What to expect from Liquid v. Heroic

After an embarrassing performance in the BLAST.tv Paris Major Challengers Stage, Liquid now find themselves on the cusp of their first Major playoffs since StarLadder Major Berlin in 2019 after convincing wins over 9INE and NAVI on the first day of play of the Legends Stage. There is still more to be done for the North American side, however, as they now are set to face Heroic in their first chance to reach playoffs. What should we expect heading into this all-important game?

A complete 180 from Liquid

With the comfortable win over NAVI, it may be easy to forget that Liquid was just rounds away from being eliminated from the Major outright in the Challengers Stage in their 0-2 match versus Fluxo, after earlier losses to Apeks and FORZE. Liquid pulled through versus the Brazillian side and then made their way to the next stage after 2-0 victories against a struggling Complexity and Grayhound. The North Americans appear to have shrugged off the woes of the previous stage, and their mentality will undoubtedly be strong en route to the game against Heroic.

Liquid's win over NAVI was certainly a nice one to have under the belt before facing Heroic, but that was a match fueled by the heroics of Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis' 2.00 rating, something that the team will be unable to rely on occurring again in the BO3 versus the Danes. If Liquid wants to continue this upward trend, they will need to emulate their performance versus 9INE, where every player managed to go positive in regards to K-D and rating.

Heroic's chance to take it all

Fresh off a second-place finish at IEM Rio, Heroic are no doubt hungry for a victory grander than their win at the BLAST Premier Fall Final last year. A comfortable 16-7 win over FaZe, followed by a 16-10 victory versus Apeks, has put Heroic in a solid position to lay claim to a 3-0 finish to the Legends Stage, an important statement to make for a team in the running for the title, especially as other favorites struggle.

What to expect from the match

This series will be the first meeting of Liquid and Heroic in 2023, with the teams somehow having managed to miss each other for the first four months of the year. As far as the head-to-head record goes, Heroic more recently had the upper hand, with BO3 wins at the IEM Rio Major as well as the aforementioned BLAST Premier Fall Final.

With that being said, it is difficult to extrapolate from those games considering nearly six months have passed, as well as the fact that both matches prominently featured Vertigo, Liquid's permaban following the addition of Anubis. The potential veto is further complicated by the fact that both teams have relatively flexible picks, with Heroic leaning into Inferno and Overpass often, while Mirage, Anubis, and Overpass have been Liquid's options. With that in mind, a potential veto could be:

• Heroic ban Anubis (Permaban)

• Liquid ban Vertigo (Permaban)

• Heroic pick Overpass

• Liquid pick Mirage

• Decider of Inferno

The all-important match between Liquid and Heroic is set to begin tomorrow at 08:30AM.