AdreN drinks Liquid, Gambit to playoffs
The final match of the groupstage was to be between Liquid and Gambit in the decider of Group D. The winner would advance to the playoffs while the loser would go home.
Liquid, who lost to Astralis yesterday, kicked off the series on Overpass. They got a good lead from the Counter-Terrorist side, ending with a 9-6 score at the half. Almost immediately, Liquid got up to map point, and despite a Gambit comeback attempt, the North Americans, with Epitacio "TACO" de Melo at the helm, closed out the map 16-12.
Gambit answered back with their own 9-6 CT half on Mirage. Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev and his men didn't let Liquid have the chance at a comeback, as a 7-2 Terrorist side allowed the Kazakh squad to take map two 16-8.
The final map, Train, began with Liquid acquiring a small 4-1 lead. The rest of their Terrorist half was not fruitful however, as Gambit won eight of the last ten for a 9-6 lead. AdreN led the way for his team once again, seeming to have improved form since Denis "seized" Kostin picked up the leadership duties. Despite a comeback attempt by the North Americans, Gambit closed out the map 16-14 and the series 2-1.
GambitLiquid| Gambit |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev |
74 - 58 | +16 | 99.0 | 75.6% | 1.36 |
| Rustem 'mou' Telepov |
60 - 54 | +6 | 72.5 | 68.3% | 1.11 |
 Mihail 'Dosia' Stolyarov |
50 - 55 | -5 | 75.6 | 75.6% | 1.01 |
| Denis 'seized' Kostin |
53 - 60 | -7 | 70.2 | 68.3% | 0.97 |
| Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov |
56 - 57 | -1 | 70.7 | 65.9% | 0.96 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
71 - 56 | +15 | 83.5 | 72.0% | 1.23 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
60 - 57 | +3 | 73.3 | 70.7% | 1.05 |
 Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo |
54 - 58 | -4 | 76.2 | 64.6% | 1.04 |
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
58 - 64 | -6 | 82.8 | 70.7% | 1.02 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
41 - 58 | -17 | 67.0 | 67.1% | 0.86 |
Gambit now advance to the playoffs in the second seed from Group D while Liquid are eliminated from the event. The quarterfinals will begin tomorrow at 4:00 AM EDT.
