Liquid stomp Rare Atom in rematch
Team Liquid faced Rare Atom again, this time in the last chance bracket for one more opportunity to clinch playoffs. Despite falling to Rare Atom in their opening match of ESL Pro League, Team Liquid looked prepared for the rematch and hungry to prove why they were ranked #3 in the world. As the name of the bracket entails, this is an elimination match, with the loser heading home from Malta. As such, this game meant everything for both Liquid and Rare Atom.
The first map was Rare Atom's pick, and they switched things up. Despite beating Liquid on both their pick of Inferno and Liquid's pick of Overpass in their previous matchup, Rare Atom elected to bring the series to new ground, picking Nuke as the opening map.
With the luxury of choosing sides, Liquid started on CT-side and immediately went on a tear, picking up eight of the first nine rounds. Rare Atom brought the scoreline more even near the end of the half, only trailing 6-9. However, Liquid started their T-side the way they started their CT-side: with momentum. Liquid were only stopped a single time, finishing off Rare Atom's map pick of Nuke 16-7.
Onto Liquid's pick of Mirage, the North Americans got off on the right foot, taking the pistol and the following five rounds before being interrupted. Ultimately, their T-side was unrelenting, continuing to roll over Rare Atom's defense round after round. Liquid ended the half 12-3, just a few steps from the finish line. With just a couple rounds from the end, Liquid decided to make it quick. They won the pistol and the following to sit just two rounds away. After a scuffle in the next few rounds, Liquid closed out Mirage 16-5 and the series 2-0.
LiquidRare Atom| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
40 - 23 | +17 | 106.9 | 81.8% | 1.66 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
40 - 20 | +20 | 100.9 | 88.6% | 1.58 |
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
33 - 23 | +10 | 74.8 | 81.8% | 1.26 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
29 - 23 | +6 | 61.6 | 88.6% | 1.25 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
26 - 21 | +5 | 58.6 | 75.0% | 1.07 |
| Rare Atom |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrew 'kaze' Khong |
26 - 31 | -5 | 65.8 | 63.6% | 0.87 |
 Qianhao 'Moseyuh' Chen |
30 - 34 | -4 | 65.9 | 56.8% | 0.86 |
| Jingxiang 'Mercury' Wang |
20 - 35 | -15 | 62.0 | 61.4% | 0.72 |
| Yi 'JamYoung' Yang |
22 - 33 | -11 | 62.1 | 45.5% | 0.71 |
| Zhuo 'advent' Liang |
12 - 36 | -24 | 41.8 | 50.0% | 0.45 |
Rare Atom are eliminated from EPL. Liquid will face the winner of Spirit vs. Astralis tomorrow for the final playoff spot at ESL Pro League Season 17.
