confidence.
Ninjas in Pyjamas took them down 2-1 in the first game and while Team Liquid responded with a strong 2-0 over Giants Gaming, they fell to their compatriots of MIBR as well and crashed out of the tournament in the group stages -- a far cry from expectations.
As the final round confirmed Team Liquid's fate, its players broke down, with João "HSnamuringa" Deam and André "NESK" Oliveira nearly inconsolable at the end of their campaign after a mere three days.
This year, the team heads into the Six Invitational after another strong season, having finished third and first in the August and November Majors, second in the BR6 2020 Finals, and first in the Copa Elite Six in Stage 1 of this 2021 season.
But, as confident as they look now, they had looked just as confident heading into last year's Six Invitational.
Then, they had finished top in the BR6 2019, second at DreamHack Montreal 2019, and had taken down eventual Invitational champions Spacestation Gaming for the OGA PIT Minor victory.
As such, while many Brazilian and even other international fans have been pointing to them being one of the favourites to lift the caber, it is unclear which Team Liquid is going to be turning up.
Even if Team Liquid itself turns up, it is unclear how they will stack up against other international favourites such as the home team BDS Esport, reigning champions Spacestation Gaming, or local rivals FaZe Clan.
However, the duo of NESK and Luccas "Paluh" Molina have been absolutely inexorable in their march towards chart-breaking ratings.
The statistic leaderboards for the Copa Elite Six 2021 Stage 1.
The statistic leaderboards for the BR6 2021 Stage 1.
In the Copa Elite Six, Paluh has been untouchable, leading the ratings column and demolishing his peers in the Entry and K-D split columns, being more than two times ahead than the next player in the latter category.
Meanwhile, in the BR6, Nesk leads Paluh in rating by a slight margin, while Paluh leads NESK in K-D and Entry splits by similarly small margins.
Of note is that Thiago "xS3xyCake" Reis leads the field in both competitions in terms of the number of defuser plants, pointing to a very well-rounded Team Liquid so far in 2021.
To understand if Team Liquid can definitively be considered a favourite this year at the Invitational and how it is approaching the event, SiegeGG spoke to its Head Coach, Adenauer "Silence" Alvarenga.
Your team has started off the 2021 season quite well; second in the BR6 and top in LATAM in the Copa Elite Six, carrying straight from your November Major win and BR6 2020 Finals second place finish. What has been the key to this winning formula?
Your team is the only one in LATAM to have won an international title, much less two. Does this add pressure onto your shoulders?
I think few can forget the scenes from last year’s Invitational, much less you and your players. How are you ensuring that something similar does not happen again, especially since your team was on form leading up to SI last year, too?
With Paluh and NESK being such ridiculously strong fraggers, how does an attacking and a defending round flow for your team, which I assume is structured around them?
Many fans have touted your team as the strongest at the event. Is that a fair assessment? What about LATAM as a whole? Is it the strongest region at SI?
What is your goal for the Invitational and how confident are you that you'll achieve it?
What is your opinion on the changed format for the Invitational and how do you rate your chances in the group?
Is there anything you want to say to your fans and maybe your competitors?
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Catch Team Liquid next in action on the 11th of May at 6 AM BRT (UTC-3), when they take on Team Empire live from Paris.