Twistzz's inhuman performance powers Liquid over Astralis
Liquid are through to their first Grand Finals as a brand new squad with their tremendous victory over Astralis in the wee hours of the morning for North American fans. The main theme of the day was Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken having an out-of-world performance as he dropped 40 kills in 36 rounds on a double overtime Inferno and produced another stellar performance on Nuke. While Dust2 was certainly a team effort, Liquid would certainly not had been in the game if not for the Canadian's masterclass.
This was a monumental victory for Liquid as they got revenge against Astralis who dumped them out of ESL Pro League Season 19 just days ago. Inferno was a bloodbath for Liquid as they struggled early on in the game to get things going offensively, facing a 4-8 deficit on their own map pick.
Liquid picked things up in the second half as they came all the way back to secure a 12-12 regulation tie and forcing overtime. Twistzz was utterly dominant throughout the game as they pulled through to secure a 19-17 comeback win to take the series lead.
Nuke was a bit better for Liquid with the Canadian duo of Twistzz and Keith "NAF" Markovic leading the way. Liquid earned seven rounds on their CT-side, but quickly fell behind in the second half with Astralis confidently taking the lead. Thanks to some heroic individual plays, Liquid were able to tie up the game at 9-9, Astralis eventually powered through to secure the win on their own pick in regulation.
Dust2 was a completely different story as Liquid completely outclassed Astralis throughout the map. The international squad's offense barely let Astralis breath as they claimed nine rounds to start the first half with Astralis searching for answers. The second half went by just as quick as it came with Liquid cleaning up to secure a 13-3 map win to win the series 2-1.
Liquid, now in their first Grand Finals of a major tournament, will play the winner of Eternal Fire v. GamerLegion tomorrow in a best-of-five.
LiquidAstralis| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
75 - 43 | +32 | 105.2 | 78.7% | 1.53 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
58 - 41 | +17 | 86.1 | 74.7% | 1.31 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
42 - 45 | -3 | 66.6 | 62.7% | 0.97 |
 Felipe 'skullz' Medeiros |
47 - 43 | +4 | 62.8 | 66.7% | 0.95 |
 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
30 - 53 | -23 | 50.6 | 68.0% | 0.74 |
| Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolai 'device' Reedtz |
47 - 50 | -3 | 76.9 | 61.3% | 0.95 |
| Martin 'stavn' Lund |
47 - 53 | -6 | 74.8 | 64.0% | 0.93 |
| Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard |
50 - 51 | -1 | 67.3 | 64.0% | 0.90 |
| Victor 'Staehr' Staehr |
40 - 52 | -12 | 65.3 | 56.0% | 0.83 |
| Alexander 'br0' Bro |
39 - 47 | -8 | 61.0 | 68.0% | 0.81 |
