Will Liquid be able to finally overcome Astralis?

EPL S8 Finals Day 1 recap: Liquid crush G2, BIG

While Liquid soar, Ghost have been knocked down to the lower bracket by mousesports.

The first day of the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals have come to a close in Odense, with  half of the teams who qualified through the North American regular season proceeding to the upper bracket. 

The event kicked off with Renegades taking on HellRaisers on Mirage. The Australian squad struggled to gain a foothold, despite decent performance from Justin "jks" Savage. Issa "ISSAA" Murad led his squad through a dominance first 12-3 first half, ultimately culminating into a 16-5 win.

Renegades
5 - 16
HellRaisers
All maps
Renegades K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Australia Justin 'jks' Savage 18 - 15 +3 86.9 66.7% 1.13
Australia Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas 14 - 17 -3 102.9 66.7% 0.97
Australia Aaron 'AZR' Ward 13 - 16 -3 67.9 71.4% 0.87
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad 10 - 18 -8 65.9 61.9% 0.79
New Zealand Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai 11 - 15 -4 48.1 61.9% 0.74
HellRaisers K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Issa 'ISSAA' Murad 22 - 14 +8 103.1 61.9% 1.59
Kirill 'ANGE1' Karasiow 20 - 11 +9 99.0 81.0% 1.56
Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov 16 - 12 +4 78.7 66.7% 1.22
Bence 'DeadFox' Böröcz 11 - 15 -4 61.2 81.0% 0.96
Özgür 'woxic' Eker 12 - 14 -2 58.2 57.1% 0.85

Coming off a win in Malta, Liquid were fired up on Nuke, taking the T-side in the first half against G2. Both teams were neck-and-neck, with Liquid ultimately taking a small 8-7 lead at halftime. In the second now, now on the CT-side, Keith "NAF" Markovic crushed G2, taking Nuke 16-8 and knocking the French team to the lower bracket.

Liquid
16 - 8
G2
All maps
Liquid K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Canada Keith 'NAF' Markovic 26 - 12 +14 117.0 91.7% 1.80
United States Nick 'nitr0' Cannella 22 - 15 +7 104.5 91.7% 1.58
United States Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski 21 - 16 +5 75.4 66.7% 1.15
Canada Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken 13 - 12 +1 56.9 75.0% 1.04
Brazil Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo 12 - 16 -4 53.2 70.8% 0.88
G2 K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Richard 'shox' Papillon 18 - 15 +3 84.0 62.5% 1.12
Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' Droolans 17 - 20 -3 78.2 62.5% 0.98
Edouard 'SmithZz' Dubourdeaux 15 - 21 -6 70.2 50.0% 0.80
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro 12 - 20 -8 73.0 62.5% 0.66
Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub 9 - 18 -9 47.9 50.0% 0.51

After taking SK's place in the Pro League and reaching Odense, INTZ took on BIG, with the map ending up on Train. Tizian "tiziaN" Feldbusch led his squad to a clean 10-5 lead in the first half, but were met with some resistance in the second half. The German core ultimately were able to close the map, knocking INTZ down 16-10. 

INTZ
10 - 16
BIG
All maps
INTZ K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Brazil Vito 'kNgV-' Giuseppe 23 - 15 +8 91.3 88.5% 1.35
Brazil Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes 23 - 21 +2 105.8 57.7% 1.20
Brazil Alexandre 'xand' Zizi 18 - 19 -1 87.6 73.1% 1.10
Brazil João 'horvy' Horvath 14 - 19 -5 40.1 53.8% 0.62
Brazil João 'felps' Vasconcellos 10 - 23 -13 50.9 61.5% 0.54
BIG K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch 29 - 20 +9 114.4 76.9% 1.68
Fatih 'gob b' Dayik 23 - 17 +6 89.5 76.9% 1.33
United Kingdom Owen 'smooya' Butterfield 21 - 15 +6 68.7 69.2% 1.16
Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz 13 - 17 -4 69.1 57.7% 0.89
Johannes 'nex' Maget 10 - 19 -9 61.1 65.4% 0.76

In a Brazilian derby, MIBR took on Sharks, an up-and-coming team in the South American region. MIBR beached the Sharks, with Tarik "tarik" Celik going 25-5 on Inferno, taking the map 16-2 and instantly knocking Sharks down to the lower bracket.

MIBR
16 - 2
Sharks
All maps
MIBR K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
United States Tarik 'tarik' Celik 25 - 5 +20 140.3 94.4% 2.29
Brazil Marcelo 'coldzera' David 17 - 5 +12 98.6 94.4% 1.80
United States Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip 18 - 5 +13 84.4 88.9% 1.68
Brazil Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga 13 - 7 +6 99.0 83.3% 1.38
Brazil Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo 10 - 5 +5 58.4 83.3% 1.21
Sharks K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Brazil Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo 8 - 17 -9 53.9 33.3% 0.48
Brazil Raphael 'exit' Lacerda 7 - 16 -9 58.6 33.3% 0.48
Brazil Jhonatan 'jnt' Silva 6 - 16 -10 35.2 38.9% 0.41
Brazil Renato 'nak' Nakano 4 - 18 -14 41.6 27.8% 0.25
Brazil Leonardo 'leo_drk' Oliveira 2 - 18 -16 19.8 22.2% 0.12

NRG and North, two teams setting strides to become Top 5 teams, faced off on Train, with both teams remaining fairly competitive with each other. NRG took the upper hand in the first half, going up 9-6, but North were eventually able to tie the score 12-12 in the second half. Ethan "nahtE" Arnold eventually crushed the resistance from North, with NRG taking the map 16-13.

NRG
16 - 13
North
All maps
NRG K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
United States Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold 29 - 19 +10 102.2 69.0% 1.44
United States Jacob 'FugLy' Medina 21 - 20 +1 72.5 72.4% 1.07
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov 21 - 18 +3 71.1 72.4% 1.06
United States Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte 22 - 21 +1 73.8 62.1% 1.03
Canada Damian 'daps' Steele 13 - 21 -8 60.2 69.0% 0.85
North K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Denmark Philip 'aizy' Aistrup 24 - 23 +1 93.4 79.3% 1.22
Denmark Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså 23 - 22 +1 91.1 72.4% 1.22
Denmark Casper 'cadiaN' Møller 21 - 18 +3 72.8 69.0% 1.05
Denmark Markus 'Kjaerbye' Kjærbye 18 - 19 -1 73.1 75.9% 1.01
Denmark Nicklas 'gade' Gade 13 - 24 -11 44.4 55.2% 0.63

Climbing to the Top 25 in HLTV's World Rankings and Dust2.us' Top 3, Ghost have cemented themselves as one of the top teams in North America. However, against foreign opponents, Ghost still require more work, as Miikka "suNny" Kemppi walked over Ghost on Train. At the end of the lopsided match, the European mix ultimately took the map 16-5, knocking Ghost to the lower bracket.

Ghost
5 - 16
MOUZ
All maps
Ghost K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
United States Kenneth 'koosta' Suen 18 - 18 +0 103.4 57.1% 1.06
Canada Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik 12 - 15 -3 68.0 57.1% 0.75
United States Jason 'neptune' Tran 10 - 17 -7 50.4 57.1% 0.64
Canada Matthew 'WARDELL' Yu 7 - 17 -10 38.5 61.9% 0.48
Canada Joshua 'steel' Nissan 8 - 19 -11 51.1 57.1% 0.47
MOUZ K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi 20 - 10 +10 102.6 90.5% 1.74
Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong 19 - 10 +9 77.5 81.0% 1.50
Martin 'STYKO' Styk 15 - 13 +2 107.0 81.0% 1.41
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný 17 - 11 +6 69.3 71.4% 1.33
Robin 'ropz' Kool 15 - 11 +4 69.2 66.7% 1.10

With the opening matches completed, the first round of the Group A lower bracket played out, with Renegades taking on their Eastern Chinese counterpart, ViCi. Aaron "AZR" Ward shone on Inferno, topping his team's scoreboard and leading his team to a somewhat shaky 16-12 victory on Inferno.

Things looked off for Renegades at the start of Mirage, as ViCi swept through the first seven straight rounds uncontested. Renegades eventually found their footing against in the eighth round, returning the favor with eight straight rounds to take the 8-7 lead at halftime. Renegades' dominance continued well into the second half, with the Australian squad taking the second map 16-9 and securing the series 2-0, eliminating ViCi.

Renegades
2 - 0
ViCi
All maps
Renegades K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad 51 - 31 +20 94.3 75.5% 1.47
Australia Aaron 'AZR' Ward 50 - 34 +16 91.7 75.5% 1.39
Australia Justin 'jks' Savage 40 - 32 +8 92.6 84.9% 1.33
New Zealand Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai 44 - 32 +12 83.1 77.4% 1.27
Australia Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas 25 - 29 -4 57.9 67.9% 0.90
ViCi K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
WeiJie 'zhokiNg' Zhong 46 - 43 +3 94.5 67.9% 1.22
ZhiHong 'aumaN' Liu 36 - 42 -6 71.8 64.2% 0.87
WingHei 'Freeman' Cheung 29 - 44 -15 63.5 54.7% 0.74
Zhuo 'advent' Liang 25 - 41 -16 54.8 56.6% 0.71
Andrew 'kaze' Khong 22 - 41 -19 41.1 66.0% 0.62

In the upper bracket semi-finals of Group A, Liquid continued their stampede, with BIG now in their crosshairs. NAF and the gang easily cleaned house, taking Inferno and Dust2 in two fell 16-6 swoops. Knocking BIG down to the lower bracket, Liquid move on to the upper bracket finals of Group A where they will take on... Astralis.

Liquid
2 - 0
BIG
All maps
Liquid K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Canada Keith 'NAF' Markovic 43 - 15 +28 97.6 84.1% 1.71
United States Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski 45 - 31 +14 112.7 84.1% 1.63
Brazil Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo 36 - 25 +11 82.0 70.5% 1.32
Canada Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken 29 - 27 +2 72.6 95.5% 1.24
United States Nick 'nitr0' Cannella 27 - 22 +5 58.2 75.0% 1.12
BIG K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Johannes 'nex' Maget 32 - 33 -1 79.2 65.9% 1.03
Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz 30 - 35 -5 71.4 65.9% 0.91
Fatih 'gob b' Dayik 19 - 37 -18 64.3 59.1% 0.61
Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch 21 - 40 -19 62.9 54.5% 0.60
United Kingdom Owen 'smooya' Butterfield 17 - 35 -18 47.1 54.5% 0.56

Taking on INTZ in the Group A lower bracket, G2 found solace on their map pick of Overpass, handily taking the first map 16-6, despite their previous shaky performance The series took a turn for the worse on Mirage, where INTZ slapped the French squad with a 16-8 map, tying the series 1-1.

On Dust2, both teams were anxious to avoid elimination, with the map ultimately going into double overtime with G2 reigning victorious 22-18. Taking the series 2-1, G2 move on to the second round of the lower bracket, where they will take on HellRaisers.

G2
2 - 1
INTZ
All maps
G2 K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' Droolans 61 - 54 +7 83.0 73.3% 1.15
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro 62 - 58 +4 80.9 72.1% 1.15
Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub 56 - 54 +2 77.7 67.4% 1.07
Richard 'shox' Papillon 67 - 60 +7 78.8 65.1% 1.07
Edouard 'SmithZz' Dubourdeaux 49 - 61 -12 60.6 69.8% 0.92
INTZ K - D +/- ADR KAST Rating 2.0
Brazil Vito 'kNgV-' Giuseppe 65 - 59 +6 83.0 76.7% 1.15
Brazil Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes 62 - 58 +4 66.4 67.4% 1.02
Brazil Alexandre 'xand' Zizi 61 - 59 +2 78.9 70.9% 1.02
Brazil João 'felps' Vasconcellos 56 - 62 -6 77.7 69.8% 1.01
Brazil João 'horvy' Horvath 40 - 59 -19 65.4 65.1% 0.87

The matches play out to begin tomorrow are:

Wednesday, December 5th
6:00 AM Canada Ghost vs. Australia ORDER BO3
6:00 AM Brazil Sharks vs. Denmark North BO3
9:50 AM Brazil MIBR vs. United States NRG BO3
9:50 AM Australia Renegades vs. BIG BO3
1:40 PM mousesports vs. Na`Vi BO3
1:40 PM World HellRaisers vs. G2 BO3

Also read

#1(With 0 replies)
December 5, 2018 11:26PM
006_tv
Dust2 Birthday cake!
Ghost feelsbadman
You must be logged in to add a comment.