Liquid eliminate FaZe at BLAST Pro Series Global Final

Liquid secured a 2-1 victory over FaZe in the lower-bracket final (16-13 Mirage, 12-16 Dust2, 16-10 Nuke), to save their tournament life and set up a match against Ninjas in Pyjamas tomorrow.

After losing their opening series to Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas, respectively, Liquid and FaZe faced off in the lower-bracket final in Riffa, Bahrain. At the conclusion of a back-and-forth series, FaZe fell to Liquid and ended up eliminated from the event, while the North Americans will take on Ninjas in Pyjamas for a place in the grand final tomorrow.

Liquid were off to a great start on their map pick, Mirage, taking a 7-1 lead on the offensive side. It took FaZe bringing out the double AWP setup to put an end to the North American domination, and slowly but surely, they strung seven rounds together, not giving away more than two kills per round.

FaZe were looking to continue their form in the second half, but the wind was taken out of their sails in the pistol as Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken clutched a 1v3 on the B bombsite. Early into their T-side, the European mixture also suffered a 1v1 loss and faltered to an anti-eco, allowing Liquid to run away with the lead, reaching map point. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and co. then rallied back, but eventually faltered to a strong A hold which allowed Liquid to claim the map 16-13.

Liquid continue their run in Bahrain

Bouncing back for their loss on Mirage, FaZe assumed the lead on Dust2 right from the bat, picking up a 6-0 advantage on the offensive side of their map pick. Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic with a saved AWP was the catalyst to Liquid's first CT round, helping the North American side gain momentum on the defense. The score was nearly equalized after that, 6-5, with FaZe ending the half with a minimal lead after a few back-and-forth rounds.

After the second-half pistol was claimed by Liquid, FaZe was quick to reply and show strength with the rifles, with Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard shining on the B defense. As the score was 12-12, two back-to-back last-second-defuses allowed FaZe to take the lead and eventually claim the win on Dust2, 16-12.

Starting Nuke 3-0 down seemingly didn't affect Liquid too much, as they went on to win nine out of the next ten rounds after getting rifles in their hands (8-3). Despite their opponents' big lead, FaZe managed to keep their economy in check and break the bank after an A site explosion, exploiting the weak economy after that to narrow the gap down to just one round before the switch.

Picking up the pistol put Liquid back into the driver's seat, and with Twistzz proving deadly to his opponent, the North Americans were able to edge out round after round. As Liquid reached match point, FaZe started to put up some resistance, but it was too little, too late, and Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella and co. claimed the victory, 16-10 on Nuke and 2-1 for the series.

BLAST Pro Series Global Final 2019Best of 3 FaZeMatchpage 1 2 13th December 2019 Liquid 13Mirage 16 16Dust2 12 10Nuke 16

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	56 - 51	+5	68.1	1.07
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	52 - 48	+4	71.4	1.05
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	54 - 54	0	85.7	1.04
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	54 - 52	+2	66.7	1.03
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	50 - 62	-12	69.5	0.94

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	61 - 47	+14	86.3	1.19
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	60 - 53	+7	79.6	1.14
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	57 - 53	+4	79.2	1.12
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	40 - 56	-16	51.5	0.82
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	46 - 59	-13	60.8	0.82

FaZe #7 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' Saukants Helvijs 'broky' Saukants Age: 18 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 264 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.63 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 24 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1230 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.66 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1182 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Liquid #4 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1166 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.64 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 952 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.62 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 22 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1151 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.67 Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergSimon 'twist' EliassonJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' SternerNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora