Their switch to Americas VRS paid off in the end, as Passion UA fumbled an opportunity to take their spot against #127 in the world.
After Passion UA lost the grand final of Urban Riga Open Season 4 to Sangal, it is now confirmed that Liquid will be attending the IEM Cologne Major.
According to both MischiefCS2 and Udknud on X, Liquid are mathematically through to the Major.
Passion UA’s gamble fails
Passion UA made waves early in the season, signing the Argentinian AWPer, try, and Mongolian star from the Mongolz, Senzu, in an attempt to form an international superteam.
The initial stages were a flop, not making any deep run to events. A 6-3 series run, including a 2-1 win over FaZe Clan, at the very end of the season made it still possible to qualify to the Major. However, they lost a 1-2 series against #127 in the world as per HLTV, Sangal, ending their hopes.
Liquid’s min/maxing pulls through
Team Liquid had similar levels of failure as Passion UA, but are through to the Major, mainly due to the exploitation of a loophole. Playing most of the season with Israeli NertZ, they made a last-minute swap to the Americas region by signing the Guatemalan malbsMd, and “snatched” themselves a spot overnight.
Despite this, it still came down to the wire, as Liquid had mixed results at DracuLAN, and teams such as Gaimin Gladiators and Passion UA were making a threatening final run. But the results of Urban Riga Open Season 4 put the nail in the coffin for Passion UA’s season and kept Liquid’s hopes alive.
