For many Team Liquid fans, the community is a fun place where they can talk smack, discuss matches, and engage in some good ole shared copium. For certain fans, though, the community is more than just a shared interest — it’s a place to form genuine connections and find comfort. 

One Team Liquid fan who’s found a supportive online ecosystem through the Liquid community is UnEpicKid, a Dota and World of Warcraft player from Ukraine who’s a dedicated Team Liquid Dota fan and has the signed jerseys to prove it.

What initially got you into esports? 

My passion with esports started when I started playing Dota. It was a super long time ago, maybe more than even more than 10 years ago. I didn’t watch a lot of events at the time. But now through playing games and my career [with WePlay] I’ve grown to be very involved in the scene. 

As someone super involved with all aspects of esports, what stood out to you about Team Liquid?

A long time ago I was a big fan of StarCraft II. Sometime later, I left the game and decided to play cooperative games like Dota and League of Legends because my wife is also a gamer. But I always knew about Team Liquid from StarCraft. I also have one of the Hearthstone player’s super old jerseys — Neirea, a player from Ukraine. I got it from one of the events. 

What kept you interested in Team Liquid after the StarCraft days?

I became a fan of the Dota 2 roster and I was super happy when they became TI winners in 2017. This year was one of the best years for their Dota 2 team. I was super happy for them. 

Then during Covid, WePlay held a Major in Kyiv [Ukraine] and Team Liquid was invited. I was so excited to see them in real life after all this time. On media day, I was making broadcast graphics with the art director and was able to get a custom poster with the Dota 2 team’s signatures.

Even when we are doing bad, what makes you continue being a Team Liquid fan?

I know it’s just a game. I don’t blame anyone. If guys play bad, there's no reason not to cheer for them. I’ve seen a lot of backstage videos and I know their coach and managers are great people. I know for sure that they are saying, “Don’t worry about losing the game. It’s not as important as people think.” 

Are you part of the Team Liquid Discord community?

I have been since Liquid+ started — I even have a screenshot from my first day in the program. Before that, I didn’t use Discord so much, just for my WoW guild. But after that, I started using it a lot and I connected with Team Liquid. 

I like this community a lot. Team Liquid has the best support ever. They’re great people — the staff and fans always mention me, help me a lot, ask me how I feel and how it’s going on in Ukraine. I really love them all. 

Why is it so important for Team Liquid to have such a supportive community?

Not many organizations have communities like this. This is one of the reasons I like TL so much. They have such a big and comfortable community. There are a lot of great people, not just TL’s staff but a lot of fans that you can discuss stuff with. I never see anything negative from them. This is one reason you should love Team Liquid. 

‍How have you liked participating in Liquid+? 

I have actually won a lot! My biggest prize I got was a Team Liquid jacket. I also got a signed jersey. It’s one of the gems in my collection. One is from Dota 2’s BOXI with his nickname on the back. And on the bottom there are four random Liquid+ fans listed, including me. I also have a super rare jersey signed by Victor and Steve. 

A lot of esports fans often find their community online. Are there a lot of esports fans where you live?

I work in esports so I have a lot of friends who are esports fans. Also my wife. We’re all fans of Team Liquid. I buy a lot of jerseys and give them to people at my work. 

How do you see esports changing and growing?

I am sure the community will grow but some games will change for sure. The Dota community has become smaller over time but I’m sure the new game from Valve [Deadlock] could be good. For sure there are a lot of similar games like LoL that will come up, like Supervive. I saw it during the beta and it looks pretty nice and has really good graphics. I’m sure games like this will continue to grow the esports community for sure. 

Do you still play Dota 2 yourself? 

Not so much. I mostly play World of Warcraft with my wife and friends and sometimes League of Legends some evenings. 

Do you follow the Team Liquid WoW team at all?

I was watching the Road to World First this year and the past two years after Team Liquid signed the roster. I remember the war in Ukraine started — we were in the bomb shelter and I was watching Road to World First. 

Did watching WoW during that time help? 

When I was watching it, it was funny to watch and I didn’t think about the bad things around me. Special thanks to Team Liquid’s Eiya, who was casting during the WoW event. She was wearing a small flag of Ukraine at World First. It was really, really impressive. It was something special for Ukrainian fans. 

How has the conflict in Ukraine affected you? 

It’s affected a lot. [WePlay] decided to move almost everything to Los Angeles and even open an arena there. Right now, they have a lot of different shows and events there. Some stuff is still in Ukraine because we can’t move entirely. The biggest problem is that we can’t do as many events here, especially not the same quality as before because a lot of our stuff is in LA and different time zones. Somehow we did it and we still — even after three years — make shows and events. 

Sometimes there are some missiles or drones. But somehow we are still living.

Wow, that must be so surreal and scary. 

It’s been the worst experience in my life! 

What do you do for fun outside of esports to keep your spirits up?

Sometimes we play board games. Sometimes we play League of Legends or WoW. My hobbies are collecting LEGOs and Funko Pops and other figures, like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars. I’m a big fan of anime. I watch a lot of titles, probably over 200 by now! I’m still waiting for TL to collaborate with One Piece. I already have a lot from [the Naruto collection] because it’s my wife’s favorite anime and one of mine. Three or four hoodies, jackets, bottoms… 

How do you feel about the direction of Team Liquid’s merch?

It’s fantastic. All my friends say it’s next level quality compared to other teams, which may be just a white t-shirt and a random print of their logo and that’s all. But TL has done masterpieces. I love my Naruto hoodies. They’re so good. When I wear them to work, everyone asks where they can buy them. 

Yes! A lot of Team Liquid’s merch is very fashionable and can fit into any wardrobe easily. I love them too. What LEGO are you hoping to get your hands on next? 

I feel I already have the biggest sets for LoTR. I still want to buy AT-AT from Star Wars and maybe something more. 

[This photo is] just a small part of my collection. I have collected all the collector's editions of World Of Warcraft (and some other games like Diablo 3, StarCraft, Cyberpunk 2077, and others), more than 30 different LEGO sets, mainly Harry Potter and Star Wars, and those two Lord of the Rings ones in the photo. 

I also have more than 100 Funko POP figures, mainly Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and anime (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach) themed. And there are large collectible figures such as Illidan Stormrage and the Sauron's Helmet full-sized replica with Barad-Dur placement for it. There are some more but they are far away in boxes — once I finish the cabinet I will be able to show the whole collection. I also plan to put all the jerseys in frames!

How long does it take to build the bigger sets?

I usually watch some films on weekends and spend that entire weekend building an entire big set.