Liquid overcome BIG, what went right?
Liquid's loss to old enemy Astralis put their backs against the wall as they faced German team BIG to stay alive in the IEM Cologne Play-in. The hometown team were hampered at the event by having to use Efekan "S3NSEY" Topaloglu in place of AWPer Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski and had undergone a number of changes in the off-season making them an ideal opponent for Liquid to find their feet against. It was far from easy for Liquid as they were taken to 29 rounds on map one and overtime on map two before they finally sealed the deal on the decider.
Vertigo Liquids Ace in the hole
It is no secret that the previous iteration of Liquid avoided Vertigo like the plague, having not recorded a single map on it in the first half of 2023. However, since Latvian star Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis took over as the team's permanent IGL they have introduced Vertigo, their former perma ban, into their map pool. Clearly whatever the team has been cooking on the map has been working as their 16-13 victory on it against BIG made it a perfect two for two, after Liquid previously took down G2 on the map at BLAST Fall Groups.
YEKINDAR back to his best
BLAST Fall Groups were YEKINDAR's first time posting a negative rating at an event since 2021 and it looked like the old rule of taking on IGL duties impacting your stats would once again prove true. However, YEKINDAR showed against BIG that despite his new responsibilities he can still be a star performer for the team. Not only has YEKINDAR had to take on more responsibility but he is also no longer the team's star entry, a role the Latvian had become synonymous with since bursting onto the professional scene.
Patsi is YEKINDAR 2.0
A lot of the discussion when Robert "Patsi" Isyanov was brought into the Liquid team was the role clash between the young Russian rifler and the team's Latvian superstar. With both players being known for their hyper-aggressive entry fragging, one of them would have to take a backseat to allow the other to own that role and with YEKINDAR taking on the IGL role naturally it was the Latvian to make the shift. The early signs are that it was the right call as Patsi has been hugely impactful with his entries, against the German side he once again topped the server for most first kills with twelve in the series.
What next for Liquid?
Liquid kept themselves in the tournament with the win and will face the Polish side 9INE in the next round for a spot in the IEM Cologne Main tournament and a chance to play in the cathedral of Counter-Strike, the Lanxess Arena.
LiquidBIG| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
80 - 56 | +24 | 92.8 | 74.4% | 1.39 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
70 - 51 | +19 | 83.9 | 76.7% | 1.28 |
 Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov |
68 - 63 | +5 | 81.2 | 61.1% | 1.08 |
 Aleks 'Rainwaker' Petrov |
49 - 56 | -7 | 63.8 | 74.4% | 0.95 |
 Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
53 - 54 | -1 | 62.2 | 66.7% | 0.95 |
| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elias 's1n' Stein |
60 - 65 | -5 | 77.3 | 77.8% | 1.07 |
| Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa |
64 - 63 | +1 | 73.9 | 67.8% | 1.00 |
 Efekan 'S3NSEY' Topaloglu |
50 - 55 | -5 | 57.7 | 65.6% | 0.92 |
| Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
49 - 67 | -18 | 70.4 | 67.8% | 0.91 |
| David 'prosus' Hesse |
56 - 70 | -14 | 68.2 | 62.2% | 0.88 |
