A battle of the new-look North American CS:GO rosters went the way of Team Liquid over Evil Geniuses in the Americas Regional Major Ranking event today, meaning Liquid have locked in a spot at the PGL Antwerp Major in May.
Liquid looked poised to run away with their Vertigo pick early, relying on big plays from their two newest additions in oSee and shox to fuel their T-side. But EG took five straight CT rounds to end the half and keep it close, thanks to a series of clutch rounds from autimatic. Liquid comfortably kept their lead after switching to the CT side, taking Vertigo 16-9 with over 20 kills each from oSee, shox, and EliGE.
EG needed to come out strong on their own pick of Inferno. But this time, it was Liquid who made a late run in the first half to take an 8-7 lead going into their T-side half. Liquid continued to build their lead thanks to some big rounds from shox and EliGE, and kept their lead comfortable thanks to a couple of successful force buys, securing a 16-11 win on Inferno to lock in their spot in Antwerp.
Both teams stumbled out of the gate at the Americas RMR event, with Liquid and EG losing to 00 Nation and paiN Gaming, respectively, in the opening best-of-ones. Both responded with two best-of-one wins to reach today’s match, but it’s Liquid who are through first, joining the likes of MIBR, FURIA, Imperial Esports, and Complexity.
EG will have to win their final series in the Swiss stage, then advance through a tiebreaker if they want to secure the sixth and final Americas spot at the PGL Antwerp Major.
