Team Liquid To Use Stand-In For Chongqing Major

Just days before the first major tournament of the year kicks off, Team Liquid have been forced to announce that they will be using a stand-in for the Chongqing Major, with star mid lane player Amer ‘Miracle-‘ Al-Barkawi unable to attend the event due to an urgent personal issue.

We would like to confirm that Miracle is unable to attend the Chongqing Major. He was excited to play; unfortunately, an urgent personal matter occurred at the last minute. We request that fans respect his privacy during this time, and we will provide updates when possible.

— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) January 16, 2019

The announcement on Twitter does put to rest a theory on Reddit that Miracle was the next player in a long line of pro’s who are experiencing visa issues over the last few months, with many fans believing that the Chinese government was stepping in to keep certain players away from tournaments as a punitive action for remarks said on stream, or outside situations not directly related to the game.

Miracle's Visa is revoked as a response to detained Chinese Huawei ex-employee in Poland, Shadow ready to substitute from r/DotA2

Team Liquid celebrated their two-year anniversary just weeks ago, as they achieved what many would consider impossible by not making any roster changes over the course of their run. Team Liquid has enjoyed the success that their cohesion affords them, claiming victory at The International 2017, and placing fourth at The International 2018, while also winning dozens of major and minor events during their run.

We'd like to announce that Valve has approved our emergency stand-in, Chu "shadow" Zeyu. We are still working with Valve to figure out the DPC points situation, and we will let you know as soon as we find out #LetsGoLiquid

— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) January 17, 2019

While the team waits for Miracle to become available once again, they will be using Chu “shadow” Zeyu as a stand-in player. The former Wings Gaming player has found victory in the past, winning The International 2016, affording Team Liquid some measure of comfort as they head into the Chongqing Major. Team Liquid will face their first challenge of the event on January 19^th, when they square off against The Pango in the group stage.