What to expect from Liquid versus Astralis

After a stellar start to the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, with the formerly North-American majority side taking down G2 and FaZe in BO3 series to kick things off, the squad was unable to carry that momentum all the way through the event, as Liquid ultimately fell to FaZe in their second bout before being outright eliminated by Astralis. Now slated to play against the latter squad once again, it's time to evaluate Liquid's chances in their opening BO1.

Just what was feared from YEKINDAR

One of the biggest criticisms surrounding the moves made by Liquid during the offseason was surrounding the roles of young Latvian star Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis, who took on the responsibilities of captain full-time following the departure of Nick "nitr0" Cannella from the active lineup. Many worried that YEKINDAR would take a hit to his stellar individual form as a result of his new duties. With a 0.91 rating across ten maps, it appears that these fears may be coming to fruition, although it is certainly still a bit early to come to a definitive conclusion.

• YEKINDAR's 0.91 rating was the team's lowest (next lowest was Rainwaker's 0.95)

• YEKINDAR's Fall Groups showing produced his first negative rating in seven events (last negative rating was 0.96 at the Spring Groups)

Hope for the new signings

After a tumultuous 2023 with Spirit, Robert "Patsi" Isyanov managed to get off on the right foot at his debut event with Liquid, posting a 1.05 average rating at the Fall Groups, which included a 1.10 series rating versus Astralis. While Aleks "Rainwaker" Petrov proved not to be quite as consistent yet, the support-oriented player still managed to put up numbers in some key matches, including a 1.30 rating against FaZe on Ancient and a 1.13 versus G2 on the same map.

• Patsi's 1.05 rating was the highest average rating for Liquid at the Fall Groups (narrowly beating NAF's 1.04 average)

• Patsi maintained a solid showing versus Astralis, even despite the quick 0-2 loss

Recent matchups

Prior to their match slated for tomorrow, Liquid and Astralis most recently squared off at the Fall Groups, as previously mentioned, where the Danish side took down Liquid with ease in a BO3 series to qualify for the Fall Finals. While a BO1 provides Liquid with some potential to upset, the formerly North American side will need to patch the holes in their game if they wish to get off to a strong start in the Play-In.

Likely vetoes

As these two teams have faced off against one another already, the potential veto is more relatively fleshed out than other opening matchups, such as Complexity's game against fnatic or FURIA's versus Grayhound. Nuke and Mirage permabans for Liquid and Astralis respectively whittle the pool to five maps, and from there we can piece together the remaining veto from the four BO3s each team played at the Fall Groups. A potential veto for this match could be:

• Liquid ban Nuke

• Liquid ban Overpass

• Astralis ban Mirage

• Astralis ban Anubis

• Astralis ban Ancient

• Liquid ban Inferno

• Map is Vertigo

Liquid and Astralis will go toe-to-toe once again in a matter of hours, with the historical rivals set to clash at 11:00AM on Wednesday in their all-important BO1 opener.