Liquid move into Budapest Major invite range with 101 VRS points after eliminating TYLOO

The reigning FISSURE Playground champions are out in the group stage.

Liquid have eliminated TYLOO from FISSURE Playground 2 to move just one series away from earning a playoff berth. The victory also earned Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek's troops a whopping 101 VRS points, enough for a five-place jump in the Global Standings that has leapfrogged them into invite territory for a Stage 1 spot at the StarLadder Budapest Major on the predicted list.

However, the job isn't finished for siuhy's men, who are playing their final event with Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken before the Canadian departs for FaZe. It is Liquid's last chance to score VRS points at a tier-one LAN before the October 6 ranking cut-off, and teams below them in the rankings still have a handful of events to play where points will be up for grabs.

"Every little win that we have now, we'll take it for sure," siuhy said in a post-match interview on broadcast. "We had a good talk as a team after the second loss here, and we set some rules for ourselves, some good pathways for the future about how we want to approach the next few games, and I think that helped us a lot."

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Liquid earn 90 VRS points and send HEROIC home from FISSURE Playground 2

TYLOO head home after a disappointing outing in Serbia, where they failed to repeat their surprise run at the start of the Fall season that culminated in their first big international title. A solitary win over GamerLegion offers little solace surrounded by losses to Aurora, The MongolZ, and Liquid, with the latter loss stinging after TYLOO were given plenty of chances to get their foot in during the series.

"We're in a slump," YuanZhang "⁠Attacker⁠" Sheng admitted in a post-match interview on broadcast, apologizing for his team's performance.

TYLOO punished Liquid with a second-round force-buy to kick off Ancient, and seized control on the defense off of that thanks to exceptional multi-fragging by Qianhao "⁠Moseyuh⁠" Chen. The Chinese team were up 8-4 at halftime and could have run away with the map if not for Twistzz, who completely took over after the swap.

The Canadian stopped three bombsite rushes, one against a full-buy and two against upgraded pistols, grabbing four kills in each round to almost single-handedly haul Liquid to victory. TYLOO managed just two rounds on the attack, one by way of a clutch from Jingxiang "⁠Mercury⁠" Wang, with Twistzz tallying a monstrous 19-6 K-D, 142.8 ADR, +11.12% Round Swing, and 2.32 rating on the CT side to net his team a 13-10 win.

Squandered advantages aplenty came back to bite Liquid on Inferno, where their 3-0 lead evaporated as TYLOO pulled back a 2v3, 2v4, and 1v2 in the first half alone.

Winning the second pistol for another three-round run in the second half offered Liquid little solace as they found themselves at the behest of Moseyuh, who proved immovable in Banana. He decimated Liquid with several triple kills and a flashy quad kill including a spraydown, ending TYLOO's CT effort with a 2.47 rating, 156.1 ADR, and +14.71% Round Swing as they forced a decider.

Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz and Twistzz were firing on all cylinders at the start of Mirage, but a few sloppy late rounds and further squandered advantages kept TYLOO in contention at halftime.

Close rounds after the swap meant both teams' economies were teetering at the breaking point, and it was Liquid who emerged the victor of that battle. Despite dropping a round to pistols in a 5v3, a triple from Roland "⁠ultimate⁠" Tomkowiak ensured that the game wouldn't slip away, and the Pole added another triple to close things out.

More highlights from Liquid vs. TYLOO:

• Twistzz gets back-to-back quads

• Twistzz 4k simulator

• siuhy holds down B with 4k

• Attacker and JamYoung combine in chaotic post-plant

• ultimate ends the half with 1v3

• Moseyuh does it all in the 2v3 retake

• Liquid get all the kills but Attacker sticks the defuse

• TYLOO pull back 3v5 with instant trades

• Liquid lose 5v3 to pistols