NAF, YEKINDAR, and JKS overcome donk’s superb form.
Liquid and Spirit battled each other in the final game of Day 1 at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals. For the Northa American (NA) side, this was their first match against Spirit since the addition of Justin "jks" Savage and Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak. However, despite Danil "donk" Kryshkovets' incredible play across the series, it was Liquid edging out a 2-1 upset.
Liquid ultimate on Tier 1 play: "It's a beautiful experience"
Before the match, BLAST's James Banks caught up with Liquid's rookie AWPer ultimate. The Polish player has been making the most of his surprise opportunity, averaging a 1.21 rating across his LAN run with Liquid.
I mean, I'm enjoying every moment here. Every tournament is a new experience. I can see everything from my perspective now. Before, I could only watch it on Twitch as a viewer. So it's a beautiful experience. [...] I feel with each month of playing, I'm going to be better because I'm working towards it. I'm not stopping. I don't think I am satisfied with how I play right now, and I'm not gonna be for a while.
Talking about the ESL Pro League (EPL) in particular, ultimate was quite honest about his experience. While the loss was tough to swallow, it highlighted areas where the AWPer still has to develop. Considering it was just his first playoffs appearance, it's only the start of the journey for him.
The feeling is decent. It's still sad that we lost, but personally, I got a lot of valuable experience out of that. Some things caught me off guard in that game. I was distracted by some circumstances that I couldn't control. So a very good experience for me.
Finally, ultimate was asked about his synergy with IGL Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken. The Polish player shared that the two were adapting to each other's styles, while he individually wants to stay as active as he can to help his leader.
Obviously, what Twistzz says is the most important thing. I'm always listening to what he says. I'm trying to adapt my game to what he's calling, and he's doing the same for me. He's trying to adapt the playstyle to what I want to do. And I'm being as active as I can because I know that will help the IGL in the game.
BLAST Premier Fall Finals Match Recap - Spirit vs Liquid
Liquid vs Spirit - Fall Finals rosters
Liquid | Spirit |
|---|---|
| Keith "NAF" Markovic | Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov |
| Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis | Boris "magixx" Vorobyev |
| Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken | Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotja |
| Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak | Danil "donk" Kryshkovets |
| Justin "jks" Savage | Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov |
| Torbjørn "mithR" Nyborg (Coach) | Sergey "hally" Shavayev (Coach) |
Related articles
Map 1 - Dust2 - donk masterclass with 25 kills
Spirit kicked off the series with a pistol win conversion. In the gun round, ultimate found the crucial opener to gift Liquid their first. However, donk came in swinging with a series of multi-kill rounds, extending his team's lead to 6-2 as he found every kill and defuse his team needed. The half-closer came down to a 1v1 between sh1ro and YEKINDAR as both players resorted to their sidearms. It was the AWPer who emerged victorious to lock a 9-3 half for Spirit.
Things were going swimmingly for Spirit as donk's charge continued to tear apart Liquid. The NA side found themselves at the receiving end of a 25-9 masterclass as the map closed 13-3.
Map 2 - Nuke - NAF keeps Liquid alive
Despite losing Dust 2, Liquid reset well on Spirit's pick, with a strong CT side leading to an 8-4 half. Spirit's fragging advantage from Dust 2 had vanished, with zont1x going killless for 14 rounds before a crucial double. This sparked a comeback, as donk found multiple kills and magixx anchored A perfectly, tying the game 10-10. After a tactical timeout from coach mithR, Liquid broke Spirit's streak with a key T-side gun round. The teams traded rounds, but Spirit nearly pushed the game to overtime.
NAF was left in a 1v3, with a bomb under CT control. While the situation looked completely lost, the sloth simply hadn't received that memo. After dispatching sh1ro from the lobby, NAF dropped down the vent, surprising the two remaining CTs as he wrapped them from the ramp to push the series to a third map. Liquid and Spirit were going all the way to decide who would move on in the Fall Finals.
Map 3 - Anubis - Liquid closes out an upset win
Anubis was the final frontier, and both teams were warmed up, going 3-3 in the opening stages of the map. After YEKINDAR and NAF put in strong stints on the first two maps, it was JKS stepping up on the Anubis CT side, finding an early 6-3 lead. Spirit finally settled on 4 rounds on their T-side, a far cry from what they would've expected given sh1ro's 18-frag haul.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair, but thanks to their initial lead, Liquid came out on top. The NA side found itself up at series point, as they looked set to lock in an upset win. Left in a 1v2 clutch, YEKINDAR perfectly managed his duels to lock in a 2-1 victory.
Liquid now moves to the upper bracket in Fall Finals Group B, while Spirit drops down to face Astralis in the lower bracket. For chopper's side, a match against Astralis should be a walk in the park to lock in playoffs. Liquid, meanwhile, has to hope that they come out on top in the Vitality rematch.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS2 news and updates.
