Liquid 13-0 win not enough to beat G2 in BLAST Premier World Final opening series
Nobody expected Liquid to 13-0 G2 and then nobody expected G2 to make a comeback in the way that they did. Liquid's success was shortlived, and taking its place was G2's firepower, namely Nikola "NiKo" Kovač's, Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa's, and Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov's. While Liquid held G2 scoreless in a single map, G2 held Liquid scoreless in two halves of two different maps, which proved to be even better.
The shadow realm in Counter-Strike terms is a 13-0 loss. Liquid didn't give G2 a single inch of hope on Ancient, picked by the Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken-led squad, as G2 opted to start on the T-side, a choice they would later regret. Not even a single player from Liquid reached a double-digit death count, and only Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak was unable to grab ten or more kills. It was a beatdown, plain and simple.
G2 wouldn't roll over and cry, though. The European squad would start 5-1 ahead on the T-side of Inferno, their own pick. Liquid fought back and managed to end the half in a 6-6 tie. Liquid would take a page off G2's T-side book and not win a single round on the offense, as G2 took the 13-6 win to tie the series.
Mirage was the decider map and Liquid began on the T-side, this time with more productivity. Despite starting 4-1 down, Liquid climbed back, once again, to end the half on a 6-6 score. Sides reversed, not only in a gameplay sense but also in a lack of success kind of way, as Liquid was again unable to get a single round on the board during the second half of a map, this time on the CT-side. G2 took the Mirage decider 13-6 win, and the series 2-1 victory.
G2Liquid| G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
43 - 31 | +12 | 95.2 | 72.5% | 1.35 |
 Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov |
45 - 36 | +9 | 82.7 | 76.5% | 1.26 |
 Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa |
34 - 35 | -1 | 71.6 | 66.7% | 1.03 |
 Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski |
19 - 35 | -16 | 51.8 | 70.6% | 0.76 |
| Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač |
24 - 37 | -13 | 50.3 | 66.7% | 0.72 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
50 - 29 | +21 | 108.7 | 80.4% | 1.48 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
39 - 32 | +7 | 95.0 | 80.4% | 1.21 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
33 - 34 | -1 | 69.9 | 68.6% | 0.94 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
32 - 38 | -6 | 62.5 | 62.7% | 0.88 |
| Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
19 - 32 | -13 | 36.7 | 62.7% | 0.67 |
Liquid will play again tomorrow against the loser of the Vitality v. Spirit series.
