Live updates from IEM Chengdu day 4

Liquid 3-1 FaZe

Tidy stuff so far from Liquid, all started by a nice 3k on the pistol via Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis.

Liquid are on the CT side here, so their strong start already bodes very well for the rest of the T-sided Anubis.

Liquid 13-16 FaZe

After a woefully slow start on CT side, with several individuals struggling, Liquid managed to work their way into the game with an impressive T side that put a lot of pressure on FaZe's economy, sending Nuke into OT.

FaZe were vastly improved with guns in their hands on defense, however, allowing them to seal a perfect defensive half in OT and eventually the map.

A team effort across the board for FaZe, but on the other side of the server Liquid will be a touch concerned at how quiet Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken was, particularly in the first half.

Liquid 12-15 FaZe

FaZe have shown what they can do with a fully-equipped CT side, economy issues screwed their efforts in regulation.

The pressure of this game is apparent on the server, players are starting to crack a little bit in certain moments as evidenced by Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants.

Liquid 12-12 FaZe

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller has made sure his team's efforts to come back in this map were not in vain.

Liquid 9-12 FaZe

Liquid have made a damn good go of rescuing the first-half deficit, an increase in output from the likes of Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken vital in making it happen.

Unfortunately for Liquid they had little room for error, and a scuffed 4v2 situation has put FaZe on the brink of a first map win.

Liquid 3-9 FaZe

The second-half pistol is an absolute must-win for Liquid, otherwise we can probably start looking ahead to Anubis.

The usual carry forces haven't really gotten going for Liquid, Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros is playing well but Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis and Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken are struggling, the latter quite badly.

Liquid 2-7 FaZe

Oh dear Liquid. Just when Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and co. had gotten their first couple of rounds on the board, in no small part thanks to Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros, they squandered a 4v2 advantage and let FaZe back into the half.

Liquid 0-6 FaZe

One-way traffic thus far in the second quarter-final, FaZe are showing why they feel confident in picking Nuke.

Liquid haven't really had a chance yet, they are getting out-aimed individually and read like a book by Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen.

Liquid already feel a little desperate on their defense, as evidenced by the Lobby crunch below.

The veto is in!

FaZe opted for an Ancient ban instead of Anubis, which is their weakest map right now, respecting Liquid's strength on it. Interestingly Liquid opted to steer the veto to Mirage for the decider, when they could have had their best map of Overpass.

Having defeated Virtus.pro comfortably to set up a semi-final matchup with MOUZ, Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen stopped for a chat on the broadcast with Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović, Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez and Freya "⁠Freya⁠" Spiers.

The Dane discussed Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov's stellar clutch on Overpass, G2's general feelings right now, and his thoughts on the upcoming fight with MOUZ.

On m0NESY's clutch on Overpass: When he got the kill stairs I knew insta this guy will do some crazy stuff, and then he plants and goes the other way around (laughs). I don't know, I would never even consider to do this.

I think as much as the clutch broke VP, it hyped us up. I think especially on the CT side I was not happy with how we played, especially in the start. I honestly expected them to pick Ancient, with the record they have on it and our struggles, so we mostly prepped for that. The fact they picked Overpass was nice for us.

On G2's good matchup against VP: I think that first of all we have very good individuals, so they cannot just walk and take fights and get away with it. We are just very comfortable with our playstyle against their playstyle, I don't want to spill all the beans and the small secrets, we just feel good against them. It's kinda like we are their NAVI (laughs).

On NiKo's level: He has a lot to live up to with his tenure in CS:GO, right? So to say if he's back or not, I don't know. I think he's playing good and doing a lot for the team, it's not just what you see with his crosshair, so I'm happy with him.

On the mood in the G2 camp: I think that we are all a bit exhausted from the long grind before the Major into the Major itself. frozen put it nicely, even if we are tired we have to perform, and we talked about it before the year started, that we want to play for every tournament this year. This is probably the time to show that, now it's hard to actually put up 100%.

I think we kinda built up through this tournament, we started out very slow and now we are back to where we kinda want to be.

On upcoming fight against MOUZ: We feel fine, it's not a crazy good matchup for us but it's not the worst either. I think it's a lot up to them actually to change some things, because for us now it's going well, especially on the stage, against them. As you say, it's kind of a replay of the Major, minus NAVI (smiles).

Virtus.pro 10-10 G2

Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev missed the timing checking Monster and Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov wrapped around Short to get the to afterplant kills and keep the map even as it reaches its last rounds.

Virtus.pro 9-9 G2

Virtus.pro tied things up 9-9 in a dominant round and four players were closing in on Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov to pry the AWP from his cold dead hands, but the Russian sniper found a way to get out of the kerfuffle and save the big green.

Virtus.pro 6-6 G2

G2 got a five round streak to lock in a tie at the switch. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač was the hottest player with 14 kills, but a big triple with a fancy flick on the third frag from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov in the 11th round to turn around a 3vs5 situation was crucial to make it 6-6 at the half.

Virtus.pro 4-1 G2

Virtus.pro got off to a great 3-0 start on the T side of Overpass, but where shut down on the A site in the first gun round. A quick pick by Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali early on in the fifth round followed by a call to storm the A site proved excellent by the Russians who already put another tally in what is gearing up to be a strong T side.

Virtus.pro 6-13 G2

Despite a slow start to the second half and a blunder that cast momentary doubt, G2 were by far and large the better team on Anubis, securing their pick with a dominant 13-6 performance to take the 1-0 lead in the series.

Virtus.pro 6-9 G2

G2 played a perfect round to take the B site, but lo and behold, a crucial mistake was made. The bomb was left behind. Virtus.pro, having called a save in a 3vs5 situation with the site lost, called a save, but after finding the bomb dropped in mid were thrust right back into a round that Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov and Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali won in a 2vs2 situations.

Virtus.pro 3-9 G2

G2 are in full control of their map pick, Anubis,as they made the most T-sided map in the pool look CT-sided. Virtus.pro's decision to start on the attack is not paying off as they trail 3-9 at the half. Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen even threw his hat in the ring at one point with a quick triple defending the B site alone against low-health opponents.

Virtus.pro 1-6 G2

G2 have come into their Anubis with full confidence and it's showing. The international squad won five on the trot from the start and didn't show any signs of weakness until the sixth round, when Virtus.pro finally squeezed a B hit and won the 2vs2 retake. The following round, Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov and Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen doubles once again shut down the attack.

G2 picked Anubis, Virtus.pro went for Overpass, and Inferno will be the classic decider. These are the same maps the two teams played at the Major in Copenhagen, but that time Anubis was the decider, which G2 won amply, while Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and company's Inferno pick went down to the wire.

G2 and Virtus.pro met at the PGL Major in Copenhagen just two weeks ago. It was a crucial group stage match, a 2-2 decider series, and Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov came out the star and savior for his team powering G2 to victory with a stellar performance.

Overpass, Inferno, and Anubis were all played at the Major, although the match was marred by a PC crash affecting Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali at 11-11 on Inferno. Without it, the game could have gone differently and even ended after two maps.

Virtus.pro aren't focused on what happened or what could have been, though. "We can't control what happened," David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan told Anastasija "⁠Heccu⁠" Tolmačeva in the pre-game interview to bring home the point that they are focused on just playing their game now without thinking about the past.

Three days of play in Chengdu have come and gone, leaving only the six strongest teams in the playoffs. The final three match days now lie ahead in front of the crowd at the Wuliangye Chengdu Performing Arts Centre.

To kick things off will be the four-team 'quarter-finals', featuring G2 vs. Virtus.pro on one side of the bracket and Liquid vs. FaZe on the other side. MOUZ and Astralis, group stage's top seeds, await in the semi-finals on Saturday to decide the teams that will be playing the grand final on championship Sunday.

Date	Matches
IEM Chengdu 2024
12/04/2024	Virtus.pro 09:00 G2	Match
12/04/2024	Liquid 12:15 FaZe	Match