What to expect from Liquid v. Spirit

Liquid will kick off its BLAST Premier Fall Final journey with a series against Spirit. This will be the second match between the two sides after their first meeting during the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, which Liquid won 2-1.

Tier 1 Liquid

Despite only being a two-month-old squad, Liquid has shown both high ceilings and floors throughout recent events. The squad only has one loss against the worst-ranked opponents but has found it difficult to grab wins against better teams. During ESL Pro League Season 20, Liquid managed to win three series out of five, only losing to Vitality and G2, all while showing some good CS. Can they show up today on the same level?

• ultimate is the real deal, can he handle sh1ro?

• Twistzz has been getting better at IGLing

• YEKINDAR has been slowly catching up to his old self

Is Spirit struggling or not?

The Russian squad is going through a strange period. At the same time, they seem unstoppable, with Danil "donk" Kryshkovets and Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov leading the charge. Sometimes, not even those two can pull the team up, and Spirit looks lost. Will this event be a quick exit, just like IEM Cologne, or will it be a deep run like ESL Pro League Season 20? It's hard to tell.

• donk and sh1ro have had some uncharacteristic quiet maps

• Many close series recently

• zont1x has been consistently averaging around 1.10 HLTV ratings

• chopper and magixx have been struggling in the firepower department

Previous Matchups

As mentioned at the top of the preview, these two teams last faced each other in January 21st and that was the only time it happened. Liquid took the 2-1 win in a very close series. The two squads looked very different, as Spirit had to field its coach and a substitute player, and Liquid still had Casper "cadiaN" Møller and Filipe "skullz" Medeiros in the lineup.

Likely Vetoes

• Spirit ban Inferno

• Liquid ban Vertigo

• Spirit pick Nuke

• Liquid pick Anubis

• Ancient is the decider