Liquid move on in Leicester

Day two of the ESL Pro League Finals began with a North American showdown as Cloud9 and Team Liquid battle for survival in the tournament after dropping down to the Lower Bracket of Group B.

Map one, Dust2, began with Liquid winning the pistol round and the following anti-ecos to start off with the game with a 3-0 lead. But once we reached the gun rounds the game reached a highly-contested period as neither side could stamp their authority.

Up 5-4, Cloud9 had a great opportunity to restore a two-round lead, only to waste a 4vs2 situation following a spectacular clutch from Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham, who kept his team within touching distance of Liquid on multiple occasions.

Liquid held on to their 8-7 half-time lead and further grew it by taking the first four rounds on the CT side. Cloud9 then went on a great run that saw them twice take the lead, but Liquid remained calm and collected and bagged the final two rounds to force overtime. Carrying their momentum into overtime, Liquid stormed to a 3-0 lead after playing on the CT side and dropped just one round as Terrorists before sealing a 19-16 win and taking the lead in the series.

Next up was Cobblestone, where Cloud9 came out the stronger as they claimed a quick 3-0 lead, but they were outclassed when Liquid bought up, losing eight of the following nine rounds. After calling a tactical pause, Cloud9 picked up an eco round, courtesy of a quad kill by Alec "⁠Slemmy⁠" White, but still Liquid still enjoyed a commanding 10-5 lead at the end of the half.

Cloud9 kept their victory hopes alive by taking the pistol round as CT, only to be caught off-guard by Liquid's eco in the following round. When Cloud9 managed to get their economy stabilised once again they still tried to make something out of the game, but Liquid remained in the driving seat and quickly hammered the final nail into the coffins of their opponents.

ESL Pro League Season 3 FinalsBest of 3

Cloud9

Matchpage

0

2

12th May 2016

Liquid

16

Dust2

19

10

Cobblestone

16

Broken tag

Broken tag