Evil Geniuses proceed to cs_summit 6 North America grand final; Liquid to face Gen.G in consolidation final

Evil Geniuses swept Liquid on Inferno (16-7) and Mirage (16-14) to secure a spot in the cs_summit 6 North America grand final.

The top sides in cs_summit 6 North America’s Group A, Evil Geniuses and Liquid, were paired up again in the upper bracket final after defeating Gen.G and 100 Thieves, respectively, in the first round of the playoffs. The two teams had previously faced off in the Group A winners’ match, which Evil Geniuses swept 2-0, and they were once again able to recreate the feat to secure a spot in the tournament's grand final, sending Liquid down to the consolidation final where they will face Gen.G.

Evil Geniuses took the lead on Inferno, winning the fist pistol round on the attacking side to go up 3-0. They then played the first gun round slowly, which ended in a successful A take. Liquid failed to fight back early, and even though they switched up their setups to try and retake control, EG set the pace uncontested to a 10-0 lead. Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip and company took two back-to-back rounds, but were unable to stabilize as Evil Geniuses closed the half out 13-2.

Double entry frags by Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski opened the door for Liquid to get back into the game as they won the following rounds against the forcebuy and the eco, but Evil Geniuses reestablished dominance once they could afford to buy rifles, and although Liquid made a last ditch effort to close the gap, a triple by Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik sealed the deal, 16-7, ahead of the second map.

Liquid hit the B site in the first pistol round of Mirage to get ahead 3-0. Good trades from the defending side against another B got Evil Geniuses on the board in the first gun round. Two back-and-forth rounds ensued, but it was finally the attackers that were able to take control of the economic game, running away on the scoreboard. Down 2-8 EG were finally able to successfully retake the A site, and once again traded rounds with Liquid, this time stabilizing late in the half to bring it back to 6-9.

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken chased Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov back to the A site after a failed attempt on B to win a 1vs1 afterplant and clutch the pistol round. EG were able to put forth a strong forcebuy on the second round thanks to the plant money, and won it to keep the map close. Liquid won back-to-back retakes on A to go up 13-9, but stretched thin economically were eventually on the back foot as Evil Geniuses closed in. tarik and company tied it up 14-14 with an A split before taking match point against an eco, which Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz converted with a 1vs3 afterplant clutch, flanking the CTs as they tried to defuse the bomb to win his team the map and series.