Liquid eliminate HellRaisers at ESL Pro League Finals

Liquid have eliminated HellRaisers from ESL Pro League S9 Finals after three closely-contested maps, Vertigo (16-11), Inferno (14-16) and Overpass (16-14), to set up a lower-bracket final against MIBR.

HellRaisers opened up the best-of-three series on their map pick, Vertigo, where they got off to a 2-0 start thanks to a pistol round victory on the CT side. Liquid replied with five rounds consecutively to claim an early 5-2 lead. A Christian "⁠loWel⁠" Garcia Antoran quad-kill in the eighth got HellRaisers back on track as they levelled the score at 5-5, but Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella and his squad regrouped to secure a 9-6 lead at the halfway mark.

Despite Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný winning a 1v2 post-plant to pick up the second pistol for HellRaisers, and the round that followed, Liquid kicked it up a gear on the defensive side, hitting map point swiftly at 15-9. HellRaisers wouldn't go down easily, however, securing two more rounds before North Americans were able to close out the map 16-11.

Inferno was up next, where HellRaisers cruised to a 6-0 lead on the defensive side. Liquid secured their first round in the seventh, but the European mixture hit straight back to put seven on the board. The two sides traded rounds once more, and HellRaisers soon found themselves with a 9-2 lead. Liquid managed to pull the remaining rounds in their favour, however, converting a 3v3 and the rounds that followed, trailing 6-9 at the midway point.

HellRaisers made it four out of four pistol wins in the series, going on to extend their lead to 12-6 in the process. Liquid soon found their footing, though, emerging victorious in eight of the next ten rounds to narrow the score difference to 13-14. An incredible AWP quad-kill from nitr0 on a 4v5 retake tied the two sides up, but HellRaisers managed to win out the final two rounds to secure a 16-14 map win.

The series concluded on Overpass, and HellRaisers yet again demonstrated their pistol dominance. Liquid pulled three rounds in their favour off the back of a pistol buy to take a 3-2 lead. Kyrylo "⁠ANGE1⁠" Karasiow would not let the gap widen, however, as he and his squad posted five consecutive rounds. The remainder of the half proved to be a back-and-forth affair with HellRaisers finishing the half with a 9-6 advantage.

A highly-contested second half saw Liquid pick up their first pistol victory of the series as the North American side eventually clawed their way back to equal the score at 14-14. HellRaisers fell flat at the final hurdle, though, as Liquid were able to close out the game thanks to a triple-kill from Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken on the B bombsite.