Liquid beat AVANGAR; NiP edge past NRG in Katowice

Liquid and Ninjas in Pyjamas are off to great starts in IEM Katowice's New Legends Stage after picking up close victories over AVANGAR and NRG, respectively.

The secondary stream match, featuring No.2 side in the world Liquid, began with a solid start from the North American side, who hopped out to a 2-0 lead on the Terrorist side after a perfect pistol round.

After buying up, AVANGAR kept the Terrorists at bay in a series of rounds, eventually taking the lead in the game. Liquid did not let the game get out of hand, though, and won five rounds in a row with a methodical approach, but a late resurgence saw AVANGAR end the half on top.

The second half started at a frantic pace as rounds kept being traded and neither side looked capable of stamping their authority on the game. That trend was not to last, though, as AVANGAR put their foot down in the 18th round and strung a few rounds together, bringing the scoreline to 12-9.

Things were starting to look a bit desperate for Liquid, but the North American side picked up the pace with some great plays by Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken - who kept the team alive in a series of touch-and-go situations - and went on a seven-round streak to seal a hard-fought victory at 16-12.

Over on the mainstream, NRG and Ninjas in Pyjamas played out an exciting Nuke thriller that went the full distance. After losing the pistol round, NRG replied immediately with Desert Eagles and took the lead, but then the Ninjas set up a very tight defence, cruising to an 11-4 advantage off the back of a monstrous half by Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg, who racked up 22 kills.

Ninjas in Pyjamas put even more pressure on NRG with a successful T pistol, but there was no follow-up as the North Americans hit back in a force-buy courtesy of a trio of kills by Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina.

That round victory sparked a great run from the North American side, who held off the Terrorists time and time again, eventually restoring parity at 13-13. However, it was all for nought as the Ninjas dominated proceedings in the dying stages of the game and sealed the deal thanks to a phenomenal T side display from Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner.