Team Liquid has secured a spot at Ti12 and placed 2nd yet again in a Dota 2 Major.

Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi is renowned for many accomplishments in his Dota 2 career. However, as with every pro player, he’s got his fair share of Dota 2 fails as well, including the infamous iNSaNiA gyro pick. We list some of his most notable ones here.

iNSaNiA & Team Liquid at Berlin Major 2023 | @ESLDota2

iNSaNiA locket at DreamLeague S19

Back at DreamLeague Season 19, iNSaNiA misstepped and suffered a pretty big Dota 2 fail, which arguably cost Team Liquid the grand finals.

Of course, Team Liquid still remains one of the top teams in the world, and a Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023) favorite, second only to Gaimin Gladiators in multiple tournaments.

It was likely Liquid’s destiny to face Gaimin in a full-on Grand Final at the Berlin Major after what transpired in DreamLeague S19. With $300K and a ticket to the Riyadh Masters 2023 at stake, let’s just say Liquid just missed out big over a single item.

never buying holy locket again

— Aydin Sarkohi (@iNsan1a) April 23, 2023

It was Game 3 (Liquid and Gaimin were tied) and iNSaNiA was playing Chen. Just moments before a crucial team fight, iNSaNiA dropped his Holy Locket near a jungle camp. Although iNSaNiA did eventually realize he was missing an important item that amplified his team’s healing, it was only after 10 minutes that his fellow teammate, Michał “Nisha” Jankowski found it on the ground. It was pure chance that it wasn’t picked up by the opposing team!

It’s certainly possible that iNSaNiA may have simply misclicked his Holy Locket to drop it while he was trying to send back a neutral item he picked up. There was even a brief moment where he queued up the Holy Locket to buy it again, though this idea was quickly thrown out the window.

Regardless, the insufficient healing for his team might have made it easier for Gaimin to win the subsequent team fights. Not to rub salt on iNSaNiA’s wound, but considering how close the DreamLeague S19 grand finals were, it’s a real sting. Without the back-and-forth game 3, where iNSaNiA’s Chen dropped his Holy Locket, Team Liquid could have won the DreamLeague S19 without a decisive game 5.

iNSaNiA Gyro Fail

Remember that infamous “iNSaNiA Gyro” fail back at the International 9? – I do…

Taking a trip down memory lane, arguably the most defining incident at TI9 for iNSaNiA was his Gyro pick/ban misclick. It was the TI9 Playoffs Lower Bracket Round 1, where they were only a best-of-one series away from elimination. INSaNiA ran out of time to ban Gyro, which prompted a random hero ban before letting iNSaNiA pick.

Not realizing he didn’t ban Gyro, he ended up picking it. Alliance tried to keep a calm composure to work around the unorthodox pick but they were clearly thrown by it. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out well for Liquid and iNSaNiA’s Gyro fail became one of the biggest Dota 2 fails to date.

Knowing Valve, they featured the incident in one of their International Archive series, titled “Ban the Gyro”. The documentary revealed what went on behind the scenes of that fail, and the words from the Alliance’s players/managers too.

A year after the fateful incident, iNSaNiA remains notorious for misclicks. He also mistakenly picked the Faceless Void instead of Void Spirit at the lower bracket round 1 at ESL One Birmingham 2020 versus HellRaisers.

Team Liquid lost this round but was fortunate enough to ultimately win the series regardless of his mistake.

Team Liquid Major Fails

2023 is the year for Team Liquid, provided they can finally topple Gaimin Gladiators off their throne. But it hasn’t always been like that. In fact, this time last year, Team Liquid was facing a very different set of circumstances that saw them falling before the event on the main stage.

Despite no egregious misclick errors on his part, iNSaNiA did take the opportunity to apologize to fans on Twitter, calling his drafts “garbage” and the team’s playstyle “not much better”. Having not won a Major since the China Dota 2 Super Major back in 2016, Liquid is still out for blood.

However, in Berlin, Liquid was really starting to cook:

If there is one thing that can be said for iNSaNiA, he goes out of his way to own his mistakes. “If you’re playing Dota 2 and constantly blaming your teammates, then you’re just wasting your life”, he said back in 2020 when asked about previous missteps.

Regardless of misclicks and memorable Dota 2 fails, iNSaNiA remains one of the best Dota 2 players in the world. Currently, he is one of the only five players with a secure spot at The International 2023.