Liquid reach Legends Stage after dominating Astralis
The resurrection of the 2018 rivalry has finished and Liquid has had the last laugh as they knock Astralis out of Major contention. Despite Benjamin "blameF" Bremer putting up an 1.48 rating, the North American team didn't take their foot off the gas, finishing off the Danish giants is just two maps.
The final step to making Legends started on Vertigo where Liquid got an early lead, going up 7-1 on the T-side but in typical NA fashion Liquid's lead began to slip as they only gained one more round and ended the half 8-7. In the second half, Astralis started off well but Liquid answered back by putting up six rounds in a row, a fire had lit under them and it seemed to all that they would quickly close this game out. Just as the first map seemed to be coming to a close, the Danish team looked to remind everybody of the 33-8 record that they hold against Liquid. In the blink of an eye, it was 14-14 and Astralis had all the momentum in the world behind them.
In the second to last round Asger "Farlig" Jensen failed to deliver on a 1v2, meaning Liquid was one round away from taking the first map. In the final round Keith "NAF" Markovic was left in a 1v2 with the bomb planted on A. American Hearts everywhere skipped a beat as over time looked to be on the Horizon, but NAF had other ideas. In the crucial moment, NAF came up big giving Liquid the first map.
Ancient seemed to mirror Vertigo in the first half as Liquid went up 8-7 at the half but this time on CT-side. The second half was equally as down to the wire as the two teams traded rounds back and forth, with Astralis just about staying ahead up until round 24. Key clutches coming from Nick "nitr0" Cannella sealed the game and secured Liquid a spot on the legends stage.
AstralisLiquid| Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer |
62 - 38 | +24 | 107.2 | 76.3% | 1.48 |
| Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke |
40 - 43 | -3 | 77.8 | 71.2% | 1.02 |
| Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander |
39 - 39 | +0 | 66.2 | 71.2% | 1.01 |
| Asger 'Farlig' Jensen |
29 - 45 | -16 | 54.6 | 66.1% | 0.78 |
| Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth |
24 - 43 | -19 | 56.5 | 67.8% | 0.71 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
43 - 41 | +2 | 88.2 | 71.2% | 1.22 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
50 - 40 | +10 | 92.2 | 74.6% | 1.21 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
42 - 35 | +7 | 70.6 | 72.9% | 1.14 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
35 - 36 | -1 | 59.1 | 74.6% | 0.99 |
 Richard 'shox' Papillon |
36 - 42 | -6 | 78.7 | 69.5% | 0.98 |
The win for Liquid makes them the only North American team to make the Legends stage of the PGL Antwerp 2022 Major, only time will tell how far they can carry the mantel of NA CS.
