LIQUID TOP GROUP D OVER NAVI IN SECOND WIN OVER WORLD #1
After a stunning run through Group D that saw Liquid take down Virtus.pro and NAVI in the team's debut with their new roster, Liquid have made the impossible seemingly possible again as the new team have taken down NAVI a second time in an extremely close 2-1 series to top the group and claim a spot at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals!
The rematch series began this time around on Nuke, with Liquid starting off in a fairly poor fashion as NAVI began proceedings with a 4-0 lead on their CT-side before were able to put two of their own on the board. Unfortunately for the NA-based team this would be all they were able to accomplish on their T-side as NAVI's strong CT-side returned in force, only allowing Liquid to plant the bomb once before NAVI walked away with a 10-2 lead at halftime.
After switching sides, Liquid briefly had the making of a comeback by winning the first five rounds in a row on their own CT-side, closing the gap to three rounds. Despite this change for a comeback, the door slowly began to close on Liquid as NAVI rallied around Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen as he led efforts with 7 kills on the T-side to outpace Liquid and take Nuke 13-9.
Moving onto Anubis, the makings of a dominant NAVI map as they won the first five rounds on a row on their T-side, however a back-and-forth end to the half allowed Liquid to close the gap to 5-7 heading into the back half of Anubis. Moving onto their T-side, Liquid initially had a slow start as NAVI found their third pistol round of the series before the next six rounds were split evenly to bring Anbuis to an 11-8 scoreline in NAVI's favor.
With a potential 0-2 loss in Liquid's mind, Keith "NAF" Markovic came alive in the final rounds of the series, leading the charge for his team, posting 20 kills on the T-side alone as Liquid managed to claw things back to find map point at 12-11. Liquid were unable to close the map out in regulation, however in overtime they led in their T-side 14-13 before also winning their CT-side to take Anubis in overtime 16-14.
With the series tied up, Inferno began on a positive note for Liquid as they won the first three rounds in a row on their T-side before they completely crumbled in the following rounds. In an ironclad CT-side performance NAVI would embarrass Liquid as they won the next nine rounds in a row to really put TL on the backfoot heading into the final half of the series.
With their backs against the wall, Liquid, and especially Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak, truly rose to the occasion as they had their chance to bully Aleksib and co., putting on a clinic to win six rounds in a row to tie Inferno at 9-9. This absolute dominance would continue with Liquid picking up the next two rounds to claim the lead for the first time since round 3, climbing up to 11-9.
After being smashed for so long, NAVI finally came via a 1v1 win by Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov versus ultimate before Liquid found another great round to find match point 12-10.
LiquidNatus Vincere| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
53 - 52 | +1 | 85.5 | 73.3% | 1.19 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
55 - 48 | +7 | 82.7 | 74.7% | 1.13 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
61 - 54 | +7 | 81.7 | 73.3% | 1.13 |
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
55 - 46 | +9 | 73.1 | 66.7% | 1.11 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
43 - 49 | -6 | 64.0 | 73.3% | 0.91 |
| Natus Vincere |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov |
60 - 51 | +9 | 75.8 | 77.3% | 1.14 |
 Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius |
50 - 55 | -5 | 84.3 | 68.0% | 1.11 |
| Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy |
53 - 54 | -1 | 78.0 | 73.3% | 1.07 |
 Mihai 'iM' Ivan |
53 - 52 | +1 | 77.7 | 69.3% | 1.05 |
 Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen |
31 - 55 | -24 | 49.2 | 64.0% | 0.72 |
