What to expect from Liquid v. Astralis

In 2019, Liquid v. Astralis was the rivalry in CS:GO. Astralis may have had the upper hand in most of their encounters, but Liquid was the bonafide number two team behind arguably the greatest squad of all time. Fast forward to 2023, only Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz and Keith "NAF" Markovic remain on the rosters for their respective teams. How do the two sides stack up against each other now?

Also read: Complexity head to the Showdown; what went wrong against Astralis?

Hit or Miss Liquid

Since transitioning to a fully European side, Liquid has had fluctuating results. Opening up against G2, the formerly North American lineup took the series in close fashion, winning 2-1 after requiring all 30 rounds on the decider of Vertigo. Facing off against FaZe next, Liquid would blow Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken and co. out of the water to take the series 2-1 after a dominant 14-1 half on Ancient. Playing FaZe again in the final game of the group, it was Liquid that would be blown out of the water, decisively losing 2-0.

NAF leads the way with a 1.12 rating
YEKINDAR burdened by calling with a 0.96 rating
Rainwaker is yet to settle in fully

Astralis look to build on their demolition of Complexity

Starting off BLAST Fall Groups in slow fashion, Danish giant Astralis look to recover now in the final stretch. Falling 2-1 to both NAVI and BIG in their opening games of the group, Astralis found themselves with their backs against the wall against Complexity. In a game that many expected to be close, Astralis annihilated their NA foes in convincing fashion, giving them plenty of momentum heading into today's match against Liquid.

blameF is the second highest-rated player at 1.37
device is not far behind at 1.19
Staehr has struggled with a 0.94 rating

Also read: Complexity flounders against Astralis

Previous Matchups

These two teams have not come head to head yet with their new rosters, with four new faces taking to the server since their last encounter. Astralis took the spoils at IEM Dallas last time around 19-17 on Overpass

Likely Vetoes

BLAST Fall Groups has been a difficult one to predict map picks with all the new teams, but lets give it a go.

Liquid permaban Nuke
Astralis permaban Mirage
Liquid pick Inferno, Astralis only have 33.3% winrate
Astralis pick Ancient, won 9 of their last 12 games on the map
Decider of Overpass, both teams are comfortable on it.

Liquid take on Astralis following the conclusion of Evil Geniuses vs G2.

Also read: Party Astronauts lose long-time member