New-look Liquid shocks FaZe in three-map affair
Liquid have continued their streak of taking down top squads, besting FaZe 2-1 after nearly tossing away a 15-6 lead on the second map of the series, before dominating in the deciding map. Liquid will now enjoy the luxury of the upper-bracket final, whereas FaZe will have to wait patiently in the lower-bracket final for their opponent to be decided between G2 and OG.
The series kicked off on Liquid's pick of Inferno, but you would be forgiven for tuning in during the first half and believing it to be the selection of FaZe. The European combine, despite an early pistol round loss, stamped out Liquid's offense for the bulk of the first fifteen rounds, putting together a solid 11-4 half on the CT-side. FaZe kept their momentum up in the second half, snagging the pistol round to procure a 14-4 scoreline, a stone's throw from stealing away Liquid's pick. With guns in their hands, Liquid attempted to begin an arduous comeback, but FaZe claiming match point at 15-7 dampened those plans, with FaZe closing out the map 16-11 not long afterward.
With Liquid's map pick in their back pocket, FaZe were undoubtedly caught off guard as Liquid came out swinging on Mirage, with the formerly North American side taking a quick 5-0 lead thanks to a pistol round win. FaZe briefly interrupted this streak with a round of their own, but this was quickly rebuffed by five more Liquid rounds. FaZe managed only two more rounds on the offense, finishing things out with a 3-12 deficit on their own map pick. A pistol round victory and a ninja defuse from Finn "karrigan" Andersen certainly helped FaZe, but Liquid very quickly snatched match point with a 15-6 scoreline.
In classic Liquid fashion, nothing is guaranteed until their score hits 16, and this map was no different. FaZe dutifully whittled away Liquid's impressive 15-6 lead, eventually bringing their deficit to only a single round, with a 14-15 scoreline. Shedding their North American roots, Liquid managed the unthinkable and closed out the map despite throwing away eight rounds in a row, snatching Mirage to take the series to the decider of Ancient.
After confidently stealing away Ancient versus G2 earlier in the week, the ball was in Liquid's court heading into the final map. Although FaZe made their mark in the first half's pistol round, Liquid would be the ones to do the same for the entire rest of the half, putting together a phenomenal fourteen-round streak on the defense, an unthinkable result for a freshly-revamped roster facing off against the third-highest ranked squad in the world. Off the back of the second pistol round, FaZe did manage to claim two rounds in a row for the first time on Ancient, but Liquid immediately retorted with a round win of their own to reach match point. Despite a small streak of rounds going FaZe's way, Liquid clinched the series with a 16-8 Ancient win
FaZeLiquid| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
67 - 54 | +13 | 90.5 | 75.3% | 1.25 |
 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants |
60 - 53 | +7 | 72.6 | 67.9% | 1.04 |
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
52 - 59 | -7 | 67.3 | 67.9% | 0.88 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
40 - 55 | -15 | 65.0 | 61.7% | 0.82 |
 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
41 - 56 | -15 | 60.2 | 63.0% | 0.81 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
63 - 51 | +12 | 88.5 | 74.1% | 1.23 |
 Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
65 - 49 | +16 | 75.4 | 70.4% | 1.13 |
 Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov |
59 - 61 | -2 | 77.9 | 69.1% | 1.06 |
 Aleks 'Rainwaker' Petrov |
50 - 49 | +1 | 65.3 | 70.4% | 1.01 |
| Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
38 - 50 | -12 | 59.5 | 69.1% | 0.96 |
Liquid will return to action on Thursday at 12:30PM, while FaZe head back into the swing of things versus the winner of G2 vs OG on Wednesday at 09:00AM.
