Liquid top IEM Rio CQ despite day one scare
Liquid have topped the IEM Rio NA Closed Qualifier, completing a run from the lower bracket to find revenge against Legacy after falling to the Brazilian team during day one. With the win, Liquid join Complexity to become the sole NA representatives in the Brazilian LAN.
Liquid's road to revenge saw them start day two with a one-sided win over FLUFFY AIMERS. The series against the ESL Challenger League team began on FLUFFY AIMERS' map pick of Ancient with Liquid starting with a 5-1 lead before FLUFFY AIMERS managed to claw back a 6-6 half on their T-side. This tied ballgame quickly evaporated for FLUFFY AIMERS as Liquid were utterly dominant on their T-side, only conceding two rounds before taking ancient 13-8.
On Liquid's map pick of Mirage, they were similarly dominant, starting the map off by winning their T-side 10-2 before taking it 13-5. Over the course of the series, Liquid won three out of four pistol rounds while Keith "NAF" Markovic ran roughshod over FLUFFY AIMERS, ending the series 117.1 ADR and a 1.78 rating.
FLUFFY AIMERSLiquid| FLUFFY AIMERS |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jason 'jason' Garcia |
22 - 32 | -10 | 77.5 | 69.2% | 0.91 |
 Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
24 - 32 | -8 | 76.9 | 51.3% | 0.81 |
| Dylan 'slump' N. |
22 - 31 | -9 | 59.2 | 59.0% | 0.73 |
 Nelvin 'nooz' Gonzalez |
16 - 31 | -15 | 50.1 | 46.2% | 0.58 |
| Brett 'brett' Rhein |
14 - 31 | -17 | 45.7 | 53.8% | 0.55 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
40 - 17 | +23 | 117.1 | 82.1% | 1.77 |
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
34 - 21 | +13 | 91.5 | 74.4% | 1.48 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
31 - 20 | +11 | 88.8 | 82.1% | 1.39 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
26 - 19 | +7 | 70.3 | 79.5% | 1.20 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
25 - 21 | +4 | 67.0 | 61.5% | 1.01 |
Moving into the main event against Legacy, Liquid came in the series in far stronger form than the previous matchup. Starting on Legacy's map pick of Inferno, Liquid held the lead for the majority of the map, winning their CT-side 9-3 before taking it 13-4 with little trouble.
Continuing onto Anubis, Legacy came back with renewed form, winning the opening pistol round on their T-side before decimating Liquid's CT-side defenses to win the half 8-4. While this strong opening raised fears of a third map, Liquid quickly dashed those concerns as they posted their own dominant T-side, with Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak leading the charge as Liquid went 9-2 to lock down Anubis 13-10 and win the series 2-0.
LegacyLiquid| Legacy |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
33 - 32 | +1 | 89.7 | 85.0% | 1.21 |
| Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto |
24 - 29 | -5 | 68.3 | 80.0% | 0.98 |
| Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer |
22 - 29 | -7 | 63.2 | 75.0% | 0.90 |
| Bruno 'b4rtiN' Câmara |
21 - 29 | -8 | 66.3 | 70.0% | 0.88 |
| Guilherme 'saadzin' Pacheco |
18 - 27 | -9 | 50.1 | 70.0% | 0.72 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin 'jks' Savage |
35 - 26 | +9 | 82.0 | 87.5% | 1.32 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
28 - 19 | +9 | 91.2 | 87.5% | 1.27 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
31 - 22 | +9 | 82.5 | 87.5% | 1.27 |
| Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
27 - 28 | -1 | 73.1 | 77.5% | 1.08 |
| Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
25 - 23 | +2 | 66.2 | 80.0% | 1.01 |
With Liquid joining the fray, the full team list for IEM Rio 2024 is now:
• 
Astralis
• 
FaZe
• G2
• MOUZ
• NAVI
• Vitality
• FURIA
• 
Virtus.pro
• Complexity
• 
The MongolZ
• 
9z
• 
Eternal Fire
• HEROIC
• 
Liquid
• paiN
• 
Rare Atom
IEM Rio 2024 is set to start on October 7th.
