Team Liquid are looking to reclaim their form from 2019. They secured their first win of the new CS:GO season today against MIBR at the BLAST Premier Spring Series.
Although MIBR’s recent performance has been poor, the Brazilian side proved that they can still compete with the best after today’s match against Liquid. MIBR had one close map with the North American side, showing that they’re looking to make a resurgence in the new year.
Some questions remain regarding Liquid’s Jake “Stewie2k” Yip and his individual performance, which slightly dropped off from last year. But he’s proven to be one of the best players in North America, so he’ll look to get back on top, especially with this win over MIBR.
The battle between MIBR and Liquid began on Vertigo, which was picked by the Brazillian side. Since Liquid are competent on the map, this match proved to be close. The halves were split evenly between the two sides, without one team coming on top. But the action slowly began to unfold once the match went into overtime.
There were clutches, highlights, and outplays from both sides, with neither willing to break after losing a round. But this didn’t last long. North American rifler and one of the best players in the world, Keith “NAF” Markovic, stepped up and clutched a one-vs-three on the A bombsite in a crucial round. Following several clutches from Nick “nitr0” Cannella and Stewie2k, Liquid won the first map 22-19.
Liquid carried their momentum into the second map, Inferno. They had a dominant first half with fast rounds on the Terrorist side. Although MIBR did manage to sneak back into the game with four rounds at the end of the first half, it wasn’t enough. Liquid cruised to victory on the second map, winning 16-9.
MIBR’s struggles continue going into the new year with a loss. But this doesn’t mean that they’re out of the competition. MIBR have one last chance in the losers bracket against NiP tomorrow after the Swedes lost to FaZe earlier today.
