Today, Team Liquid and Astralis clashed for one of the last spots in the Legends Stage of the PGL Antwerp CS:GO Major. And North Americans Liquid came out on top.
Both teams, as expected, delivered an impressive show. There were even records broken on the side of Astralis, but in the end, it was Liquid who won the series 2-0 after pulling off a reserve 3-2 sweep in the Challengers Stage.
The first map was Vertigo, Liquid’s pick. But despite starting on the unfavored T side, the North American representatives quickly secured a 7-1 lead. Astralis, though, especially blameF, woke up and made the half even.
It was in the second half of the map when the playmaking started to happen. Gla1ve won an eye-watering one-vs-three on the B bombsite, which was followed by another three-vs-five victory for Astralis. Still, it wasn’t enough to break Liquid’s spirit, who managed to gain a 15-14 advance. Then, in the last round of the map, NAF found himself in a one-vs-two situation on A, in which he convincingly won, allowing him to close out the map.
Despite losing the map, blameF’s performance must be highlighted. He ended the map with a 40-20 K/D ratio, which was a record for the most kills scored in regular play at a Major, according to ESL.
Astralis responded to the map loss with a strong opening on Ancient. But Liquid somehow evened out the score, making it 8-7 in their favor at half-time. When both squads switched sides, it looked like the Danes’ defense was impenetrable, but nitr0 proved what he’s capable of, winning three clutches after Liquid was down on the T side. This put wind in Liquid’s sails, who closed the map out 16-13.
With a 2-0 win, Liquid advance to the Legends Stage, which begins on Saturday, May 14. Astralis, on the other hand, have been eliminated from the tournament, with Xyp9x missing the last 16 of the Major for the first time in his career.
Two more matches will be played today for the remaining slots at the Legends Stage. Bad News Eagles will be taking on MIBR before forZe clash with Imperial.
