Liquid move past Heroic in IEM Global Challenge

The North Americans survived a tough series against the No.4-ranked team and will face NAVI for a spot in the playoffs.

Liquid are through to Group B's upper bracket final in the IEM Global Challenge with a 2-0 victory over HEROIC. The North American team produced their best performance in recent times as they fended off a fierce challenge from HEROIC — who are ranked 13 spots above them at No.4. Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip finished the series at the top of the scoreboard after a great individual performance on Nuke, and he also must be commended for his impeccable calls as the team had to battle back from deficits on both maps.

HEROIC were left to rue their late collapse on Nuke as they let a 13-11 lead slip away after losing a round to pistols that destroyed their economy at a crucial stage of the game. They will fight for their tournament life on Thursday against FURIA, a team they have not faced since January 2019.

The Danish team made a strong start to the series as they raced to an 8-3 lead on Inferno after keeping Liquid from stringing rounds together, with René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen leading the charge with 16 frags to his name. The North Americans then finally woke up, picking up the final four rounds of the half to bring the deficit to a minimum.

Liquid's momentum was halted after the side switch as HEROIC came out out of the break strongly to enter double-digit territory. But the landscape of the game changed once the North Americans had money in the bank: not only did they tighten up their defence, but they also won a series of close situations that turned the tide in their favour. Michael "⁠Grim⁠" Wince denied Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen a 1v4 that could have given HEROIC a lifeline, and then delivered the finishing blow with a 1v1 in the final round as Liquid went on a nine-round winning streak.

Nuke began in almost the same vein as the previous map, with HEROIC responding to an early deficit and building a strong lead before Liquid fought back to make it a 7-8 half. Stewie2K then raised eyebrows as he pulled off a quad kill in the following pistol round, pushing his team into the lead.

HEROIC improved once they had guns in hand and took control of proceedings, with the scoreline blooming to a 13-11 advantage. It looked like the game was ebbing away from Liquid, but an unlikely victory on a shoddy buy turned the game on its head. The Danes took time some to recover and still managed to take the game the full distance before Liquid put the series away in a 3v4 situation just when overtime seemed inevitable.