Seven-map pool backfires as Liquid head to BLAST Showdown

The North American giants won just ten rounds in the series against BIG, ending their seasonal debut on a sour note.

BIG keep their Spring Final dream alive after demolishing Liquid in the first round of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups Knockout Stage. They won 13 Terrorist rounds on Nuke in a 16-2 annihilation before starring in their debut on Anubis with a 16-8 victory. The German squad is now on a collision course with Heroic for a spot at the BLAST Spring Final on Sunday at 15:00 .

On the other hand, Liquid will have to qualify through the notoriously difficult BLAST Premier Spring Showdown after a lackluster showing at the first tournament of the year, with their only win coming against fellow North Americans Complexity.

The match began on Nuke, Liquid's previous permaban that they brought out for the first time in a double-overtime loss to OG earlier in the tournament. The North Americans showed they still have some work to do on the map, losing the pistol round to find themselves 0-4 before posting their first round. Their defense continued to crumble from that point, as BIG uncharacteristic fast-paced style caught them off guard several times in a row. Their issues were further compounded by Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann's two clutches, meaning the scoreline soon showed 12-1 for the German squad. Liquid did get one more round in the half after Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic's heroic Ramp hold, meaning they went into the interval 2-13 behind.

The second-half pistol also went the way of BIG to all but confirm their victory on the map. The switch to the Terrorist side did little to change Liquid's fortunes, as they went down a map in the series after a 16-2 loss. faveN had a very quiet tournament up to this point but was the best performer on the server on Nuke, putting up a 1.63 rating while also winning two clutches.

The next map of the series marked BIG making their first appearance on Anubis. Another hot start off the back of a win of early forcebuy wars helped them to secure a four-round lead. Their individuals had to step up in the next few rounds to save the team, as Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa got a huge triple on the A site before a Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne 1vs3 clutch increased their lead to six. Liquid struggled throughout their offense but put together three rounds near the end, stil staring down the barrel at 4-11.

Liquid won their first pistol of the series with a retake on the B site, something they desperately needed to give themselves a chance. Their attempts were soon halted, however, as an aggressive push failed to work out for the North Americans and brought their economy to breaking point. BIG won three in a row to get to 14-8 and lost just two more rounds before closing out the map, keeping themselves alive at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups.