Team Liquid choke lead, knocked out of PGL Major

Team Liquid have been knocked out of the PGL Major on their third day of play, losing a best-of-three against FaZe Clan and former teammate Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken. Liquid went 1-1 on the first day of the Swiss bracket, losing against Entropiq and winning against ENCE. Yesterday, Liquid lost again to FURIA in another best-of-one, to put them on elimination point.

For their first elimination best-of-three, Liquid matched up against FaZe and Twistzz, a Liquid alumnus. With both teams 1-2 and on the verge of exiting the PGL Major, a lot was at stake. Liquid decisively lost their match pick, Inferno, and choked away their leads on map two, which happened to be Inferno. The game ended up going into double overtime where FaZe closed it out 22-19.

2 – 0 vs @TeamLiquidCS, gg's. Very weird feeling to play my friends and ex teammates in such a match. Very happy with the composure of our team in high intensity situations 😊

2 – 2

— Russel van Dulken (@Twistzz) November 1, 2021

For FaZe Clan, victory means another chance to win tomorrow in a do-or-die best-of-three against another 2-2 team. FaZe battled their way through the Challengers stage with a clean 3-0 match record. Like Liquid, they went 1-1 on their first day of play, beating Evil Geniuses and losing to G2. On the next day, they were trounced by the Copenhagen Flames 6-16 to be put on elimination point.

Liquid have accrued a reputation for choking in high pressure situations, most recently in ESL Pro League 14 where they lost the infamous 1v5 against Heroic, with Ismail “refrezh” Ali, in the quarterfinals. They ended up losing in overtime.

Liquid and EG, the two non-Brazilian teams that qualified out of the North American regional major rankings, have both been eliminated from the PGL Major. Their defeats mark another chapter in the struggles of the NA region, which hasn’t been able to find its footing since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic harmed funding and support in the region.

For Liquid, their next significant event will be the BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, which they qualified for through the Showdown. The fall finals begin on Nov. 24, 2021.