AVANGAR knock Liquid down to 1-2 pool; mousesports go 2-1 over Natus Vincere

AVANGAR upset Liquid, who are now in the 1-2 pool after losing 18-22 on Overpass, while MOUZ beat Natus Vincere on Nuke, 19-17, to get within one win of qualifying for the playoffs.

Liquid rushed A on Overpass, annihilating all AVANGAR players on the site and planting on a 5vs1, and brought the heat as they took a 5-0 lead early on, and it wasn’t until two frags by Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali after an opener by Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic gave AVANGAR the advantage in the sixth round that they were eventually able to tally their first. The North Americans continued to show dominance with calm, calculated play as their CIS rivals struggled to build an economy, although a late four-round streak brought it to 6-9.

AVANGAR made a match out of it after winning the second pistol round, turning the match on its head as they tied it up against pistols. WIth guns bought, Liquid managed to get back in the lead, albeit just barely as it took a 1vs2 clutch by NAF for the Americans to take the round, but they then deflated as AVANGAR marked the pace on the attacking side hitting match point first, 15-13. Liquid made a last ditch effort, winning the last two rounds to tie it up and take it to overtime.

Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's squad brought the momentum over to overtime, taking the first two rounds before giving up the last one on the defensive side. Having switched, AVANGAR took control, winning the first two to secure match point, 18-17, but a late execute on B worked for Liquid as they pulled it through to a second overtime. AVANGAR then got three match points as they won every round on the defense, closing it out with a play on the A site to seal the deal, 22-18.

Three frags by Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev on the defense in ramp room helped Natus Vincere open up the scoreboard against MOUZ on Nuke. Two opening frags with the Desert Eagle by Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong pushed MOUZ to win the forcebuy. The European team were then able to take a 4-1 lead until Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko won a 1vs1 against Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool to close the distance. Four kills by flamie on a forcebuy got Natus Vincere back into the game, as they were able to bring it to a 4-5 scoreline. The CIS side then took control of the late rounds, bridging a gap with a 9-6 lead at the half.

A successful 3vs4 afterplant on B thanks to doubles by flamie and Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov kept Natus Vincere well in the lead. A patient retake by MOUZ on the first gun round got the Europeans closer to coming back, 7-12, as the two teams then went neck to neck. With such a lead, Natus Vincere kept getting closer and closer to the finish line, hitting 14 before MOUZ could get to double digits, but a scrappy buy the following round worked for mouz, who managed to stay in the game. Despite going down 12-15, MOUZ were able to win a crucial 3vs2 afterplant in the last round to push it to overtime.

Despite losing the first round, Natus Vincere won the following two on the attacking side to lead at the half, but were equalized by MOUZ after switching sides. mouz then won a crucial 2vs2 on B to get on match point with Natus Vincere’s economy in shambles. WIth the weapon advantage, mouz went on to take the B site and close the map out, 19-17.