Team Liquid has taken down FURIA Esports with a 2-1 series win at the upper-bracket finals of the play-in stage at IEM Cologne 2024, relegating the latter to the lower bracket where they’ll have to take on HEROIC. Here’s everything that went down in the BO3.
Map Veto
- Liquid banned Vertigo
- FURIA banned Ancient
- Liquid picked Anubis
- FURIA picked Nuke
- Liquid banned Inferno
- FURIA banned Dust2
- Mirage was left over
Game 1: Anubis (Pick: Liquid, Win: FURIA, Final Score: 13-8)
In the pistol round, an incredible 4K by Yuri “yuurih” Santos gave FURIA the perfect start to their T-side on Anubis. Although Liquid answered by securing the force-buy, FURIA quickly responded with a force-buy of their own, breaking Liquid’s economy and stringing together several rounds. FURIA managed to extend their lead to a commanding 7-1. Liquid managed to win a couple of rounds before the end of the half, but FURIA still closed it out with a solid 9-3 advantage.
Liquid sought to close the gap between the two teams with a pistol-round win on the T-side. A failed force-buy attempt from FURIA enabled Liquid to put up six rounds on the board. Still, FURIA regained control by securing the first few buy rounds of the second half, ultimately closing out the game with a 13-8 victory.
Yuurih dominated the leaderboard in the first map of the series with a whopping 123.4 ADR and 26 kills.
Game 2: Nuke (Pick: FURIA, Win: Liquid, Final Score: 13-11)
After securing a win on their opponents’ map pick, FURIA started strong on the T-side, winning the first five rounds to take a 5-0 lead. However, Liquid wasn’t ready to give up easily. They fought back fiercely in the subsequent rounds, not conceding a single round for the remainder of the half. Liquid ended the half with a 7-5 lead on their CT side of Nuke.
Liquid managed to secure a pistol-round win to kick off the second half of Nuke but failed to convert the following round as the two teams proceeded to trade a few rounds back and forth. Liquid eventually extended their lead to 12-8. Despite FURIA’s attempt to close the gap with three consecutive rounds, bringing the score to 12-11, Liquid secured the final round to clinch the match with a 13-11 victory.
Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak was the star for Team Liquid in the second game, getting an impressive K/D of 21/13.
Game 3: Mirage (Win: Liquid, Final Score: 13-7)
Liquid got off to a dominant start on the CT side of Mirage due to a couple of failed force-buys from FURIA, taking the first eight rounds in a row to build an 8-0 lead over their opposition. Although FURIA managed to win a few rounds in response, Liquid was more than comfortable finishing the half with a commanding 9-3 lead.
Despite losing the final pistol round of the series, Liquid didn’t risk a force-buy on the second round, which enabled them to grab the first buy-round of the game without much hassle. FURIA tried to bounce back, grabbing the next couple of rounds before Liquid regained their composure to end the map with a 13-7 score and securing the series 2-1.
