Team Liquid survive at IEM Cologne; eliminate 00Nation

Team Liquid and 00Nation faced each other in the lower bracket of Group B, an elimination match during IEM Cologne. Team Liquid emerged victorious but 00Nation came very close to securing it 2-0. The Brazilian squad is out of the tournament, but Team Liquid's performance on the first two maps was not much to write about. How far they'll go will depend on how much they can improve in the upcoming days.

The first map was easily one of the closest maps in this tournament so far. Featuring 00Nation’s map pick, Team Liquid were off to a dominant start. An 11-4 CT side, however, was not enough for a team that did not put up anything noteworthy on their T side. 

00Nation managed a strong CT side and it was even more impressive considering that they were always under pressure. The Brazilian squad’s performance was led by dumau and try. 

For Team liquid Elige stepped up repeatedly. At the end of the first map, which went to three overtimes, Elige had 44 kills, an impressive record for one map. 

The map went to triple overtime with neither team being able to establish a clear dominance till then. But after a flawless 3-0 side by 00Nation, they finally secured Overpass at 25-22. 00Nation secured a one map lead in the series, holding a clear advantage over their NA counterparts.

The second map was Mirage, 00Nation’s map of choice. Brazilian teams are known for their excellent Mirage performances and 00Nation was clearly relying on their familiarity on this map to tide them over. However, Team Liquid is no walkover on this map, however, as they went toe to toe with 00Nation, securing seven rounds on their CT side. There was little separating them as we headed into the second half of Mirage. 

Neither team had a decent advantage over each other, but 00Nation was the first to reach 15. But at 13, Team Liquid were not far behind, and they quickly came back to take yet another map to overtime. But coming into this game, Team Liquid clearly had the momentum in Overtime. Having avoided narrow victory, the players were clearly in high spirits and they won Mirage in Overtime. 

Team Liquid claimed victory on the second map after a very competitive few rounds to tie the IEM Cologne series.

The third map was unlike the first two maps in that Team Liquid had a dominating start on their CT side. But that’s just the nature of Ancient which has been a very CT sided map throughout the tournament. One would expect 00Nation also to put up a strong CT sided performance but it was not to be. Unfortunately and much to the dismay of the Brazilian CS: GO fans 00Nation failed to provide any defense, or at least the same level of defense, as their NA counterparts. Team Liquid won Ancient 16-8, a relatively meek ending for such an exciting series.

With this loss, 00Nation are now out of the tournament. Team Liquid, meanwhile, still have a formidable challenge as they’ll face Cloud9 in the lower bracket. 

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS: GO news and updates as well as the live score of all IEM Cologne matches.

Image Credit: ESL CS.