Liquid see off TYLOO; MIBR send Luminosity packing in Montpellier

Liquid beat TYLOO 2-0 to eliminate the Chinese team while MIBR defeated Luminosity with the same scoreline to knock out their fellow countrymen at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals.

The second day at ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals kicked off with two lower bracket games in Group B. The best-of-three series between Liquid and TYLOO kicked off on Mirage where the T-sided North Americans picked up the first two rounds.

Following TYLOO's victory in the first gun round, Liquid secured three in a row to lead 5-1. YuanZhang "⁠Attacker⁠" Sheng's quad kill in the seventh round gave TYLOO their second and the Chinese got their third with a 3vs4 retake in the following round (5-3). However, unfortunately for TYLOO, that was the last round they won in the first half, at the end of which they trailed 12-3.

Despite drawing first blood in the second pistol round, Liquid lost a 5vs3. The North American team got their first round as CTs on their fourth try as Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski secured it with a triple kill. Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's team went on to win the map with a 16-6 scoreline.

Liquid didn't slow down on Overpass, where they attained nine of the first ten rounds on the T-side.Then, TYLOO were able to get two rounds in a row thanks to consecutive triple kills by Hansel "⁠BnTeT⁠" Ferdinand but the Chinese team trailed 12-3 at halftime.

After losing the first four rounds in the second half, Liquid went on a four-round streak of their own, winning the map 16-7 and taking the 2-0 series victory.

The other series, which also started on Mirage, saw Luminosity take on MIBR. Luminosity began the game on defense, picking up the first three. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and company responded with a five-round run and stayed in control throughout the half despite giving up multiple opening kills (10-5).

Luminosity got within one round of MIBR with a strong start on the T-side but FalleN and Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David's double kills prevented Luminosity from equalizing (11-9). MIBR then wrapped it up in quick fashion, winning 16-9.

Starting Dust2 on the T-side, Luminosity secured six of the first seven rounds. MIBR's economy was never in good shape and Luminosity took advantage, finishing the first half 11-4 ahead.

Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo stepped up to the plate in the second pistol round with an incredible 1vs4 clutch. Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes responded two rounds later with a 1vs2 victory to extend Luminosity's lead to 12-6. MIBR managed to come back, earning two match points with a 2vs3 victory in the 28th round.

TACO finished off the map with a 1vs1 clutch on the A-site after luckily recovering the bomb in the final seconds of the round and MIBR won the map 16-13.