Liquid fall to G2 in semifinals
After a historic comeback against Vitality, Liquid came into the semifinals of IEM Katowice with confidence to spare. However, G2 came into that very same match with an even hotter streak, tied in third with FaZe for most consecutive map wins in Counter-Strike history.
The two would duel for a coveted grand finals spot against Heroic, who smacked Natus Vincere earlier today on that very stage. The vetoes came down to Anubis, Inferno, and Ancient, if necessary.
G2 chose to begin Anubis on the T-side, an interesting but not uncommon recent development. G2 came away with the opening pistol and the following two before Liquid struck back. Liquid kept their CT-side half even as it ended, taking away eight rounds total. It was a good haul for the slightly T-favored round, and Liquid looked to start the second half strong behind a pistol win.
However, G2 broke Liquid's pistol win and never looked back, winning nine of the following ten rounds. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski stood out on the server with a whopping 1.40 rating, the highest in the game, but sadly the rest of Liquid was much further behind as G2 took the map 16-10.
The second map was G2's map pick of Inferno, a map that they've seldom lost in recent memory. G2 started their T-side strong with a pistol win, but a strong force buy took the second round in favor of Liquid. From that point on, G2's T-side was unstoppable as G2 took the next seven rounds. Liquid fought back slightly, but were unable to string two rounds together their entire CT half.
Looking down a 4-11 deficit, it looked even more dire for Liquid as they conceded the pistol and the round following. Liquid's first gun round proved fruitful, and for the first time on Inferno, won consecutive rounds.
Finally, Liquid got into the game. Liquid took seven out of eight rounds on their T-side, but once G2 got their economy in order, they took control of the game again. Liquid pushed and prodded up to 11 rounds, but G2 eventually closed it out, beating Liquid 16-11 and booking their ticket to grand finals.
G2Liquid| G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač |
49 - 34 | +15 | 90.7 | 71.7% | 1.36 |
| Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
39 - 35 | +4 | 85.2 | 71.7% | 1.27 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
39 - 35 | +4 | 77.8 | 77.4% | 1.15 |
 Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov |
37 - 30 | +7 | 67.4 | 75.5% | 1.13 |
 Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen |
23 - 36 | -13 | 53.4 | 64.2% | 0.73 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
37 - 36 | +1 | 76.2 | 75.5% | 1.10 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
38 - 41 | -3 | 86.3 | 67.9% | 1.07 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
38 - 40 | -2 | 80.8 | 62.3% | 1.00 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
33 - 34 | -1 | 62.6 | 69.8% | 0.91 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
24 - 37 | -13 | 51.9 | 73.6% | 0.74 |
