From a 0.55 rating to a 1.32 average, how NAF propelled Liquid to the playoffs

Despite players saying that the team would be coming out of the gates very strong, Liquid's run in Paris was far from ideal. Two early losses put the squad with its back against the wall, just one series away from being eliminated in the Challengers Stage of BLAST.tv Paris Major.

After those two losses and a map defeat in a BO3 against Fluxo, Liquid have gone on to win eight maps straight, defeating Complexity, 9INE, and NAVI in the process. The main catalyst? Keith "NAF" Markovic.

NAF had one of his worst games ever against Apeks at the start of the Challengers Stage. 7 kills and 22 deaths made him look bad, despite his always chill composure. Straight away, after that poor performance, NAF posted up a 1.41 rating against FORZE, but Liquid still fell to the 0-2 bracket. Then, something clicked. Liquid started winning, the team gained confidence and the results came, the man on the helm would be none other than NAF, topping the rating list more often than not.

After completing the 0-2 to 3-2 comeback, in an interview with Dust2.us, NAF gave very honest answers regarding his and the team's early performance, confessing to having been very hard on himself after his game against Apeks.

The best part was yet to come. Liquid, from a 0-2 start on the Challengers Stage, had a great run on the Legends Stage, beating 9INE and NAVI, two very strong opponents on paper who didn't perform really well at the Major. NAF completely decimated the Polish squad with 25 kills and a 1.63 rating and, despite a humbler performance against NAVI, he was still the second-best player on the Liquid side.

A very competitive series against Heroic denied the North Americans from going 3-0 in the Legends Stage, but Liquid recovered with a 2:0 win against the Brits of Into The Breach. NAF came second again, behind Josh "oSee" Ohm who has also been having one of his best tournament runs ever.

Teams aren't made by just one individual, but when you see a player like NAF performing and you are on his team, that certainly gives you confidence and helps you get better if you are having a hard time during a game. The key to such great performances and not falling into a hole of bad performances is a strong mental, and being honest with oneself, Markovic believes.

Since the Apeks game, NAF has averaged a 1.32 rating, with a 1.31 average just in the Legends Stage. It's up to him and the rest of the Liquid team to have a run to remember in Paris.