Gorgc and Pieliedie Praise Nine's Inventiveness in the Midlane, Compare Him to Topson

The duo of Johan “pieliedie'' Åström and Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovskigave their thoughts on Tundra Esports’ midlaner Leon “Nine” Kirilin during a recent watchalong. For the last couple of years, Nine has emerged as one of the best midlaners in the current competitive scene while also winning The International 2022 (TI11) with Tundra Esports back in October 2022.

Having played against the midlaner on several occasions in public matches, both pieliedie & Gorgc gave their opinions on the TI winner while watching the ongoing Lima Major 2023.

“He’s a little bit like Topson” - pieliedie & Gorgc on Nine as a midlaner

During the watchalong on Gorgc’s livestream, the duo was discussing the series between PSG.LGD and Tundra Esports. However, when Gorgc noticed that Nine was playing Centaur Warrunner in the middle lane the duo started to give their opinions on the midlaner as a whole.

While pieliedie was analyzing Nine’s gameplay on the hero, he noted that the German midlaner is the most dishonest person for pioneering the usage of unusual heroes in the midlane such as his infamous Tusk & Keeper of the Light.

“He played this one game before, he got really really farmed. I think they ended up losing because there is no build for a late-game Centaur,” said pieliedie. “I don’t know, to be honest. Nine is the most dishonest player.” 

Gorgc agreed with pieliedie’s statement, saying that most midlaners in the current scene would not want to face Nine in the midlane. He also compared the German midlaner to the likes of two-time TI (The International) winner, Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen due to the player’s tendency to become inventive of new strategies with rarely played heroes.

“He is dishonest, yes. He’s not the highest ranked midlaner in the world but I bet you that many of the mids would not want to face off against Nine in the midlane. They don’t want to bother laning against some Spirit Breaker bullshit. He is a little bit like Topson.” 

 Pieliedie responded by stating that Topson is more inventive. “He kind of invents the meta heroes. Topson has had a few, like he’s had his Pugna,” he said. 

Gorgc added to this by stating, “Nine is also a bit of an inventor, he’s the one who repopularized this KOTL mid, Tusk and maybe Spirit Breaker. He plays some weird heroes mid. Remember Wyvern Mid? Yeah he has invented a lot.” 

While Nine and Tundra Esports are currently sharing fourth place with 3 different teams in the group stage of the Lima Major at the moment, the team remains in contention for an Upper Bracket slot at the Playoffs stage as they are scheduled to face Talon Esports & Team Spirit later today.