Liquid CS:GO stalwart’s shaky play proved costly at BLAST Paris Major

Team Liquid have been sent packing from the BLAST Paris CS:GO Major playoffs following a 2-0 sweep by Apeks on May 19 in the quarterfinals. And EliGE, who is normally one of the team’s best performers, had a negative impact not only in the elimination game but in the entire competition outside of the Challengers Stage.

The 25-year-old saw his average rating plummet once the Legends Stage started on May 13. He was statistically Liquid’s second-best player in the Challengers Stage, posting a 1.19 rating after nine maps, according to HLTV. From the Legends Stage onwards, however, EliGE’s rating collapsed to 0.93 and he finished the BLAST Paris Major as the team’s worst statistical player by a considerable margin; nitr0 had the second-lowest rating from the Legends Stage onwards but had a 1.03.

Not only did EliGE have a tough time getting kills, but he also struggled to deal damage as a whole, which shows up in his 65.3 ADR from the Legends Stage onwards. Although he wasn’t Liquid’s worst player against Apeks in the quarterfinals as he was against Into the Breach on May 15, he finished with a negative K/D again, offering almost no help to the other star riflers of Liquid—YEKINDAR and NAF—in the elimination game.

EliGE recognized on social media that he underperformed against Into the Breach on May 15 and did so again on May 19 after Liquid’s loss to Apeks.

“We didn’t show up at all today,” EliGE wrote on Twitter. “Really disappointing and sad major. Didn’t play up to my level individually as a whole legends stage onwards. Sorry for the games everyone.”

It’s impossible to say that Liquid would have beaten Apeks if EliGE was having a good day, but Liquid would have likely secured more rounds and possibly won at least one map of the series instead of suffering a 2-0 loss.