Team Liquid become first team to qualify to Shanghai Major elimination Stage

Team Liquid has become the first team to qualify for the elimination stage after a 3-0 run through the Opening stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major. Team Liquid secured victories over Cloud9, Wildcard and ultimately FlyQuest to move ahead to the tournament's next stage. 

It wasn’t an easy route for Team Liquid as they had a relatively humiliating defeat in the first map. On Inferno, Team Liquid managed just two rounds on their T-side, a disastrous start to their first best of three of the Shanghai Major.

The performance was highlighted mostly due to the counter-aggression by FlyQuest that saw them severely punish the mistakes made by Team Liquid. The constant aggression and reliance on their superior firepower did not yield the desired results for Twistzz and co. Inferno was a relatively one-sided affair with Team Liquid managing only five rounds on their T-Side. 

The squad bounced back marvelously in the next two maps with Anubis and FlyQuest. Anubis was one of the best performances at this Major so far with FlyQuest managing a measly 1 round. The solo round was a huge dent to their confidence and it was evident in the playstyle through to the third map of the series. 

Team Liquid had a near foolproof defense on Anubis partly due to excellent information from the roster. The abundance of information for the team was a big reason for their positioning advantage and ability to completely counter the Falcon’s performance.

The third map of Nuke was a similarly strong performance with Team Liquid winning 13-1. Nuke is a relatively one-sided map and it always has been. However, recent updates have ensured that Nuke is no longer as one-sided as it once was.  Team Liquid’s defense saw them march ahead to a 12-0 lead, a lead that left them just one round win away from victory.

With this victory, Team Liquid move on to the next stage of the tournament - the elimination stage. The elimination stage kicks off on December 5 and will see eight teams advance to the Playoffs. The Elimination stage runs for four days starting December 5 and will continue till the 8th. Counter-Strike fans can catch all the action live on Twitch.

Featured Image Credit: Team Liquid CS Twitter

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