Liquid’s time with Mario ‘malbsMd’ Samayoa got off to a sad start after a poorly played 2v1 from Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski and Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic condemned Liquid to a 2-0 defeat against Spirit at BLAST Open Rotterdam.
Liquid were largely manhandled by Spirit on the first map of Mirage, but Ancient was a closer affair, going the full 24 rounds of Counter-Strike. However, errors ultimately cost the Liquid roster, who gave up map and series point in that costly 2v1.
Liquid rue missed opportunity against fragile Spirit
Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets started strong in the series, recovering from his unusual performance at the ESL Pro League Season 23 LAN Finals, which saw Spirit eliminated at the hands of Astralis.
The Russian rifling prodigy racked up 15 kills on the CT side, with Andrey ‘tN1R’ Tatarinovich almost matching his output at times. Liquid’s T-side was continuously left disadvantaged as Spirit’s early aggressive plays picked off Liquid members, leading to a 9-3 half for Spirit.
On the other side of the server, Roland ‘ultimate’ Tomkowiak was once again struggling, giving up four opening deaths in the opening half alone as he recorded a 2/10/1 KDA in the first half.
A pistol victory put Spirit close to victory, but Spirit’s own T-sides have been somewhat lethargic under magixx’s IGLing, with Liquid threatening the slightest of comebacks before donk once again put Liquid out of their misery, ending the map with a 1.99 HLTV rating.
Spirit threatened to continue their momentum, racing to a 4-0 start on the T side of Ancient before Liquid fought back to claim six rounds in a row. malbsMd’s ability was finally felt on his debut as the Guatemalan racked up 95 ADR on the CT side of the map.
However, a seven-round streak from Spirit, stretching from the final two rounds of their T-side to the first five rounds of their CT-side, put the Russian roster in control at 11-6.
However, Liquid recovered to win four rounds in a row to make it 11-10. With Spirit’s money on the brink, Liquid fumbled an advantageous post plant, with EliGE and NAF nervously overpeeking against Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobiev, who did not even have a kit.
EliGE posted on X following the result, explaining the misplay, stating, “About the 2v1, was a bit unfortunate but we were searching out together and got off sync at the end of it.”
Liquid will play Ninjas in Pyjamas in an elimination match in the Lower Bracket on Saturday. Spirit advances to play Parivision in the Upper Bracket after Parivision defeated NiP earlier in the day.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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