Liquid secure playoffs spot over BIG, G2 send INTZ packing

Liquid have joined Astralis in Group A's upper final after a convincing 2-0 victory over BIG (16-6 on both Inferno and Dust2), while G2 survived a close elimination series against INTZ (Overpass 16-6, Mirage 16-8, Dust2 22-18).

Group A's second upper bracket semi-final saw Liquid take control of their pick, Inferno, early on, as they were leading 7-1 on the Terrorist side on the back of key plays from Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic and Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski.

BIG responded in the next round, but immediately got reset once NAF and Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken combined for five kills in a 3v5 situation. Liquid extended their lead to 9-2 and clinched one more round before the half ended, with BIG stringing three together to give themselves a chance.

However, the North American side secured the second pistol and only lost the first gunround, in which they kept five SMGs, before going on a four-round streak to end the opening map 16-6.

On Dust2, it was a similar story, as Liquid once again got off to a flying start on the T side with an 8-1 lead early on as everyone pitched in with some key multikills while BIG struggled to defend either bombsite.

When it came to the latter part of the first half, the German side secured four out of the remaining six rounds thanks to Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz and Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield's double AWP, as well as a 1v3 clutch from Johannes "⁠nex⁠" Maget in an eco round. Nonetheless, once the sides switched, Liquid were back in the driving seat with a pistol round win, with Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo and Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella combining to finish off the series at 16-6, 2-0.

In the second elimination match of the same group, INTZ took on G2 on Overpass at first. The two sides went back and forth early, with the Brazilian side finding a 3-2 lead on the defense, but the Frenchmen went on a huge streak to secure a dominant, 12-3 half. João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos & co. clinched the second pistol round and closed the gap to six rounds, but they couldn't fend off their opponents in the gunrounds and G2 finished off the first map with ease at 16-6.

Mirage, INTZ's pick, went much differently. G2 once again got off to the better start with a 3-0 lead on the CT side, but things quickly turned sour after João "⁠horvy⁠" Horvath clutched a fantastic 1v5 with only a Deagle, which helped the Brazilian squad secure a 9-6 half on the offense.

Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon's team added two to their name with a pistol round win, but INTZ took control of the gunrounds and equalized the series with another seven-round streak for a 16-8 victory.

The deciding map, Dust2, saw INTZ control the first part of the half with an 8-3 lead as Terrorists, but G2 came back into contention by winning the last four rounds. When the sides switched, the Brazilians extended their lead to 12-8, but it didn't take long for the French side to find their first lead on the map since the fifth round.

G2 clinched match point at 15-12 after stringing seven rounds together, but the map still went to overtime due to key plays from Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe and Marcelo "⁠chelo⁠" Cespedes. After two sets of overtimes, G2 came out victorious 22-18 thanks to a flawless CT side in the second.