Liquid utterly dominate Danes
Liquid kicked off their final game of the knockout stage (which despite the name of the stage, would actually see neither team eliminated no matter the result) against Heroic on Vertigo. This would be Liquid's second outing on the 51st floor for the BLAST Fall Groups, after they took down fellow NA side Complexity 16-14 in the previous stage.
The first half kicked off with a string of rounds for Heroic on their CT-side, taking the pistol and the following two rounds. Liquid began to put the pieces together after the brief losing streak, with Nick "nitr0" Cannella calling an impressive T-side, with Liquid briefly "catching fire" as they won five rounds in a row, and closing out the half with a 9-6 lead going into their defensive half.
Liquid opened up their CT side with a statement of intent from Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis deleting 3 Heroic players in a 4v4 retake, defusing the bomb with merely 0.08 seconds left. Dominance was the theme of the second half for Liquid as their momentum continued to climb, shutting down the Danes no matter what they threw at Liquid. Ramp control proved pivotal, as YEKINDAR shined on the site he has become notorious for defending. Liquid's defense would indeed prove impenetrable, not losing a single CT round and closing the game 16-6.
The map pick for the Danes would be Overpass who started out on the T-side. Despite picking the map, you wouldn't have been able to tell in the first half, with Liquid completely demolishing Casper "cadiaN" Møller's team in the first half. Damian "daps" Steele's preparation for Overpass was evident, with Liquid storming out to a 9-0 lead before Martin "stavn" Lund would provide somewhat of an answer, clutching out a 1v2 to win Heroic's first round. This clutch would only be a flash in the pan, with Heroic's economy immediately being reset and Liquid cruising to a 12-3 half.
If Heroic wanted any hope of a comeback, it had to start with the pistol round and it looked very feasible as Joshua "oSee" Ohm was left in a 1v3. The young American perished after a kill onto cadiaN, however, with stavn coming off the bomb, there was no time to defuse, giving Liquid their thirteenth. A chaotic force buy win for Heroic in the follow up would buy the Danes some time as they slowly began their ardous climb back into the series. The comeback would prove short-lived as Liquid regained their footing and closing out comfortably with a 16-8 scoreline.
HEROICLiquid| HEROIC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 René 'TeSeS' Madsen |
32 - 34 | -2 | 86.9 | 67.4% | 1.09 |
| Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
26 - 33 | -7 | 71.3 | 67.4% | 0.99 |
| Martin 'stavn' Lund |
31 - 33 | -2 | 62.0 | 63.0% | 0.87 |
| Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck |
28 - 37 | -9 | 68.7 | 58.7% | 0.74 |
| Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard |
16 - 40 | -24 | 45.0 | 56.5% | 0.47 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
44 - 26 | +18 | 101.1 | 84.8% | 1.55 |
 Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
32 - 23 | +9 | 74.2 | 82.6% | 1.28 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
36 - 26 | +10 | 90.1 | 73.9% | 1.24 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
33 - 23 | +10 | 70.9 | 71.7% | 1.13 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
30 - 35 | -5 | 68.7 | 67.4% | 0.96 |
With Liquid's spot secured for the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, they now have a month to prepare for their next outing at ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta.
