IEM Chicago Day 2: Liquid to upper bracket final; eUnited brought down by fnatic
IEM Chicago's second day has been closed out with four more teams packing their bags early, including event favorites Na'Vi. Liquid, NRG and eUnited still maintain their spots in the tournament with NRG and eUnited having to make their run through the lower bracket.
The B stream had the privilege of presenting the first matchup between Luminosity and AVANGAR, which also doubled as an elimination match in the lower bracket, adding to the pressure. Bektiyar "fitch" Bahytov tried his hand at giving the Brazilians a challenge, by opening up Inferno on the CT-side, putting together a string of rounds to put his team up 10-5. Unfortunately a strong CT-side from Lucas "steel" Lopes pushed Luminosity to a comeback victory being down from 14-8.
Train began with AVANGAR winning the pistol round, but came to a screeching halt when Luminosity took ten uninterrupted rounds. Losing the final three rounds of the half, steel and co. took the first four rounds of the second half to open up an easy route to a 16-10 win.
LuminosityAVANGAR| Luminosity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lucas 'steel' Lopes |
50 - 34 | +16 | 101.9 | 75.0% | 1.36 |
| Henrique 'HEN1' Teles |
39 - 33 | +6 | 67.4 | 71.4% | 1.06 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
35 - 34 | +1 | 62.7 | 64.3% | 0.97 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
27 - 39 | -12 | 66.7 | 67.9% | 0.86 |
| Lucas 'LUCAS1' Teles |
32 - 38 | -6 | 63.3 | 66.1% | 0.85 |
| AVANGAR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Timur 'buster' Tulepov |
34 - 34 | +0 | 69.0 | 75.0% | 1.05 |
| Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytov |
44 - 44 | +0 | 79.6 | 60.7% | 1.05 |
| Alexey 'Qikert' Golubev |
37 - 38 | -1 | 73.3 | 62.5% | 1.01 |
 Dzhami 'Jame' Ali |
36 - 32 | +4 | 63.7 | 62.5% | 0.99 |
| Aidyn 'KrizzeN' Turlybekov |
27 - 35 | -8 | 56.9 | 62.5% | 0.87 |
The A stream featured the downfall of the one of the favorites to compete for the Chicago title, after their opening day loss to eUnited. Na'Vi had to face off against BIG in the lower bracket's first round to hopefully climb out from the grave they made for themselves.
Choosing to play Dust 2, BIG didn't start off on the right foot letting themselves go down 10-5 at the half. After switching sides Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz kicked himself into gear putting up 33 frags to close out the map 16-14.
Na'Vi continued to take first half leads, this time 9-6 on their T-side of Inferno, but unfortunately for them, Johannes "nex" Maget's pistol round ace clutch surged BIG forward. The map would go to the Germans 16-13, eliminating Na'Vi before they even got a single map win.
Natus VincereBIG| Natus Vincere |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev |
52 - 40 | +12 | 85.7 | 79.7% | 1.29 |
| Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko |
38 - 42 | -4 | 69.9 | 61.0% | 0.99 |
| Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev |
33 - 42 | -9 | 64.3 | 57.6% | 0.80 |
| Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov |
31 - 42 | -11 | 63.4 | 62.7% | 0.78 |
| Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev |
28 - 45 | -17 | 62.1 | 55.9% | 0.77 |
| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
60 - 37 | +23 | 103.1 | 72.9% | 1.52 |
| Johannes 'nex' Maget |
47 - 34 | +13 | 84.0 | 78.0% | 1.31 |
| Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch |
29 - 34 | -5 | 60.1 | 78.0% | 1.01 |
| Fatih 'gob b' Dayik |
38 - 38 | +0 | 69.5 | 64.4% | 0.99 |
 Owen 'smooya' Butterfield |
37 - 39 | -2 | 68.6 | 72.9% | 0.99 |
The group A lower bracket between MIBR and NRG was kept close between the NA rivals going the full three maps, starting with a matchup on Inferno, a map neither team had played against each other before.
NRG's T-side was enough to barely garner the lead 8-7 before switching over to defense, but Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga was able to rally his team, winning the next nine of 11 rounds, marking the first map between the teams to end before round 28.
Cache would be the map that truly pressured NRG as they had to battle into double OT to maintain their position in the tournament. Both teams mimicked each other's halves with 11 round terrorist sides, and it was the lone Bulgarian Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov who was able to push NRG past the finish line for a 22-18 victory.
Now on the backfoot after losing their initial momentum, MIBR chose to play Train instead of Overpass for their last stand, and were able to hold their own with eight rounds on their T-side. NRG began the second half tying the game during the pistol round and continued to push their lead forward for six more straight rounds. CeRq and Ethan "nahtE" Arnold nearly mirrored each other's scoreline to end the map, taking Train 16-11 and the series 2-1.
MIBRNRG| MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcelo 'coldzera' David |
62 - 56 | +6 | 75.2 | 67.7% | 1.11 |
 Tarik 'tarik' Celik |
64 - 62 | +2 | 73.3 | 66.7% | 1.03 |
| Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo |
58 - 59 | -1 | 64.6 | 72.0% | 0.97 |
| Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga |
49 - 65 | -16 | 70.3 | 71.0% | 0.92 |
| Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip |
48 - 61 | -13 | 58.1 | 65.6% | 0.90 |
| NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
77 - 51 | +26 | 75.2 | 81.7% | 1.34 |
| Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold |
65 - 61 | +4 | 81.8 | 73.1% | 1.15 |
| Jacob 'FugLy' Medina |
62 - 56 | +6 | 73.8 | 73.1% | 1.11 |
| Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
60 - 61 | -1 | 67.8 | 73.1% | 1.04 |
 Damian 'daps' Steele |
38 - 54 | -16 | 55.4 | 69.9% | 0.88 |
After their miracle destruction of Na'Vi, eUnited were pitted against the new fnatic roster in the upper bracket semifinal. The first half would go the way of the North Americans by taking the first five of six rounds before fnatic would battle back for the lead 6-5. eUnited managed three more rounds to guarantee the lead going up 8-7 before the swap. Despite Michael "dapr" Gulino's best efforts, their defensive side would falter to the Swedes who took the games final six rounds straight to end Overpass 16-13.
Inferno would not go as well for eUnited, as winning the first three rounds would almost be all they could muster before fnatic would steal the first half 11-4. In the attempt to make their comeback, Kaleb "moose" Jayne would try his hand at bringing his team back up but would ultimately fail, securing fnatic the 16-11 win and the spot in the upper bracket final against Liquid.
eUnitedfnatic| eUnited |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaleb 'moose' Jayne |
41 - 34 | +7 | 80.9 | 76.8% | 1.13 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
41 - 39 | +2 | 73.2 | 64.3% | 1.09 |
| Michael 'dapr' Gulino |
39 - 36 | +3 | 77.0 | 66.1% | 1.08 |
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
35 - 38 | -3 | 70.4 | 60.7% | 0.95 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
25 - 37 | -12 | 64.2 | 64.3% | 0.87 |
| fnatic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson |
47 - 39 | +8 | 96.5 | 73.2% | 1.24 |
| Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin |
44 - 33 | +11 | 82.4 | 69.6% | 1.24 |
| Richard 'Xizt' Landström |
35 - 30 | +5 | 74.5 | 73.2% | 1.08 |
| Jesper 'JW' Wecksell |
34 - 38 | -4 | 68.1 | 66.1% | 0.99 |
| Simon 'twist' Eliasson |
23 - 42 | -19 | 49.3 | 55.4% | 0.69 |
The matchup between the world's #3 team Liquid and the new/old mousesports didn't disappoint in the other Group B upper bracket semifinal as the two took the series to its third map.
mouz started Liquid off with a match on Mirage, and they came out guns blazing. After taking a six round lead, Liquid were only able to gain some footing with two rounds before losing another four. They earned another off of a retake, but found themselves down 12-3 at the half. Their eight round comeback seemed in vain as Chris "chrisJ" de Jong pushed his squad to a 16-11 win.
Liquid wouldn't give mouz a chance to carry their momentum on Inferno as they started a steamroll of their own, lead by Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken. Stealing the map's first seven rounds followed by five more after a two round buffer, Liquid got their 12-3 revenge. In between mousesports' two three round win streaks, the North Americans and Epitacio "TACO" de Melo were able to close Inferno 16-9.
Nuke was finally able to draw the series closest first half as mouz were able to defend their sites for nine rounds. Once again lead by Twistzz, in the second half Liquid trampled over the Europeans en route to upper bracket final with a 16-10 Nuke win, and the series won 2-1.
LiquidMOUZ| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
66 - 45 | +21 | 85.9 | 85.9% | 1.36 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
52 - 42 | +10 | 84.9 | 74.4% | 1.28 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
53 - 48 | +5 | 79.5 | 73.1% | 1.14 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
46 - 57 | -11 | 66.4 | 66.7% | 0.97 |
| Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo |
48 - 47 | +1 | 60.1 | 61.5% | 0.93 |
| MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
53 - 51 | +2 | 78.4 | 78.2% | 1.11 |
 Martin 'STYKO' Styk |
51 - 50 | +1 | 75.5 | 69.2% | 1.04 |
 Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný |
49 - 49 | +0 | 67.0 | 67.9% | 0.96 |
 Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong |
49 - 55 | -6 | 62.1 | 56.4% | 0.91 |
 Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi |
37 - 60 | -23 | 60.2 | 59.0% | 0.73 |
LDLC, France's new darling, managed arguably their best LAN win of the team's short existence since forming in May of 2018 against North in their Group B elimination match. The first map went as most would have expected on Dust 2 as North was able to take the first half 11-4, and didn't find much trouble edging out the French in the second half, winning a simple 16-8.
After losing their map pick, LDLC found it only fitting that North experience that same unfortunate fate as they took the Danes down on Nuke, starting with a familiar 11-4 start on their CT-side. Winning the pistol round assisted LDLC in going up nine rounds before North found some footing to mount a comeback. Off of Logan "LOGAN" Corti's 28 frags, LDLC closed out Nuke 16-10, tying the series 1-1 going into Mirage.
As if the viewers hadn't seen it before, LDLC continued their dominance going into the final map with another 11-4 half. After an exchange of short round streaks, it was a David "devoduvek" Dobrosavljevic 3k that would close the map 16-10, and the series 2-1 in favor of the French, earning the hearts of the G2 fandom and eliminating the Danish at the same time.
NorthLDLC| North |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså |
66 - 53 | +13 | 88.5 | 76.3% | 1.23 |
| Markus 'Kjaerbye' Kjærbye |
50 - 50 | +0 | 71.5 | 57.9% | 1.00 |
| Philip 'aizy' Aistrup |
47 - 52 | -5 | 67.8 | 63.2% | 0.97 |
| Nicklas 'gade' Gade |
48 - 54 | -6 | 68.1 | 72.4% | 0.94 |
| Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
41 - 50 | -9 | 59.9 | 63.2% | 0.90 |
| LDLC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Logan 'LOGAN' Corti |
60 - 51 | +9 | 81.6 | 68.4% | 1.18 |
| François 'AMANEK' Delaunay |
52 - 45 | +7 | 77.9 | 67.1% | 1.12 |
| David 'devoduvek' Dobrosavljevic |
56 - 52 | +4 | 82.8 | 67.1% | 1.08 |
 Antoine 'to1nou' Pirard |
43 - 47 | -4 | 58.0 | 67.1% | 0.95 |
| Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin |
47 - 57 | -10 | 71.2 | 67.1% | 0.92 |
The matchups and schedule for today's matches are:
| Thursday, November 8 | |||
| 1:00 PM |  mousesports vs. BIG |
A Stream | BO3 |
| 1:00 PM | eUnited vs. Luminosity |
B Stream | BO3 |
| 4:35 PM | Astralis vs. FaZe |
A Stream | BO3 |
| 4:35 PM | NRG vs. LDLC |
B Stream | BO3 |
| 8:10 PM | fnatic vs.  Liquid |
A Stream | BO3 |
| 8:10 PM | Group B Lower Bracket Final | B Stream | BO3 |
