For the fourth time on the stage, Team Liquid and w7m faced off one another in the Six Major semi-finals to determine who would be the one to go ahead and play as team BDS in today’s grand finale.
The competition was actually a rematch of the Copa Elite Six Grand Finale as well as the upcoming BR6 Grand Finale.
It involved both a Berlin Major and a Charlotte Major semi-final loser, with both of the rosters bringing home a new title-winning IGL post their last performance.
The championship took place on Clubhouse, a map that w7m excels in and last lost only six months ago, with the team not having lost any of the 18 matches played so far.
Clubhouse
During the initial two rounds of the opening, both of the teams strived to keep close until they reached the 50-second mark. Afterward, it appears that w7m’s offensive push failed badly.
This is an indication of how familiar both of these roasters are with each other at this point, even after both of the teams have made some significant changes to their roasters.
As the third round began, w7m began preparing to push into the site with resetz beginning what later ended up being called an unnecessary flank since the two players available on the site – Paluh and Lagonis – began shooting every opponent recklessly as they tried to step into the location of the objective in the map.
W7m also managed to almost head onto the board as soon as the fourth round started. While Volpz didn’t manage to win a 1v1 on time, Liquid’s trek to the end part of the map certainly seemed unstoppable at that time. When the sixth round finally began, the situation started getting in favor of w7m after evading them for nearly 10 minutes.
During this round, Julio jumped off the plant and managed to take down an overzealous Paluh in a massive 1v1 clutch. Of course, Paluh was not quite happy about it, which made him earn a triple kill before being taken down by Julio once again. This was the first 1v5 clutch attempt by Julio out of the three that he made during the match.
However, he was eventually taken down, placing Liquid on the map, and pointing to the team’s own map pick. In the other two rounds that followed, w7m only lost one player and Volpz managed to get five kills that allowed the team to back up the situation in their favor. Afterward, round 11 began with Volpz and Kheyze managing to secure the opening two kills.
This happened before AsK killed Jv92, followed by Lagonis killing Volpz. During a 3v3 combat, Paluh had a peek lined up beforehand that allowed him to take down HerdsZ after which AsK managed to gain a second kill against Julio as well. At this point, all that was left on the map was Kheyze, who was later taken down by Lagonis in a 1v3 and then won the map.
Read: IOC Has Confirmed Singapore as the Host of the First Olympic Esports Week
Skyscraper
At Skyscraper, w7m managed to gain the first lead of the series for their roaster by earning four kills in a matter of two seconds. Later on, Jv92 executed a fairly quick double kill that forced Lagonis to get off the plant, thereby winning the second round as well. Following the several comebacks from Liquid on Clubhouse, HerdsZ finally helped bring back a 2v3 on time.
He earned a triple kill and managed to disable the defuser before Resetz could even think of getting back and stopping him. During the entire round, Lagonis get on and off the plant over four times, only to doom Resetz for this eventual plant position. This also allowed HertsZ to tuck away safely in cover while trying to defuse.
When both the teams reached the minute mark, Julio traded out a double kill that changed the entire landscape and converted a 2v4 into a 1v2. Lagonis attempted his best to take the plant down before getting spooked a plethora of times, managing to pull it off when only 0.5 seconds were remaining finally.
During this instance, Volpz kept pressing forward and shot-gunned Nesk from behind the mob – all before nabbing Lagonis himself. On the map point, w7m relocated to the attack side, and Kheyze managed to get the opening kill with nothing but a grenade onto Nesk. After nearly 35 seconds of the first kill, Jv92 ended the round by devastating Team Liquid 7-0.
This moment was marked as the tournament’s first 0-7 after over seven 1-7 losses incurred by the team earlier in the tournament. Out of these, two were actually delivered by Liquid themselves.
Read: DreamHack Plans to Host 12 Different Tournaments During the Schedule of the FGC
Villa
Villa was the final determinant of the tournament. It was in Stage 2’s Copa Elite Six when the last time w7m had lost on Villa in a 5-7 against FaZe.
Ever since then, the team reportedly beat team Liquid with a 7-5 on the map during Stage 3 of the CES winner’s final. It was also where the team fought with the FaZe clan during the Berlin Major semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Liquid had also beaten FaZe on this map with an 8-6 during the quarter finals that took place a couple of days ago. Earlier, they lost against TSM with 5-7 in the groups.
However, the team managed to enjoy an eight-game streak on Villa before losing their CES against w7m on Villa, heading back to their loss of 3-7 to w7m during the first stage.
Then history repeated itself when Kheyze finally got his first multi-kill in the entire game and won the first round. However, it also put an end to the win streak of eight rounds and prevented it from growing any larger since w7m failed miserably to safeguard their players’ lives. The instance actually lit a fire in Team Liquid.
They began piling up round after round and managed to gain a lead of 4-1. The scenario seemed as if Skyscraper had been completely forgotten. However, w7m finished off the first half of the round with another win, which was certainly a much-needed halt to Liquid that was likely to cause a threat and put an end to the contest quickly.
And when the tables turned, the ante began growing. It was extremely thrilling to see the w7m’s attack in the opening round, and perhaps, it was indeed one of the most thrilling playoffs in the entire league. Those initial three kills placed them much ahead even before they reached any site. Afterward, Resetz rushed to the site and killed HerdsZ.
Right at this moment, Lagonis took down Montagne and Volpz. Lagonis started backing up when Jv92 managed to injure and bait Resetz, but unfortunately, Jv92 git shotgunned right in the face. Then, the battle took place in a 1v1 in which Kheyze picked the defuser and headed forward to the site, followed by Lagonis falling into a deadly trap that made them lose the clutch.
Later on, when Liquid lost their lead, they called a timeout after a round before tying. After a triple kill from Paluh, the team finally regained control. Among the three kills, the last one came on Volpz’s Montagne, who was trying an unsuccessful 1v3.
Read: Pokémon Community Goes Flames Over Performance Issues with Scarlet and Violet on Its First Day
Statistics
Nesk has been in five grand finals since joining the competitive scene, winning the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals and losing during Season 4 to PENTA, losing to NiP during SI 2021, beating SSG to win the OGA PIT Minor 2019, and losing to TSM during the DreamHack Montreal 2019 final. Paluh has only won one grand final for the country but lost twice in the same competition.
Finally, Lagonis has never been in a final despite having represented his home country at the Mexico Major three times. AsK and Resetz have never had the chance to compete in a grand final because they made their professional debut only in 2021.
