Liquid send FURIA home

Whilst the battle between Astralis and FaZe saw the two rosters battle for a ticket to the Semi-finals of the event, the brawl between Liquid and FURIA was one of survival. With both teams having lost a Bo3-series previously in the Group Stage, there were no more chances for the losing team. Team Liquid has looked like a completely different monster since bringing in "YEKINDAR" as a stand-in, however, with the sneaky and creative Brazilians of FURIA you never know what to expect. On paper, Team Liquid were the favorites going into the Bo3-series and ultimately it was also North America's beacon of light to prevail as the stronger roster. In just two maps they managed to send FURIA home from the event and secure a spot in the Quarter-finals.

The first map of the Bo3-series was picked by Liquid and saw the two roster lock horns on Ancient to kick things off. Sitting on a win-percentage of 73% in the past three months on Ancient (11 maps) it was no surprise that the North American roster of Team Liquid opted for Ancient as their map pick. Whilst it was the map pick of Liquid, it became clear very quickly that FURIA are more than capable of playing Ancient themselves. With very little separating the two rosters, the scoreline read 8-7 before switching sides. Once the two teams had switched sides the story remained the same. Either team refused to give their opponents an inch and trading rounds back and forth, things were as close as possible between the two. Ultimately, however, it was Team Liquid to have a slight edge over their opponents on Ancient. At the scoreline of 16-14, Liquid claimed victory and got off to a great start in the brawl.

The second map of the battle between Liquid and FURIA was, of course, picked by the Brazilians and saw the battle continue on Mirage. Mirage has for a long time now been a staple in FURIA's arsenal and if you are facing the Brazilians on Mirage on a day where they are feeling themselves it can feel almost impossible to get any room for your own playing style. This, however, wasn't the case when Liquid met FURIA today. Starting on the CT-side, Team Liquid got off to a great start on Mirage. With "EliGE" topping the leaderboard, the North American roster were able to secure an 11-4 scoreline before switching sides. After the two had switched sides Mirage got a lot more close as FUIRA began looking like themselves once again. The Brazilians managed to claw themselves back into a respectable scoreline and forced overtime at 15-15. At 19-17, it was Liquid to claim victory and send FURIA out of IEM Cologne 2022.

Highlight of the Bo3-series:

Team Liquid - FURIA 2-0 | IEM Cologne

16-14 (Ancient) | oSee - 1.27 Rating / 26-17 K-D / 76.5 ADR

19-17 (Mirage) | EliGE - 1.80 Rating / 41-16 K-D / 113.1 ADR

MVP: Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski - 1.45 Rating / 57-38 K-D / 102.2 ADR