Liquid and FURIA overcome day three challenges at IEM Cologne
Three Americas teams went to war today on day three of Cologne, with only two left standing when it was said and done. In victory, Liquid and FURIA gave fans plenty to be optimistic over, even with the tough matchups ahead.
Liquid and 00 Nation go the distance
The matchup between the two Americas teams gave fans and spectators alike a three-map slugfest that included four separate overtimes across two maps. Needless to say, this series was a treat and a half for Counter-Strike fans. With each team winning a map in OT, it is accurate to say that this game was close to tipping in the favor of both teams multiple times over. Unfortunately for 00 Nation, they had nothing left in the tank when it came time for action on Ancient.
When map three came to, Liquid in-game leader Nick "nitr0" Cannella came alive following back-to-back abysmal performances on the maps prior. His resurgence was a major catalyst for the win on map three to secure the series. Not only that, Josh "oSee" Ohm and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablanowski were massive for the team to get them through the grueling overtime gauntlet.
Liquid00NATION| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
90 - 65 | +25 | 97.8 | 77.6% | 1.36 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
83 - 58 | +25 | 76.5 | 76.6% | 1.22 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
82 - 66 | +16 | 84.4 | 69.2% | 1.18 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
67 - 68 | -1 | 66.4 | 70.1% | 0.98 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
41 - 72 | -31 | 49.8 | 67.3% | 0.72 |
| 00NATION |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Santino 'try' Rigal |
77 - 69 | +8 | 80.6 | 66.4% | 1.09 |
 Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer |
78 - 78 | +0 | 82.4 | 62.6% | 1.06 |
| Marcelo 'coldzera' David |
62 - 76 | -14 | 64.3 | 70.1% | 0.92 |
| Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto |
62 - 67 | -5 | 64.7 | 57.9% | 0.88 |
| Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo |
49 - 74 | -25 | 57.0 | 64.5% | 0.80 |
FURIA's first step to revenge
FURIA broke out of their funk following a solid 2-0 over Outsiders, who have growing pains to work through in their own right. Familiar faces Yuri "yuurih" Santos and Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato stepped up huge for the team in order to secure the needed victory. Helping his teammates in the 2-0 was AWPer Rafael "saffee" Costa who did his part to help overtake Outsiders with little resistance.
Although they aren't out of the woods yet, FURIA have taken a positive step out of the slump that has plagued them for some time now. As a momentum-based team, this win over Outsiders could be the spark that takes them to the promised land in Cologne. If they want to continue their success in Cologne, there is no doubt the star duo of yurrih and KSCERATO will need to maintain consistency.
Both teams continue their lower bracket runs tomorrow at the start of the day, with Liquid vs Cloud9 and FURIA vs Spirit fighting for tournament life at 06:30AM.
