tOfu on the 2026 Dota 2 Esports World Cup: “I think we’ll see a wide variety of heroes at this tournament.”
David Mchedlishvili
Team Liquid support player Eric “tOfu” Engel spoke about the Shadow Fiend hero and assessed the potential meta for the competition in an interview following the draw against PlayTime.
On the match against PlayTime
Mixed feelings. We got off to a bad start on both maps. On the first one, we recovered well, managed to slow down the game and stage a comeback; after a tough start, we played well in the second half. It was the same story in the second game, but with a different draft—we had poor momentum from the start, they moved well around the map, and we just couldn’t get into the game.
About Shadow Fiend
Overall, he’s a very strong hero. Given how the meta is shifting in the current patch, counters are emerging, and certain heroes are falling out of favor. We thought we had good counters. After the first map went so badly, we talked it over and were confident that something had gone wrong and that we could play better. But after the second game was so tough, we realized that he has too much of an impact on the game.
On the hero meta at the tournament
There are a lot of strong heroes right now; I think we’ll see a wide variety of picks at this tournament overall. It all depends on what teams feel comfortable playing.
Earlier, Eric “tOfu” Engel commented on Team Liquid’s elimination from BLAST Slam VII, assessed the team’s performance after the break, and discussed the team’s plans ahead of the upcoming major tournaments.
David Mchedlishvili
