What to expect from Liquid v. Complexity

For the first time in 2025, the two biggest team names in North American Counter-Strike will go head-to-head. Sadly, for NA fans, it's in the lower bracket of the IEM Katowice Play-In.

Both Liquid and Complexity faltered in their opening matches, with Liquid again falling to HEROIC, while Complexity could not contend with the firepower of the red-hot Eternal Fire. This next match is a must-win for both teams, not just to stay in the event, but to avoid a pretty dismal start to the calendar.

Also read: What to expect from Wildcard v. FURIA

NertZ has been solid, but Liquid needs more

Across eight maps played in 2025 so far, Guy "NertZ" Iluz has proven to be the source of firepower Liquid has needed at the rifler position. The step up in performance from Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak hasn't materialized yet, and both Justin "jks" Savage and Keith "NAF" Markovic were quiet in the losses against Heroic.

With the organization opting to skip PGL Cluj-Napoca, they need to start putting some wins together now to avoid getting leapfrogged in the Americas rankings.

Also read: Liquid's decision to skip PGL Cluj-Napoca was not the players

Complexity still have a lot of work to do

The loss of Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski is substantially noticeable. Neither Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk and Nick "nicx" Lee have managed to make a massive impact, but the latter in particular showed signs of viability on Train against Eternal Fire. Complexity is hoping for either Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli or Michael "Grim" Wince to take a big step forward, but that hasn't happened yet.

Still, Complexity have only played two matches against teams that clearly had the advantage over them, and it took overtime and 40 kills from Özgür "woxic" Eker for Eternal Fire to put away Complexity. They just need some time.

Also read: Complexity additions show positive signs against legendary woxic performance

Previous Matchups

In 2024, Complexity delivered the final blow to Liquid at the PGL Copenhagen Major RMR, eliminating them from Major contention. However, the rest of the year, Liquid won every head-to-head against Complexity.

Likely Vetoes

Liquid ban Train
Complexity ban Mirage
Liquid pick Anubis
Complexity pick Nuke
Liquid ban Dust2
Complexity ban Ancient
Decider is Inferno

Given where the two teams stand in terms of firepower and established cohesion, this feels like a series that Liquid should win. Both teams have struggled to put away opponents in the second half, so either one leading in half-time won't mean much in determining the result.

Also read: Spirit finally receive PW Shanghai Major in-game trophies