Liquid avoid collapse in quarterfinals qualification
Once again it was a close matchup for Liquid, but once more they have come through with a victory and secured a top-eight placement at another international LAN. Liquid has slowly continued to improve its performances since the beginning of the year, and a victory this morning was a testament to the squad's growth since its rocky start. Liquid's reward for taking down FlyQuest is a matchup against the current #11 in the world, Astralis.
Liquid got things started off on FlyQuest's pick of Mirage by holding fast on their CT-side and claiming an early 4-1 lead. While FlyQuest constantly threatened, Liquid seemed to have things under control. Even in the second half when it was looking like the Australians were mounting a comeback, they held strong and were able to close out the map 13-10.
The Americas squad were even more dominant on their pick of Anubis where they held FlyQuest to only five T-side rounds. Thanks to their effectual CT-side, Liquid were able to push even further ahead on their T-side only to have it come crumbling down. FlyQuest surprised everyone as they held Liquid at bay and even forced the match to go to overtime. Liquid couldn't hang on as the Australians came away with a surprising victory and evened up the series score.
The series was decided on Ancient where Liquid recovered from their botched lead by taking immediate control on their CT-side. The international squad got out to a six round lead and eventually ended the half going up 9-3. Liquid lost the pistol in devastating fashion after having a significant advantage which would be telling of how the second half would go. Liquid stumbled over themselves as they limped to a 13-10 map victory and a 2-1 series win.
Liquid will now prepare to face Astralis in tomorrow's matchup as they look to make it to the semi-finals for the first time as a brand new squad in 2024.
LiquidFlyQuest| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
60 - 48 | +12 | 93.5 | 84.2% | 1.36 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
59 - 44 | +15 | 85.2 | 73.7% | 1.22 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
50 - 41 | +9 | 68.4 | 80.3% | 1.09 |
 Felipe 'skullz' Medeiros |
51 - 43 | +8 | 66.4 | 65.8% | 1.07 |
 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
51 - 38 | +13 | 69.1 | 77.6% | 1.06 |
| FlyQuest |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Christopher 'dexter' Nong |
61 - 60 | +1 | 84.8 | 60.5% | 1.02 |
| Alistair 'aliStair' Johnston |
38 - 46 | -8 | 55.5 | 68.4% | 0.92 |
| Joshua 'INS' Potter |
42 - 57 | -15 | 70.8 | 60.5% | 0.89 |
| Declan 'Vexite' Portelli |
43 - 59 | -16 | 62.8 | 60.5% | 0.80 |
| Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas |
30 - 51 | -21 | 48.8 | 59.2% | 0.62 |
