FaZe edge past Liquid in opening Major matchup
Liquid debuted against FaZe in the New Challengers stage, facing the European squad on Overpass. Attending the Major with their coach Wilton "zews" Prado in place of their recent addition, Lucas "steel" Lopes, Liquid were in for a tough opening bout.
FaZe took immediate control with three P250 kills at long by Håvard "rain" Nygaard, taking a swift pistol round victory on their T side. Five rounds were quickly garnered by the Europeans as they took firm control of the early portion of Overpass. A two-on-three retake from Liquid finally secured the North Americans their first round.
The ensuing round seemed to signal trouble for Liquid as FaZe demolished the CT economy, but pistols reigned supreme as Liquid fought back for their second round. Once again FaZe replied with an economical reset, and once again Liquid refused to crumble — forcing FaZe onto a save.
Liquid took full advantage of their economical lead, closing the score gap between the teams. Three kills in a two-on-four retake from Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken helped even the score, but FaZe pushed back for the final round of the half to pull ahead 8-7.
FaZe added yet another pistol round victory to their win statistics, following it up with the standard three rounds lead as rain found multi-kills for his side. Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovacs demolished Liquid's offense on the first gun round as he found the first four kills of the round with his AWP, giving FaZe a clear shot at victory.
The ensuing round also went the way of the Europeans, putting them up at 13 rounds. It was here that Liquid began mounting a comeback, stringing together round after round in tight situations. With the scoreline at an even 13-13, Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer took matters into his own hands in a one-on-two retake, giving FaZe a chance to drain Liquid's economy. Liquid refused to cave, instead crushing FaZe's economy in turn.
The Europeans answered back with a desperate force-buy to crush Liquid's comeback hopes, demolishing the remainder of the North American economy to take an easy victory in the final round.
FaZeLiquid| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
27 - 21 | +6 | 93.2 | 70.0% | 1.29 |
 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács |
21 - 18 | +3 | 70.9 | 76.7% | 1.15 |
 Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer |
23 - 19 | +4 | 74.7 | 70.0% | 1.14 |
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
20 - 23 | -3 | 75.0 | 73.3% | 1.01 |
 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
18 - 21 | -3 | 79.0 | 63.3% | 1.01 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
31 - 20 | +11 | 113.2 | 80.0% | 1.52 |
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
26 - 19 | +7 | 91.8 | 76.7% | 1.27 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
20 - 23 | -3 | 78.1 | 73.3% | 1.04 |
| Josh 'jdm64' Marzano |
15 - 22 | -7 | 54.2 | 70.0% | 0.90 |
 Wilton 'zews' Prado |
10 - 25 | -15 | 46.0 | 56.7% | 0.47 |
Liquid are now 0-1 as FaZe move forward with a 1-0 scoreline. Both teams will face opposition with the same score tomorrow as they look to make it to the main phase of the Major.
