Liquid bounce back with a statement win
After a loss against Challengers Stage 3-0 team MOUZ, Liquid got to face Sprout, one of the less-believed-in teams at this stage in the Major. Sprout fell to 0-1 after losing to BIG. This was the first match of the second round of games from the Legends Stage.
This was a good opportunity for Captains America and co. to bounce back from the early loss and maintain the hopes of going through to the next stage alive.
The map veto would result in another Inferno match for Liquid as it was the same map they played earlier, only this time the North Americans started on the T-side.
Liquid started the map with a T-side pistol win and the following. It would seem Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski had finally come onto the stage as the fan-favorite got a triple kill to open the B-site and get the third round for his team. The whole team was looking sharp as Nick "nitr0" Cannella also got two kills to open the same site again and unlock round four for Liquid. Round five had Sprout only with pistols that they chose to save after two early deaths. The score was 5-0 for Liquid. The following round ended with EliGE getting the nastiest headshot you will see today and winning the 1v1.
Liquid surely had gotten a couple of hours of play in DM, the crosshairs were sharp and the confidence was back. Another round with only pistols for Sprout and another round win for Liquid. You can't escape the 7-1, not even in Brazil, as Sprout managed to get on the board. After finding themselves down in a 4v2 situation, Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis and Keith "NAF" Markovic turned the round around and got their eighth round. The following round featured NAF again on a clutch, this time with Josh "oSee" Ohm that they won against three opponents. Pistols only for Sprout again and Liquid made it 10-1. Liquid continued to run over Sprout by winning two more rounds. Sprout managed to get one more before Liquid closed the half 13-2 mimicking the result from the half against MOUZ, only this time the North Americans were winning, and EliGE had 17 frags to his name.
The second half started off with a T-side pistol win for Sprout as NAF wasn't able to pull off another clutch. The following round went over to the Europeans as well, with Liquid trying to build some bank. Liquid got its first with some pistols and a M4A1-S and got closer to the 16th round win. The next round had Sprout entering the A-site successfully but Liquid managed to get some financial breathing space. Round 20 had Liquid with two AWPs, two pistols, and a saved rifle from the round prior. oSee got three kills which got Liquid the round. The following round was a quick one to end the match 16-5.
Liquid is now 1-1 in the IEM Rio Major Legends Stage.
