Liquid shows life, but ultimately gets eliminated by MOUZ at Austin Major
Liquid's run at the BLAST.tv Austin Major has come to a close, fighting back in the elimination series against MOUZ, but ultimately falling with an 0-3 record in Stage Three.
The series started poorly for Liquid, who got beat bad on their own Dust 2 pick. All eyes were on Keith "NAF" Markovic this match, and he had a miserable performance in map one, only putting up 4 kills in a 13-8 loss.
After losing Dust 2, everyone on the BLAST broadcast predicted a MOUZ win on Nuke, one of their best maps and where Liquid had failed to win all year. Instead, Liquid dominated, winning 13 out of 14 consecutive rounds after MOUZ got off to a 3-0 start. Liquid decisively evened the series with a 13-4 win, with big performances from Guy "NertZ" Iluz, Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak, and Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken.
Map three started poorly for Liquid, who went down 8-1 to start Mirage. But ultimate would will Liquid back into the map with his AWP, tying the score and sending map three to overtime. Twistzz came alive in OT, with a trio of mult-kill rounds to put Liquid up 15-13, but Ádám "torzsi" Torzsá answered back with his AWP to force a second overtime.
Liquid started the second OT strong with two T-side rounds, and nearly made it three had a NertZ 1v1 gone his way. MOUZ answered back with two T-side rounds of their own, fighting through ultimate's AWP, before Twistzz saved Liquid with a FAMAS 3K to force another overtime.
MOUZ struck first in the third overtime, winning the first two rounds on the T-side, but allowing Liquid a lifeline by giving them one CT round, plus some time to breathe due to a tech pause. Upon resuming play, MOUZ shut down the Liquid mid push to give themselves two match points, but they only needed one as Liquid's A push was undone, resulting in a 22-19 win for MOUZ.
MOUZLiquid| MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi |
70 - 52 | +18 | 76.5 | 70.9% | 1.15 |
 Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás |
57 - 45 | +12 | 74.5 | 75.9% | 1.12 |
| Dorian 'xertioN' Berman |
47 - 59 | -12 | 73.4 | 65.8% | 0.99 |
 Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo |
40 - 54 | -14 | 68.5 | 69.6% | 0.85 |
 Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin |
40 - 60 | -20 | 60.1 | 64.6% | 0.81 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
71 - 42 | +29 | 94.4 | 78.5% | 1.41 |
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
58 - 53 | +5 | 85.3 | 79.7% | 1.20 |
| Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
55 - 55 | +0 | 76.4 | 72.2% | 1.06 |
| Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek |
48 - 52 | -4 | 63.2 | 68.4% | 0.90 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
37 - 55 | -18 | 51.3 | 68.4% | 0.75 |
It's a bitter result for Liquid fans, though the strong individual showings ultimate and Twistzz are a positive takeaway. NAF's shortcomings this event and this year can no longer be ignored though, with some speculating that he could be on the chopping block.
