Liquid fall 2-0 to Vitality at EPL S21 Quarterfinal
Liquid could not get over the wall that is Vitality in the quarterfinal at ESL Pro League Season 21. Vitality made it nine wins from their last nine matches, cruising into the semifinal in style.
Liquid chose Anubis, their home map and one of Vitality's weakest maps in their pool. Vitality started on the preferred T side and held a narrow 7-5 lead going into the second half - Robin "ropz" Kool posted a 15-7 statline to lead Vitality to that lead.
ropz slowed down on the CT side, but it was no issue. Vitality's class showed as Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Shahar "flameZ" Shushan both hit double digit frags on their defensive half. The European mix won five of the final six rounds to close out Anubis by a score of 13-9 For Liquid, Keith "NAF" Markovic particularly struggled, finding just three frags in the first map.
The series then shifted to Dust2. Vitality started as Ts again, where it was once more ropz leading the way with a 15-7 K/D to give Vitality a 7-5 lead at halftime.
William "mezii" Merriman stepped up for Vitality in the second half, he was the only player to reach double-digit kills on the second side, followed closely behind by ropz's nine CT frags. Liquid briefly inspired hope for their fans, clawing back into the game at 11-9 and holding a 5 v. 4 advantage in the 21st round. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire correctly gambled and had Vitality stack the B bombsite, where Liquid capitulated, not securing a single frag on their execute. It was then Groundhog's Day for Liquid, who lost the second map by a score of 13-9, mirroring the result on Anubis.
VitalityLiquid| Vitality |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
46 - 25 | +21 | 99.5 | 77.3% | 1.48 |
 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut |
38 - 24 | +14 | 87.5 | 90.9% | 1.47 |
 William 'mezii' Merriman |
35 - 27 | +8 | 87.0 | 86.4% | 1.31 |
 Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan |
26 - 26 | +0 | 75.3 | 77.3% | 1.11 |
| Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire |
20 - 24 | -4 | 60.9 | 81.8% | 1.02 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
34 - 31 | +3 | 77.7 | 72.7% | 1.09 |
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
24 - 29 | -5 | 57.9 | 72.7% | 0.84 |
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
21 - 31 | -10 | 75.3 | 75.0% | 0.84 |
| Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
25 - 39 | -14 | 61.4 | 54.5% | 0.72 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
20 - 36 | -16 | 63.0 | 59.1% | 0.69 |
Vitality will move on to face the winner of NAVI v. The MongolZ in the second quarterfinal of the day at ESL Pro League Season 21.
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