tOfu on Victory Against Falcons: "Hope This Marks the Start of a Winning Streak"

tOfu on Victory Against Falcons: "Hope This Marks the Start of a Winning Streak"

Team Liquid managed to continue their run at The International 2026 after defeating Team Falcons with a score of 2:1 in the first round of the lower bracket playoffs. After the match, the team's support player, Erik "tOfu" Engel, discussed the challenges of the series, issues against Bounty Hunter and Io, and noted that the team hopes to build on their success in the upcoming matches of the tournament.

Initially, tOfu admitted that he felt a great sense of relief after the victory. He also compared the team's performance in the playoffs to the group stage and mentioned that Liquid struggled to find their best game immediately after a long break.

[Question: "Do you feel relieved after this series?"] Yes, incredibly so. I'm really happy that we won. Speaking about the series overall, we had a very good group stage, followed by quite a long break. We trained a lot, tried different things. Yesterday, I don't know, we couldn't show our best game. On the first map, it felt like both teams were constantly making mistakes: we throw the game, they throw the game, then us again—and it just went on like that.

And on the second map, we were caught off guard by Bounty Hunter and Io. Even today, after discussing everything, Bounty Hunter still gave us trouble. It would have been very disappointing to be eliminated like that. So I'm very glad we managed to win, continue playing, and enjoy The International in front of the fans. I hope this is the start of a winning streak.
Erik "tOfu" Engel

The Team Liquid player also commented on the first map, where Falcons at one point gained an advantage of almost 80k gold. According to tOfu, after unsuccessful early movements, it became extremely difficult for Liquid to get back into the game.

[Question: "On the first map, Falcons at one point had an advantage of almost 80k gold. Who do you think had it tougher: you, who couldn't turn the game around for so long, or them, who couldn't quickly secure the win?"] I think it was tougher for us. At one point, our early movements on the map just didn't work out as they should have. Bounty Hunter had too much space, and their three core heroes were just farming and farming.

When we eventually lost the advantage, it became very hard to make a comeback because Falcons are excellent at playing the map and gradually cornering you deeper. Of course, we didn't want to give up—this is TI, we want to play until the end. But Falcons won't just hand you the game. They increase their advantage by 10k, then 20k, 30k—and at some point, you're already losing.
Erik "tOfu" Engel
After the victory, Team Liquid will continue their journey in the lower bracket of The International 2026. Their next opponent will be the loser from the match between Team Yandex and Nigma Galaxy .