Liquid struggle in Paris
Liquid, known for their slow starts in big events, has once again come stumbling out of the gate after a devastating early loss to Apeks in the opening round of the Major.
There was a surprise amongst fans when Liquid opted to play on Ancient rather than Overpass, especially when they had the choice between the two. The gamble did not pay off for the side as the Americans struggled to get things going on their T-side. Despite winning the pistol, Liquid would lose the next seven rounds, putting themselves into a hole that they could not climb out of.
The half would end with Liquid getting a few more rounds to make it 5-10, but there was no consistent momentum to push the squad forward and overwhelm their opponent.
With Liquid moving to the CT-side, there was hope that the masterplan of the squad would come to light. There was initial hope when Liquid won the second pistol of the game, but that was quickly dashed as the Europeans raced ahead to widen the gap. slight belief in a comeback was dashed when Apeks charged back to win their 15th round and then put Liquid in the 0-1 bracket.
A tough time for the American squad, but the best North American team still are projected to qualify out of the Challengers Stage.
ApeksLiquid| Apeks |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius |
25 - 20 | +5 | 95.4 | 75.0% | 1.25 |
 Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski |
23 - 19 | +4 | 86.1 | 75.0% | 1.25 |
 Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad |
23 - 22 | +1 | 90.0 | 71.4% | 1.16 |
 Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson |
18 - 17 | +1 | 67.6 | 71.4% | 1.06 |
 Martin 'STYKO' Styk |
13 - 19 | -6 | 63.5 | 75.0% | 0.87 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
30 - 19 | +11 | 100.6 | 78.6% | 1.40 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
28 - 21 | +7 | 95.0 | 82.1% | 1.33 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
16 - 21 | -5 | 64.3 | 75.0% | 0.95 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
16 - 20 | -4 | 68.3 | 64.3% | 0.94 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
7 - 22 | -15 | 47.2 | 64.3% | 0.55 |
