BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024Liquid wallop VP in debut with new roster
Twistzz remained stoic on the server and led the charge for Liquid despite taking over leadership duties.
Liquid are through to the upper bracket final of Group D after securing a 2-0 victory over Virtus.pro at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, requiring triple overtime to close out Ancient (22-20) before stealing the Russian team's Dust2 pick (13-6) in dominant fashion.
All eyes were on the Dutch organization as they underwent another significant overhaul during the tournament break, replacing Casper "cadiaN" Møller, Felipe "skullz" Medeiros, and head coach Wilton "zews" Prado with Justin "jks" Savage, Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak, and former Apeks coach Torbjørn "mithR" Nyborg.
The Australian rifler hadn't played an official since he was benched from G2 in October 2023, and the latter arrived on the team as a completely unknown quantity, plucked from obscurity in Europe's tier-three scene after passing the eye test of multiple players and impressing Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken.
The 24-year-old Canadian took up leadership duties as a part of the overhaul, which raised questions about whether he could keep up his top-rated performances for Liquid and brought an air of uncertainty surrounding the transition.
However, the team survived their first test with aplomb, moving past Virtus.pro in a series that started with a roar and ended with a gasp. The Russian side were contentious at the start of Liquid's Ancient pick, tying the score 4-4, but jks and Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis worked in tandem to power their side to an 8-4 lead on the T side and quickly reach map point in the second half, 12-7.
A clutch from Dzhami "Jame" Ali spurred on a Virtus.pro comeback and the teams battled into overtime, but it was there that ultimate came alive. Despite a handful of opening kills, the Polish sniper had a quiet showing in regulation (11-16 K-D), but stepped up massively with a 21-10 K-D over three sets of extra rounds. He took the game into his own hands in triple OT and single-handedly set Liquid on map point before they closed out, showing signs of what the team likely saw when scouting him.
[A replay including the final kill can be found here.]
Virtus.pro ran out of steam on Dust2, a 4-1 lead dwindling rapidly as they couldn't find a way past Twistzz's secondary AWP and Keith "NAF" Markovic's stellar defense of B.
Liquid went up 7-5 at the half and continued laying waste to Jame's side after swapping to the attack, with Twistzz bagging a few eco kills, an impactful 1vs3 clutch, and combining with late-round closes from NAF to completely shut VP out of the game.
 Virtus.pro |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 - 41 | +2.60% | 79.0 | 67.2% | 1.13 | |
| 34 - 47 | -2.95% | 76.9 | 67.2% | 0.97 | |
| 38 - 48 | -1.09% | 67.3 | 68.9% | 0.90 | |
| 34 - 45 | -0.34% | 61.7 | 67.2% | 0.86 | |
| 37 - 49 | -3.36% | 65.3 | 59.0% | 0.85 |
 Liquid |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 - 35 | +3.07% | 95.1 | 77.0% | 1.36 | |
| 51 - 37 | +3.72% | 86.1 | 90.2% | 1.31 | |
| 39 - 40 | -2.27% | 80.1 | 77.0% | 1.16 | |
| 45 - 41 | +0.31% | 75.0 | 72.1% | 1.13 | |
| 42 - 38 | +0.33% | 70.1 | 62.3% | 1.05 |
Torbjørn 'mithR' Nyborg
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
4NTEP
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