Liquid go down in Mirage collapse
Neither Liquid nor Spirit should be in the lower bracket right now fighting for survival. Upsets against Rare Atom and FORZE were not in the cards and this matchup could have been in a much different context. Liquid losing, as we have already beat to death, was a historic loss, while Spirit likely just got unlucky against FORZE. Regardless, both teams are now stuck in a tough position where the winner will likely play Natus Vincere for a final shot at qualification.
The match started on Spirit's pick of Nuke, where Liquid had beaten them before, but this would not be a repeat of matches past. Spirit started on their T-side and seemed to show their comfortability thanks to a dominant start that put them 10-5 up with Liquid quickly reeling from such a start.
With Liquid needing to find some inspiration in their second half if they wanted to potentially make it close, Keith "NAF" Markovic pulled out an incredible and unexpected pistol clutch to secure the second round pistol. However, it would not be enough as Spirit held strong and would close out the game, even with Nick "nitr0" Canella also pulling out a ridiculous 1v4 clutch to stave off the eventual loss.
Liquid now had a comeback on their hands with Mirage set out before them. Their pick and the advantage they had clearly showed as despite losing the first two rounds, would win 10 in a row before ending the half at a 10-5 scoreline.
The second half did not go according to plan at all as Liquid would slowly let the Russians back into the game and eventually, completely take the lead at 13-12. At one point in the game it was 10-2 and now Liquid had to fight. They couldn't fight well enough as Liquid would eventually go down in a heated ending 16-13.
Liquid now have to play the loser of Rare Atom v. Natus Vincere over the weekend.
SpiritLiquid| Spirit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov |
46 - 24 | +22 | 89.3 | 83.6% | 1.47 |
 Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov |
43 - 33 | +10 | 80.9 | 72.7% | 1.24 |
| Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov |
37 - 42 | -5 | 76.7 | 69.1% | 1.08 |
| Pavel 's1ren' Ogloblin |
29 - 28 | +1 | 60.0 | 78.2% | 1.00 |
| Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev |
31 - 33 | -2 | 68.1 | 74.5% | 0.97 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
36 - 30 | +6 | 58.9 | 74.5% | 1.01 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
32 - 34 | -2 | 70.9 | 72.7% | 0.99 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
26 - 39 | -13 | 59.6 | 63.6% | 0.88 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
32 - 42 | -10 | 70.6 | 61.8% | 0.88 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
32 - 41 | -9 | 63.8 | 60.0% | 0.78 |
