Team Liquid Players Hail SumaiL as ‘The King’ After Incredible DPC Performances

Team Liquid is looking on track for a top-two finish in the EU 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division after outplaying their opponents in three out of the four series that they have played. While the fans were apprehensive of the team’s performance after the departure of Samuel "Boxi" Svahn from the active lineup, Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan has proven to be a splendid replacement. SumaiL has already led the team to two comfortable victories over Brame and Hellbear Smashers from the mid lane. While some tough matchups are yet to take place, members of Team Liquid seem to be quite delighted with the way SumaiL has functioned in the team, warmly addressing him as ‘The King.’ 

RELATED:  Team Liquid vs Hellbear Smashers: Recap, Highlights, and SumaiL Interview

Team Liquid’s Dota 2 members laud SumaiL on Twitter

All of Team Liquid’s active lineup have commended their stand-in for his performances in the EU 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division, referring to him as “the King.”

qojqva:

Max "qojqva" Bröcker, who has had to switch to the offlane to make way for SumaiL in the midlane, acknowledged his incredible performance against Hellbear Smashers by just tweeting ‘The King.’

iNSaNiA:

Taiga

Tommy "Taiga" Le hilariously talked about the role switch between “Sumail the King” and “qojqva the Wise Old Man.”

miCKe

RELATED:  Team Liquid's Coach Blitz Talks About SumaiL After 2-1 Win on His Debut

Why Do Fans Fondly Call SumaiL ‘The King?’

Though SumaiL had conquered the pinnacle of Dota 2 - TI in 2015 as a midlaner and had become one of the game’s storied players in the same role, he surprisingly moved to offlane at the start of 2018 during his time with Evil Geniuses. Though Evil Geniuses looked promising at the beginning with SumaiL in the offlane, Fear in the midlane and Arteezy in the safelane, the team’s performance gradually started to dip. They were placed 5 - 6th at ESL One Katowice 2018, 5 - 8th at The Bucharest Major, 7 - 8th at the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018 with a solitary tournament win coming at the GESC: Indonesia Dota2 Minor. 

After a stale period in competitive Dota 2 as compared to Evil Geniuses’ standards, the team parted ways with Fear and Misery in May 2018. As a result, SumaiL was reinstated to the midlane, and soon after, he made a tweet stating, “King back to mid.”

Since then, the fans of the 22-year-old midlaner have dubbed him as ‘The King’ and the Dota 2 community usually uses this nickname whenever they have casual conversations about him.

SumaiL has also had other memes built around his legacy. One of the more hilarious ones came at a time when he had just undertaken the offlaner role for Evil Geniuses in 2018. 

In ESL One Genting 2018, Evil Geniuses had a spectacular group stage performance that secured them a playoffs spot where they defeated Virtus.pro - a team that was looking unstoppable at that time. Following the win, the 22-year-old called out Evil Geniuses’ haters with this Tweet.

The results on the following day cemented its place in Dota 2 folklore. Ironically, Evil Geniuses suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Team Liquid. Evil Geniuses lost the series 2-0, with the second game’s scoreline reading 21-0 in favor of Team Liquid at one point.

What is SumaiL Up To Now?

SumaiL is currently competing in the EU 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division as a stand-in for Team Liquid after having been absent from competitive Dota 2 for five months. He has already played a couple of series in the tournament in the midlane, guiding the team to victory in both of them. The duration of the midlaner's stay at Team Liquid is currently unknown but it is expected to last for the remainder of the league as Boxi continues to be with his family in his temporary break.

SumaiL and Team Liquid’s next series will be against Tundra Esports on May 9, 2021.