If the first day of playoffs was anything to go by, those of us watching the second set of quarter final fixtures were in for a treat. Thursday’s matches had already seen MIBR and Na’Vi through to the semi finals and the time was upon us to discover who would be joining them in the next round.
Team Liquid had been in a fine set of form ahead of the playoffs, the only team to have overturned Astralis at the tournament and a good draw of opposition had put them in a great position moving forward. HellRaisers would be a worthy opposition, already fighting tooth and nail at this Major, the side had earned a mixed set of results, but had developed a taste for giant killing after beating Cloud 9 and Fnatic in the earlier stages.
Mirage got the ball rolling and it did not take long for Liquid to make their mark, Twistzz took no prisoners with an assertive 3-k to give first blood to the North Americans. HellRaisers looked sluggish from the get go as Liquid proceeded to make short work of their defence, CS veteran ELiGE’s work on the T-side proved to be invaluable, racking up two huge 4-ks to deny HellRaisers from turning the tide as the half finished 12:3.
Not to be outdone, HellRaisers came out swinging on the T-side. Woxic found himself at the forefront of the action with a 3-k in the second pistol round gave the Europeans a lifeline, but it wasn't to be as Liquid recovered their momentum to close out Map one. HellRaisers had it all to do on Dust 2, Bondik delivered with a 3-k to hold site on the CT side, but two ensuing 1v3 clutches from NAF saw Liquid to a 9:6 halftime lead.
The T-side was HellRaisers’ redemption as they stormed to map point, there was no way back for Liquid as ANGE1’s offensive 3-k took the fixture to map three. Cache would decide the third semifinalist and it all came to a head. NAF and Nitr0 gave Liquid a vital boost in the early stages as they surged to a 10:5 halftime lead. Though already on the backfoot, HellRaisers would have been looking down the barrel if not for Woxic and Bondik’s efforts to slow down the NA offence.
Unfortunately for the European side, Liquid’s persistence paid off as NAF’s 3-k in the second pistol round paved the way to their second win and saw them through to the semifinals on Saturday.
The last fixture was worthy of being a Grand Final lineup in itself. Astralis took on Faze in a titanic clash to face Team Liquid in the last four. Mirage opened the proceedings for the second time in the afternoon and it was the Danes who were fastest out of the blocks. With Magisk serving as warden of the A site, Astralis soon saw themselves push to an 11:4 halftime lead. Faze were not to be underestimated however, Olofmeister and Karrigan steadied the ship and pulled Faze back into the match.
Despite their best efforts, Xyp9x and Device stepped in for Astralis and snatched the win in a nail biting 16:14 first map. The Danes had a significant upper hand going into their map of choice, but it was Faze who stood strong on the CT side to take a 10:5 lead into the switch. Device had evidently not got the memo, producing an ADR of 102.9. Paired with Gla1ve’s sturdy defensive performance, Astralis pulled 11 rounds back from Faze’s clutches to take the second map and book their spot against Team Liquid.
Team Liquid had been in a fine set of form ahead of the playoffs, the only team to have overturned Astralis at the tournament and a good draw of opposition had put them in a great position moving forward. HellRaisers would be a worthy opposition, already fighting tooth and nail at this Major, the side had earned a mixed set of results, but had developed a taste for giant killing after beating Cloud 9 and Fnatic in the earlier stages.
Mirage got the ball rolling and it did not take long for Liquid to make their mark, Twistzz took no prisoners with an assertive 3-k to give first blood to the North Americans. HellRaisers looked sluggish from the get go as Liquid proceeded to make short work of their defence, CS veteran ELiGE’s work on the T-side proved to be invaluable, racking up two huge 4-ks to deny HellRaisers from turning the tide as the half finished 12:3.
Not to be outdone, HellRaisers came out swinging on the T-side. Woxic found himself at the forefront of the action with a 3-k in the second pistol round gave the Europeans a lifeline, but it wasn't to be as Liquid recovered their momentum to close out Map one. HellRaisers had it all to do on Dust 2, Bondik delivered with a 3-k to hold site on the CT side, but two ensuing 1v3 clutches from NAF saw Liquid to a 9:6 halftime lead.
The T-side was HellRaisers’ redemption as they stormed to map point, there was no way back for Liquid as ANGE1’s offensive 3-k took the fixture to map three. Cache would decide the third semifinalist and it all came to a head. NAF and Nitr0 gave Liquid a vital boost in the early stages as they surged to a 10:5 halftime lead. Though already on the backfoot, HellRaisers would have been looking down the barrel if not for Woxic and Bondik’s efforts to slow down the NA offence.
Unfortunately for the European side, Liquid’s persistence paid off as NAF’s 3-k in the second pistol round paved the way to their second win and saw them through to the semifinals on Saturday.
The last fixture was worthy of being a Grand Final lineup in itself. Astralis took on Faze in a titanic clash to face Team Liquid in the last four. Mirage opened the proceedings for the second time in the afternoon and it was the Danes who were fastest out of the blocks. With Magisk serving as warden of the A site, Astralis soon saw themselves push to an 11:4 halftime lead. Faze were not to be underestimated however, Olofmeister and Karrigan steadied the ship and pulled Faze back into the match.
Despite their best efforts, Xyp9x and Device stepped in for Astralis and snatched the win in a nail biting 16:14 first map. The Danes had a significant upper hand going into their map of choice, but it was Faze who stood strong on the CT side to take a 10:5 lead into the switch. Device had evidently not got the memo, producing an ADR of 102.9. Paired with Gla1ve’s sturdy defensive performance, Astralis pulled 11 rounds back from Faze’s clutches to take the second map and book their spot against Team Liquid.
Comments
Post a Comment