Nisha Steps Away After Four Years With Liquid

Published September 30, 2026

Michał “Nisha” Jankowski is taking an extended break from competitive Dota 2, ending a Team Liquid tenure of nearly four years. The organisation has not presented the decision as a permanent retirement or announced a full-time replacement. For BLAST Slam VIII, Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng will stand in at mid, giving Liquid a temporary answer for the first tournament of the new season while Nisha steps away without a stated return date.

Nisha joined Liquid in late 2022 after spending four years with Team Secret. The move eventually delivered the largest title of his career when Liquid won The International 2024. His time with the organisation also included two PGL Wallachia championships, BLAST Slam VI, 1win Essence II and a runner-up finish at Riyadh Masters 2024. Those results explain why the change is more than an ordinary substitution between events.

A break also requires careful language. No return date has been confirmed, and no source in the reviewed material says Nisha has retired. Treating the pause as a farewell would go beyond the announcement. Treating it as a short holiday would be equally unsupported. The accurate position is that one of Liquid’s defining players is inactive for an indefinite period and the organisation must compete without him.

Liquid enters the season with a temporary mid

MidOne will take the second position at BLAST Slam VIII, which runs from September 29 to October 11 with sixteen teams and a $750,000 prize pool. He is an experienced mid laner with a long history at Team Secret and more recent success with MOUZ, including a victory at PGL Wallachia Season 6. Experience reduces the novelty of the role, but it does not make the lineup settled.

A stand-in arrangement asks the team to balance immediate results with limited certainty. Liquid must prepare drafts that fit MidOne now without pretending the tournament automatically answers the permanent roster question. His performance can show how this version functions; it cannot confirm the length of Nisha’s break or decide a future contract that has not been announced.

The roster was already changing before the announcement. Liquid parted ways with offlaner Marcus “Ace” Christensen and added Adrian “Wisper” Dobles. The BLAST lineup therefore contains a new offlaner and a temporary mid alongside Michael “miCKe” Vu, Samuel “Boxi” Svahn and Erik “tOfu” Engel, with William “Blitz” Lee coaching.

That context makes simple comparisons difficult. If Liquid looks different, the cause cannot be assigned to one absence without examining roles, lanes and drafts. Wisper is integrating at the same time that MidOne enters the most influential central lane. The established players provide continuity, but the opening event is a first test for multiple relationships.

Nisha leaves a standard, not a timetable

Nisha’s Liquid record sets a demanding reference point. He played both carry and mid at the highest level across his career and became a champion with the organisation. The roster does not need a new player to reproduce every part of that history immediately. It needs a functioning division of resources, dependable communication and a plan that suits the five available players.

For Nisha, the absence of a deadline preserves his freedom to decide what comes next. For Liquid, it removes the option of waiting without a competitive plan. MidOne’s BLAST appearance is the confirmed bridge. Anything beyond that—including speculation about other elite mids—should remain separate from the roster facts until the organisation makes another announcement.

• Nisha is taking an extended break with no confirmed return date.
• His Liquid tenure included The International 2024 and several other titles.
• MidOne will stand in at mid for BLAST Slam VIII.
• Liquid has not announced a permanent replacement for Nisha.

Position	BLAST Slam VIII status	Long-term status
Nisha	Inactive	Return date unannounced
MidOne	Mid-lane stand-in	Temporary role confirmed
Wisper	Starting offlaner	Joined during the post-TI changes

Nisha’s break closes a successful chapter without defining whether another will follow. Liquid has chosen an experienced stand-in so the season can begin, but BLAST Slam VIII is a temporary solution, not a final answer. The responsible reading is simple: Nisha is stepping back, MidOne is stepping in for now, and the permanent future remains open.