Sulfur
The golden team of NA has had quite a tumultuous start to the Major here. We’re wrapping up Day 1 in Belgium, and with all teams in the Challengers’ Stage having played Round 1 and 2, there are some clear winners and clear losers.
G2 Esports vs Team Liquid
G2 and Liquid started their journey together, and both have gone opposite ways since. G2 blew away Team Liquid 16-6 on Inferno in Round 1. The first half was 13-2 in favor of G2 and the fact that Liquid got 6 on the board was a surprise in itself. The European squad put in an absolute perfect CT side.
Aleksib and XTQZZZ’s utility knowledge is shockingly beautiful. The amount of damage Aleksib and co. do using their nades is unmatchable. He’s like the whole of Astralis nade knowledge packed in one guy. The lineups and the game sense to do that kinda nade damage make my CS:GO male-chicken erect.
Well, Team Liquid deservedly lost to a G2 that was a class apart.
Imperial Esports vs Team Liquid
What the NA leaders did not expect was that they’d lose to Imperial as well. The “last dance” of the three legendary Brazilians that conquered the world in 2016 was expected by many to be the 0-3 team. But they’ve sent a huge message by defeating Team Liquid. They’ve kept their Major dreams alive and running.
As to the fate of Team Liquid, things are probably darker than you thought. Not only are they 0-2, but also, they lost both matches on Inferno, a map that they are “well-prepared” for. (“Trust me, bro” is NOT the source; nitr0 said that in an interview with Banks.) That plus the fact that it was FalleN that defeated them here in the Major. Yeah, the guy so many people blamed for not integrating Team Liquid well enough in 2021 is now out here kicking Liquid’s own ass.
The NA spirits are definitely rattled here in Antwerp. A good night’s sleep is a must for them to move forward in this event.
Both the matches were Bo1s, though. Team Liquid will be well-rested and ready for a Bo3 against a relatively simpler opponent: 9z, another team expected to go 0-3. They’ll be facing one of Reneages and IHC after that, so it’s safe to say that if Liquid solidify themselves, they can easily be 2-2. It’s an open story after that, though.
No excuses- a disappointing loss from us against @imperialesports that puts us in the 0 – 2 gauntlet at the #PGLMajor.
We're going to have to dig deep to keep us going through to the next stage of the Major. pic.twitter.com/oK94YZva1o
— Team Liquid CSGO (@TeamLiquidCS) May 9, 2022
Team Liquid have been the only real shock so far on Day 1. Other matches went as they should’ve, with the exception that so many of them were so CT-sided.
4 of the 8 Round-1 matches ended with >13 CT side first-half round wins. 4 of the 8 Round-2 matches ended with >9 CT side first-half round wins. Only 2 matches of the 16 played today ended with the CT side losing with a score worse than 7-8.
That’s a nice tactical storyline to keep an eye on when you watch the matches to come.
A quick word on the second and the last NA team in the Major: COL is 1-1. They were humiliated 16-1 by Vitality in R1. (Yeah ik, it’s getting exhausting seeing “humiliated” and “NA” in the same sentence.) Thankfully, they half-recovered in R2 when they closely defeated IHC on Nuke. They’ll be facing COL tomorrow, so I’m not sure if NA fans can be excited for too long.
Anyway, can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow! Stay tuned!
