Liquid fall in Chengdu quarterfinals
After a tough group stage ending that could have seen Liquid go directly into the semifinals, the American squad faced FaZe, who had completed a run through Group B's lower bracket to reach the IEM Chengdu playoffs. Although the series didn't start off well, Liquid was able to go toe to toe with the PGL Copenhagen Major finalists.
The series started off on FaZe's Nuke, with the home team showing why they picked it. Liquid was only able to win three rounds on the CT side, which is usually the best side. Going into the second half, Liquid managed to replicate what FaZe had done to send the game to overtime. Once there, FaZe won more CT-side rounds than they did during regulation, and Liquid couldn't steal Nuke from their opponents, as they fell 16-13.
After the crushing overtime loss, Liquid moved to their pick of Anubis with the hope of evening up the score. Liquid pulled out a solid CT-side as they claimed five rounds. Those wins were critical as the international squad used their powerful T-side to get eight-round wins and pull out a crucial 13-11 win to force the final map to decide the contest.
Mirage did not start out the way that Liquid would have wanted. Despite winning the opening round pistol, FaZe came roaring back to secure a 5-1 lead as they looked to brush aside their opponent. While Liquid was able to regroup and get five rounds on their CT side slightly, they had a mountain to climb on their T-side. While Liquid were able to start building momentum in the half and eventually found their way to ten total rounds, they would fall close to the final hurdle 13-10 and lose the series 2-1.
LiquidFaZe| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
53 - 48 | +5 | 76.6 | 77.6% | 1.09 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
55 - 54 | +1 | 72.4 | 76.3% | 1.06 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
44 - 55 | -11 | 70.5 | 65.8% | 0.97 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
40 - 52 | -12 | 64.7 | 72.4% | 0.93 |
 Felipe 'skullz' Medeiros |
48 - 51 | -3 | 66.2 | 61.8% | 0.89 |
| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helvijs 'broky' Saukants |
66 - 41 | +25 | 84.9 | 80.3% | 1.31 |
 David 'frozen' Čerňanský |
61 - 44 | +17 | 82.5 | 73.7% | 1.19 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
48 - 54 | -6 | 75.1 | 73.7% | 1.06 |
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
52 - 45 | +7 | 71.6 | 72.4% | 1.02 |
| Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
29 - 58 | -29 | 50.4 | 56.6% | 0.59 |
Liquid will now head back to North America to play in the Esports World Cup qualifiers.
