Liquid's woes continue in Atlanta as they fall 0-2 to Astralis

Liquid have continued NA's losing streak at IEM Atlanta with a 0-2 loss to Astralis. The loss sees the NA scene on course to lose four matches today in Atlanta while also continuing Liquid's woes as their core has continuously failed to click over the course of the past 12 months.

Also read: Passion UA fall to NAVI in IEM Atlanta debut despite strong start

Liquid's map pick, Dust2, was effectively a write-off for the NA team as they struggled to get anything going, with Astralis winning their CT-side 9-3 before quickly closing out the map 13-4.

Fortunately for Liquid and their fans holding on to the hope of Liquid making playoffs, there were some signs of life from the team heading into Ancient. While Liquid starting off trailing 1-5 on their CT-side, they managed to put together a number of respectable rounds to trail 5-7 heading into the second half. In the second half, Liquid managed to briefly hold the lead on their T-side after winning the first three rounds of the half. However, Astralis quickly snatched back this lead and held on fiercely to squeeze out a 13-11 win and avoid overtime.

While the series was overall a bust for Liquid, struggling recent addition Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa had a good day, going 33-32 and posting a 1.11 rating.

IEM Atlanta 2026

Bo3

Liquid

0 - 2

Astralis

All maps

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa	33 - 32	+1	89.9	70.7%	1.11
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski	25 - 33	-8	77.3	68.3%	1.04
Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak	26 - 28	-2	59.6	65.9%	0.98
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek	17 - 29	-12	48.0	58.5%	0.65
Keith 'NAF' Markovic	16 - 32	-16	44.2	65.9%	0.57

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard	41 - 22	+19	94.1	78.0%	1.68
Victor 'Staehr' Staehr	33 - 26	+7	90.6	70.7%	1.36
Gytis 'ryu' Glušauskas	32 - 25	+7	82.3	82.9%	1.25
Love 'phzy' Smidebrant	28 - 21	+7	66.0	80.5%	1.00
Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen	19 - 23	-4	57.3	68.3%	0.84