NRG upset Liquid to win the North American derby at the StarLadder Berlin Major

NRG defeated Team Liquid 16-9 on Dust II today during the second round of the StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major New Legends Stage.

This loss puts an end to Liquid’s 23-consecutive wins at LAN tournaments. It’s their first loss since June 18 when North beat them at the ESL Pro League season nine finals.

NRG played much better against Liquid than they did yesterday when they faced Renegades and nearly lost. Their stars showed up big today, especially AWPer Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov, who had 25 kills. He would’ve topped the scoreboard if it wasn’t for Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski’s insane 28-kill performance.

This upset was built from the beginning when NRG won eight-straight rounds after losing the initial pistol round. Liquid would’ve closed the gap in the second half if it wasn’t for an unlikely multi-kill from Ethan Arnold’s Five-Seven in the A bombsite.

Liquid couldn’t break NRG’s defense mainly because their stars weren’t playing up to their standards. Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken and Keith “NAF” Markovic, who usually share the fragging responsibilities with EliGE, both had an off game and finished with only 13 and seven kills, respectively.

This loss puts Liquid in the 1-1 pool, which means they might have to face another strong team tomorrow, like mousesports or Na’Vi. As for NRG, they’re only one best-of-three win away from qualifying for the playoffs.

You can keep up with the StarLadder Berlin Major New Legends Stage results and standings here.