Liquid beat Na`Vi in two maps; to New Champions Stage

Liquid won Mirage, 16-14, and Dust2, 16-9, to move on to the opposite side of the bracket from Astralis in the New Champions Stage with a clean 3-0 record.

Natus Vincere kicked Mirage off on the right foot, taking the first three rounds on the attacking side, stopping Liquid’s two attempts to force up after losing the pistol round. Na`Vi then won a late round 3vs3 after planting on A, but Liquid were able to stop a B push the following round to get on the board for the first time in the match. They then followed it up, once again with a B setup, to make it 2-4. Liquid adjusted to Natus Vincere’s slow play, tying it back up mid way through the half.

Down by two, Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov was able to get a quick entry on A as his team exploded on A, planting the bomb and keeping it close, 5-6. Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev then started to rip heads off, opening up two rounds in a row, but Liquid managed to win the half out 9-6 with the last round being a botched afterplant as Na`Vi players peeked too eagerly and were taken out by Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic and Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken.

Liquid were able to win a 4vs4 afterplant in the second pistol round after a fast B play, nullifying Natus Vincere’s players as they tried to make their way on site. The CIS side then won the forcebuy off of the back of a triple with the Desert Eagle by flamie. Once weapons were evenly distributed, it was Liquid who took the reins, winning two in a row, but Natus Vincere then brought it back, retaking the lead, 13-12. Twistzz then got a double entry on B to tie it up 14-14 late in the map. It was finally the North American side, after winning an anti-eco, that came out on top in the last round, closing it out 16-14.

Dust2 started with Natus Vincere doing a B split, but Liquid were able to win the trades in the pistol round to take the first two. With worse weapons, Liquid were then able to win a third thanks to NAF sticking a defuse against electroNic on A. The CIS squad then got on the board, following it up after forcing Liquid on a forcebuy. The match evened out 4-4 as Natus Vincere took control of the economic game, but after winning a forcebuy with a saved AWP by Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella, the North American side took the reins of the half. Natus Vincere came back from a slew of loss rounds, though, and were able to bring it within one, 7-8, ahead of the switch.

Twistzz opened the second half up with three glock kills to keep Liquid in the lead. From there on out they took control of the map, 13-7, and it wasn’t until seven rounds into the half that a good play by electroNic getting two entries in a pistol buy got Natus Vincere on the board. Liquid went right back to winning ways, however, losing only one round before finishing it 16-9.