Liquid and NIP made their way into the consolidation finals after both teams losing to Astralis and beating FaZe Clan at some point in this tournament. NIP and Liquid picked Overpass and Mirage respectively and Nuke was left over for the decider.
MAP 1: Overpass
Liquid started strong on their CT side getting two early rounds. Then NIP fired back with four rounds of their own. REZ contributed heavily on the offense for the Ninjas with multiple kills and a stand out triple kill entry to open up the B Bombsite to get the 2nd round on board. Elige was in form for Liquid, he pulled out a 4K hold to shut down NIP in the 9th round to break their streak. Liquid’s CT side has been put into question on multiple occasion in this tournament but they held their nerve well against the Ninjas. The first half closed 9-6 favoring Team Liquid.
Although NIP won the pistol on their defense off a successful defuse but Liquid quickly got back on the board off Stewie2k getting 4 kills on the entry with his AK-47 which they managed from the extra money of the bomb plant. NIP were allowed only 4 rounds more on their CT side and after their 3 round streak ended in the 20th round, Liquid didn’t give the Swedes any leg to stand on. The North Americans won 6 rounds with 3 of them off the bomb plants and other 3 by elimination as they closed the map with 16-10 scoreline.
MAP 2: Mirage
NIP put up a much better fight on Liquid’s pick. Liquid managed to pick up the pistol round and follow it up with a mixed buy. NIP answered back on the next round with a complete elimination victory and followed up with a streak until NAF clutched a 1v2 to deny the retake and get Liquid back on board. Elige grabs a 3K in mid despite of NIP’s heavy presence to deny Liquid mid control. He added onto his tally with a 1v3 clutch to reach a 8-6 scoreline. NIP took the final round of the first half by elimination to close out with a 8-7 scoreline going against them.
The North American defense started off with a pistol round victory while NIP’s force buy shifted the tides in the following round. It seemed NIP were mounting a comeback, as Liquid failed to find an answer for the Ninjas’s offense until Stewie’s AWP found 3 Kills to shut down NIP’s plan to take the A bombsite as the scoreboard stood 13-11. f0rest clutched a 1v2 in the B bombsite to get the last round for the Ninjas in this series. Liquid swiftly found their footing on the defense as they were solid in holding the sites after NIP reached their 14th round. NAF’s 3K helped them reach series point and although NIP managed to plant the bomb on the 30th round, Liquid made no mistakes to secure a defuse to close their map pick with a 16-14 scoreline.
NIP will face FaZe for the Blast stand offs and Liquid will find themselves against Astralis to fight for for the Blast Pro Series Global title at 22:30 IST today.
