FURIA dispatch Liquid
The battle of the Americas promised to be a bloody head-to-head with two teams that have been in good form going into this season of Pro League. However, in the beginning things seemed to be a massacre. At first, they faltered but then Liquid was able to reach 212°F, after barely simmering on Mirage. Each map was a completely different story. In the end, it was a well-rounded team performance from FURIA that knocked down the American sweethearts who were unable to turn things around.
In the last three months, Liquid has had a 100% win rate on Mirage, so it only made sense for them to pick it as the first map against FURIA. However, instead of Liquid excellence, we saw quite the opposite, with FURIA coming out in a fury that could not be stopped. The Brazilians only lost one round out of the first twelve, and then would go on to win the half 12-3. The T-sided Liquid could not find an answer for the riddle that was a stoic FURIA defense. Something needed to change, and as the squad went into half-time, Damian "daps" Steele had the impossible job of making Liquid believe in a comeback.
It would not an easy task but Liquid came out looking refreshed, they strung together a few good rounds but their opponents just kept hitting back. FURIA just looked too well put together for Liquid to handle, and despite some good late resistance, FURIA won the first map 16-10. It's important to note that it was an agonisingly close end to the game, as Joshua "oSee" Ohm got two kills in a 1v2 to stay alive but could not defuse the bomb in time.
The second map started a lot closer than the last, with Liquid able to force back a round after losing the pistol. The Americans were able to use the CT-sided nature of Inferno to their advantage and strung together some nice rounds to maintain a lead. Liquid was able to stay one step ahead of their South American counterparts, not allowing them to gain any momentum. At the end of the first half, Liquid had a well-deserved 10-5 lead. Going onto the T-side didn't deter Liquid as they continued to put the pressure to FURIA who had no response. In the end Liquid closed out the game 16-7, setting up Vertigo as the finale.
After trading each other's map picks, FURIA and Liquid were ready for a final showdown on Vertigo to fight for the all-American crown. FURIA came out similar to the first map, dominating off the bat and not giving the CT-sided Liquid a moment of peace. With an incredible 1HP clutch from Rafael "saffee" Costa in hand, FURIA was able to finish off the first half with the infamous 11-4 lead. daps once again had a big team talk ahead but this time they weren't able to turn things around in the slightest. Losing Vertigo 16-7.
LiquidFURIA| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
51 - 43 | +8 | 79.2 | 69.6% | 1.09 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
52 - 56 | -4 | 86.2 | 63.8% | 1.07 |
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
45 - 49 | -4 | 67.3 | 72.5% | 0.91 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
37 - 48 | -11 | 55.8 | 72.5% | 0.88 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
33 - 48 | -15 | 54.3 | 63.8% | 0.76 |
| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
63 - 42 | +21 | 91.5 | 75.4% | 1.36 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
48 - 45 | +3 | 92.3 | 76.8% | 1.23 |
| Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
51 - 49 | +2 | 74.4 | 76.8% | 1.18 |
| André 'drop' Abreu |
41 - 43 | -2 | 66.3 | 66.7% | 1.00 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
41 - 41 | +0 | 60.2 | 68.1% | 0.96 |
With this loss in hand, Liquid will be looking to bounce back against the currently winless Eternal Fire tomorrow at 10:00AM.
