Three storylines to follow as Liquid and FaZe lock horns in China
With Liquid suffering a relatively one-sided loss to MOUZ to conclude Group A at IEM Chengdu 2024, the team are now slated for a confrontation with FaZe in the quarterfinals of the Chinese event. To date, this is Liquid's deepest run in a big event with their new "superteam" roster, meaning all eyes will be on them ahead of their best-of-three against the PGL Major Copenhagen finalists.
With that in mind, here are three of the big storylines worth considering heading into this match.
cadiaN versus karrigan
While Casper "cadiaN" Møller has had a great career by all accounts, his time as an IGL has paled in comparison to the big dogs of the Danish scene in the form of Finn "karrigan" Andersen and Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander. With gla1ve being out of the mix as a top-tier IGL at the moment, it leaves karrigan as cadiaN's obvious rival to strive to overcome, especially as both are now in charge of international projects.
Obviously it will take many more years and a lot more silverware to challenge karrigan's legacy, however starting the post-Major season with a win over karrigan would help to validate cadiaN's decision to go international. A win over the Major grand finalists would also be a fantastic scalp for Liquid after they missed out on the Major.
Twistzz versus FaZe
Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken's first stint on Liquid helped the Canadian to break into the upper crust of the CS:GO scene and coalesced with an Intel Grand Slam Win. In spite of this lofty achievement, his time on FaZe proved to be even more successful. Under karrigan's leadership, Twistzz blossomed in a legitimate international superstar under karrigan, winning a second Intel Grand Slam and the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, becoming the first Canadian to win a Major.
The decision to leave FaZe and return to Liquid after three years is nothing short of ambitious. While the decision has yet to pay off, Twistzz making the semifinals of IEM Chengdu via a win over his former teammates out would be a personal victory and much needed affirmation for the Canadian.
Liquid versus the world
Focusing on the team as a whole, a win over FaZe would see Liquid head into the semifinals against Astralis with Nicolai "device" Reedtz in his playoffs debut as an IGL. Despite Astralis being the bane of Liquid in multiple iterations, if the squad beats FaZe the day before, a win against Astralis feels very manageable and would help to exorcise some old demons.
Consider that a win over Astralis could then see Liquid in the finals against one of G2, VP, or MOUZ. All three of these teams would prove incredibly difficult for Liquid, however, using FaZe as a stepping stone Liquid powering up and winning the whole event would be an incredible change in fortunes for Liquid after missing the Major.
As Liquid's roster has been disparaged, disregarded, and pronounced dead-on-arrival by many in the scene, winning IEM Chengdu would completely flip the narrative on its head.
Liquid will face FaZe on April 12th bright and early at 06:15AM.
