Liquid suffer a second defeat to HEROIC in Katowice
Liquid have started their run at IEM Katowice 2025 with another loss to the new HEROIC lineup, dropping the series 2-1 to the recently assembled international lineup. The loss sees Liquid fall into the lower bracket of the IEM Katowice 2025 Play-in where the squad will have to fight for survival for a chance to even make the main event.
The opening map in the series, Anubis, went the way of Liquid after a strong T-side buoyed by a great performance from Guy "NertZ" Iluz, with Liquid taking the half 8-4. After switching sides, HEROIC launched into a mini-comeback after winning their T-side pistol, going on to claim the next three rounds to tie things up at an 8-8 scoreline after which Liquid would quickly find their footing to secure their opponent's map pick 13-9.
Moving onto Nuke, Liquid would strike the first blow by winning their T-side pistol and the following two rounds, however HEROIC were in complete control after this point, playing a strong CT-side around Yasin "xfl0ud" Koç to win the half 8-4. Moving into the second half, neither side had a firm grasp on proceedings, with the longest round of rounds being three in a row from Liquid in the middle of their CT-side. However, that four round lead from the previous half allowed HEROIC to stand firm long enough to take Nuke 13-11 and force the series on Dust2.
Dust2 was where things really went awry for Liquid, where despite a 6-6 start to the map Liquid seemed to be out of their element, especially on their T-side. A confused and disorganized Liquid would ultimately only win two rounds on their T-side in the second half, while HEROIC were emboldened by great performances from Andrey "tN1R" Tatarinovich and Álvaro "SunPayus" García to take the map 13-8 and force Liquid into the lower bracket.
LiquidHEROIC| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
46 - 41 | +5 | 76.3 | 79.1% | 1.13 |
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
48 - 36 | +12 | 69.5 | 80.6% | 1.12 |
 Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
45 - 51 | -6 | 84.0 | 71.6% | 1.03 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
44 - 47 | -3 | 83.7 | 70.1% | 1.02 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
41 - 44 | -3 | 56.9 | 70.1% | 0.83 |
| HEROIC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich |
49 - 47 | +2 | 85.2 | 73.1% | 1.18 |
 Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç |
49 - 50 | -1 | 83.6 | 68.7% | 1.09 |
 Simon 'yxngstxr' Boije |
45 - 45 | +0 | 73.4 | 76.1% | 1.07 |
 Álvaro 'SunPayus' García |
37 - 39 | -2 | 63.1 | 76.1% | 1.01 |
| Linus 'LNZ' Holtäng |
37 - 44 | -7 | 53.4 | 73.1% | 0.87 |
With this loss, Liquid will now face off against Complexity in an NA org grudge match for survival at IEM Katowice 2025.
