Liquid grind out win v. Gentle Mates, advance to BLAST Bounty Finals
Liquid have survived at BLAST Bounty 2026 and advanced to the LAN Finals after a hard-fought win against Gentle Mates.
Liquid dropped the first map but showed fortitude, bouncing back to win the following two.
Gentle Mates chose to begin the series on Inferno, where they started out hot. Gentle Mates won nine of the first ten rounds before Liquid found the final two to cut the lead to 9-3 at the half. Liquid secured the first two rounds of the second half, as well, before Gentle Mates closed out the map with four out of six to win the map 13-7.
Liquid's pick was Mirage, with neither team able to take a large early advantage. The two teams were deadlocked at 6-6, but it was Liquid who got the better of their opponents in the second half. Liquid jumped out to an 11-6 lead early in the second half to put GM on the ropes. Gentle Mates were only able to secure three rounds before Liquid closed the game 13-9.
Gentle Mates will be kicking themselves for not winning the game in two maps, as they stood no chance in the decider. Liquid won the first seven rounds and ten out of twelve to take a commanding 10-2 lead to end the first half. Gentle Mates won the second-half pistol, but weren't able to convert and surrendered the final three rounds to win 13-3.
The Polish duo of Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak led the charge for Liquid, logging 47 and 42 frags in the three-map series.
Gentle MatesLiquid| Gentle Mates |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pere 'sausol' Solsona Saumell |
47 - 38 | +9 | 82.7 | 74.1% | 1.19 |
| Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano |
42 - 44 | -2 | 71.8 | 65.5% | 1.08 |
| Antonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez |
45 - 38 | +7 | 80.8 | 74.1% | 1.07 |
| David 'dav1g' Granado Bermudo |
30 - 46 | -16 | 64.8 | 62.1% | 0.75 |
| Alejandro 'alex' Masanet |
17 - 41 | -24 | 48.2 | 60.3% | 0.53 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
42 - 32 | +10 | 70.4 | 70.7% | 1.25 |
 Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
37 - 35 | +2 | 68.5 | 74.1% | 1.21 |
| Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek |
47 - 42 | +5 | 83.0 | 72.4% | 1.20 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
40 - 34 | +6 | 78.9 | 75.9% | 1.07 |
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
39 - 38 | +1 | 77.1 | 69.0% | 1.01 |
Liquid will now await the other qualifiers from Stage 1 to see who they will play at the BLAST Bounty LAN Finals.
