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Team Liquid has advanced to the upper bracket final of Group D at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups after a 2-0 victory over Virtus.pro.
The match required triple overtime to close out Ancient with a 22-20 scoreline, followed by a dominant 13-6 win on Virtus.pro’s Dust2 pick.
The Dutch Counter-Strike organisation recently underwent a significant overhaul, replacing Casper “cadiaN” Møller, Felipe “skullz” Medeiros, and head coach Wilton “zews” Prado with Justin “jks” Savage, Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak, and former Apeks coach Torbjørn “mithR” Nyborg.
This was the jks’ first official match since being benched from G2 Esports in October 2023.
The relatively unknown ultimate joined the team after impressing players in Europe’s tier-three scene and passing the eye test of Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken.
Twistzz, the 24-year-old Canadian, took up leadership duties as part of the overhaul, raising questions about his ability to maintain top-rated performances while guiding the team.
However, Liquid excelled in their first test against Virtus.pro.
The series started with both teams tied at 4-4 on Ancient, but jks and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis propelled Liquid to an 8-4 lead on the T-side and quickly reached map point in the second half, 12-7.
Dzhami “Jame” Ali’s clutch plays fueled a Virtus.pro comeback, leading to overtime.
In overtime, ultimate stepped up and carried Liquid to victory.
On Dust2, Virtus.pro initially led 4-1, but Twistzz’s secondary AWP and Keith “NAF” Markovic’s stellar B defence turned the tide.
Liquid led 7-5 at the half and dominated the second half, with Twistzz’s eco kills and a crucial 1vs3 clutch securing the win.
.@TeamLiquidCS pick up the victory on their debut ✅ #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/LajngaRPpQ
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 31, 2024
Meanwhile, in Group C, Cloud9 pursued their first victory with a new lineup but fell to FaZe Clan in overtime.
Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov, Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov, and Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko formed a formidable trio.
Despite a strong defence on Dust2 and a comeback attempt, FaZe triumphed with a strong performance from David “frozen” Čerňanský on Mirage.
Frozen, who struggled on Inferno, excelled in the decider, helping FaZe secure their spot in the upper bracket final.
.@FaZeEsports secure victory on the opening day of Group C! ✅#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/TB7miVYtpy
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 31, 2024
Meanwhile, G2 Esports and Natus Vincere took care of their opening round fixtures against Ninjas in Pyjamas and BIG, respectively.
Both Esports World Cup finalists recorded relatively straight-forward 2-0 victories in their clashes, with NaVi setting up an intriguing upper bracket final against Team Liquid and G2 meeting FaZe Clan.
Thursday’s Fall Groups matches
- FaZe Clan (+125) vs G2 Esports (-175.44) @ 12pm CEST
- Cloud9 (-151.52) vs Ninjas in Pyjamas (+110) @ 2:30pm CEST
- Natus Vincere (-277.78) vs Team Liquid (+200) @ 5pm CEST
- BIG (+240) vs Virtus.pro (-333.33) @ 7:30pm CEST
