Liquid vs. Grayhound, what went right?
Liquid's run at BLAST.tv Paris Major was almost cut short after a 0-2 start. Swimming up to the surface, Liquid showed some improvements as days went by, turning an uncomfortable win over Fluxo into a relaxed victory over Complexity and then a strong showing against Grayhound. Are Liquid back in form or was it just luck of the draw?
GrayhoundLiquid| Grayhound |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas |
40 - 33 | +7 | 93.2 | 68.0% | 1.20 |
| Declan 'Vexite' Portelli |
32 - 39 | -7 | 77.7 | 64.0% | 0.91 |
 Simon 'Sico' Williams |
27 - 36 | -9 | 56.9 | 58.0% | 0.80 |
| Alistair 'aliStair' Johnston |
23 - 36 | -13 | 53.8 | 56.0% | 0.70 |
| Joshua 'INS' Potter |
16 - 34 | -18 | 53.0 | 60.0% | 0.65 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
48 - 28 | +20 | 106.9 | 80.0% | 1.57 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
36 - 25 | +11 | 91.2 | 78.0% | 1.34 |
 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis |
35 - 29 | +6 | 71.0 | 72.0% | 1.15 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
31 - 27 | +4 | 63.5 | 74.0% | 1.00 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
28 - 29 | -1 | 59.7 | 68.0% | 0.99 |
Grayhound almost made it, that means something
Grayhound's run in Paris has been a rollercoaster. From winning 16-14 against FORZE to losing 16-0 against Apeks, then winning over TheMongolz, to then losing against NIP and Liquid. A win over Liquid would never be easy, but an underperformance from the team's AWPer and their star rifler would complicate things even further.
Liquid are starting to look somewhat good
There were some apprehension among the fans back home, fearing a repeat from DreamHack Masters Malmo 2019. Liquid, however didn't drop the ball this time. A very cohesive gameplan, and a good aim day for everyone involved, turned a potentially scary match-up into a series where the player's confidence rose. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski top-fragged, but Keith "NAF" Markovic also got his kills. Despite being the primary caller, Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis got just one less kill than NAF, Josh "oSee" Ohm has been very good during Liquid's stay in Paris, and Nick "nitr0" Cannella has been able to perform when needed.
Boston Major repeat?
Cloud9 didn't go 3-2 on the Challengers stage, true, but they did manage to go from 0-2 to 3-2 during the Legends stage. If Liquid need to find inspiration in anything, they should look at C9's run.
They are underdogs, they need to use that in their favor. No one is afraid of Liquid anymore, play around that in the Legends stage.
Thirsty for blood
First kills are very important. An early man-advantage can prove to be the difference maker in a round. It certainly felt like Liquid would always have one more active member in the server against Grayhound.
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EliGE got seven first kills, YEKINDAR had 10
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YEKINDAR was also first to die 10 times
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28, the number of Liquid's first kills during the series
What's next for Liquid?
With this win, Liquid have qualified for the Legends stage. It wasn't pretty, but it's done. Now, they have a huge task ahead of themselves, starting with having to beat 9INE, tomorrow at 05:30AM
