What to expect from Liquid v. Into the Breach

After a narrow 2-1 loss versus Heroic in the 2-0 pool, Liquid has been granted a gift in the form of a 2-1 match against Into the Breach. With their opponent coming into the Legends Stage as the second-lowest-ranked team, Liquid will want to make quick work of the British side if they want to come into playoffs with their heads held high.

Liquid on the cusp of playoffs

After a truly embarrassing 3-2 run through the Challengers Stage, not many had Liquid as favorites to move through the Legends Stage and reach playoffs, but comfortable wins over 9INE and NAVI certainly made people reconsider the North American side's form. Although Liquid was unable to best Heroic in the 2-0 match, Liquid brought the series to the wire, an impressive showing considering their previous performances. With that in mind, Liquid should be heading into this series with the mentality of being heavy favorites, with anything less than a 2-0 to be considered a misstep if the North Americans truly want to shed their poor form from earlier in the event.

• NAF and YEKINDAR continue to perform with 1.27 and 1.25 average ratings, respectively

• EliGE still struggling to find his footing with a 0.95 rating

• Lackluster Challengers Stage made up for by good games versus NAVI and Heroic

ITB proving to not be pushovers

While Liquid are undoubtedly the favorite in this matchup, Into the Breach is certainly not a team to be scoffed at even despite the initial low expectations many viewers had for the Brits. An opening loss to Apeks was not out of the ordinary, but ITB followed this up with a confident 16-12 victory over FaZe to stave off an elimination match. ITB continued their run of good form with a 16-7 win against ENCE, a team who looked red hot in the Challengers Stage. If ITB maintains their form from the matches against FaZe and ENCE, the Brits could certainly take down Liquid in a BO3 should they find the Americans on an off day.

• CRUC1AL and CYPHER have put in work, with 1.19 and 1.18 ratings, respectively

• Wins over FaZe and ENCE inspire confidence in their form

What to expect

While ITB certainly stands a chance versus Liquid, especially if the latter squad slips back into their form from the Challengers Stage, the British side will have an uphill battle in the form of the map pool available to them in this BO3. Vertigo, the squad's most played map, is the perma-ban of Liquid, while their perma-ban of Nuke is not a map that the Americans lean into often anyways, having lost it to FORZE and Fluxo in the previous stage. ITB has made use of Inferno and Anubis in previous matches, both maps that no doubt Liquid will feel comfortable on should they appear. The Brits' only real chance of a map victory barring a collapse from Liquid would be through Ancient, a map that Liquid has only won once in the last three months, through a tight 16-13 victory against Fluxo.

A possible veto could be:

• Into the Breach ban Nuke (Permaban)

• Liquid ban Vertigo (Permaban)

• Into the Breach pick Ancient (Punish pick versus Liquid who have a 20% WR)

• Liquid pick Overpass (Staple for Liquid, weak map for ITB who have a 33% WR)

• Decider of Inferno (Strong map for both squads)

Liquid and ITB's all-important match is set to begin tomorrow at 01:30PM, with the winner securing a playoff spot while the other will be fighting for their tournament lives in the 2-2 pool.