NertZ and Twistzz help Liquid move past MOUZ in IEM Katowice
Liquid have survived their first elimination series at IEM Katowice 2025 Stage 2 as they took MOUZ down convincingly this morning, January 3rd. The IGL Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken and the Israeli rifler Guy "NertZ" Iluz combined for 82 kills in just two maps, fueling Liquid to beat MOUZ by 13-7 twice.
Liquid came to the match as favorites against MOUZ, who recently benched the IGL Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and were forced to use the youngster Adrian "xelex" Vincze as a last-minute replacement for the tournament.
The defeat to The MongolZ raised questions about Liquid's chances to make a deep run in Katowice, but Twistzz and co. showed today that they won't go down without putting up a fight in the lower bracket.
Liquid practically decided the series against MOUZ in the first halves of Nuke and Ancient, the two maps played, as they won by 9-3 twice. This put a MOUZ in the ropes, who simply couldn't come back from such a disadvantage.
With Twistzz and NertZ playing so well, Liquid could afford a more shy performance from Keith "NAF" Markovic and Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak in the fragging department. However, ultimate in particular will likely have to contribute more in the coming matches to help Liquid in this difficult lower bracket run.
MOUZLiquid| MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás |
28 - 28 | +0 | 85.9 | 75.0% | 1.05 |
 Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo |
22 - 30 | -8 | 61.5 | 67.5% | 0.82 |
| Adrian 'xelex' Vincze |
21 - 29 | -8 | 54.6 | 60.0% | 0.75 |
 Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin |
18 - 32 | -14 | 55.5 | 60.0% | 0.72 |
 Dorian 'xertioN' Berman |
20 - 34 | -14 | 59.0 | 60.0% | 0.67 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
40 - 23 | +17 | 111.0 | 80.0% | 1.70 |
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
42 - 21 | +21 | 95.8 | 72.5% | 1.61 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
28 - 20 | +8 | 71.5 | 87.5% | 1.17 |
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
23 - 23 | +0 | 63.9 | 77.5% | 1.01 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
18 - 23 | -5 | 64.5 | 72.5% | 0.80 |
Liquid will now wait for the result of Spirit versus NAVI today as they're slated to play the loser of that matchup tomorrow, Tuesday.
When asked by Tres "stunna" Saranthus about who they prefer to play tomorrow, Twistzz said that this doesn't matter in stacked tournaments like IEM Katowice or IEM Cologne.
"You have to play all the best teams if you want to be in playoffs anyway," Twistzz said.
