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BLAST.tv Paris Major day 1: Liquid are close to elimination

For some of the favorites, the first day of the Paris Major was extremely rough. Team Liquid, for instance,... Radu M. | 8. May 2023

For some of the favorites, the first day of the Paris Major was extremely rough. Team Liquid, for instance, lost both of their matches and are very close to elimination. From now on, the only option is winning. Fortunately for them, they will get to play best-of-three matches, which might lead to better results.

There are a lot of teams that don’t do well in the best-of-one format because they often lose the first map and then successfully adapt to their opponent’s playstyle. But the Swiss System format doesn’t allow you to do this until you reach the best-of-three matches.

Day 1 results

For the strongest teams in the race, G2 Esports and FaZe Clan, day one of BLAST.tv Paris Major was absolutely perfect. They both faced relatively easy opponents and were able to beat them. In FaZe Clan’s case, the difference was extremely narrow: 14-16 against Monte and 12-16 against paiN Gaming.

Arguably, they could have lost both times. But, thanks to their solid preparation and highly skilled IGL, they prevailed. The battle’s not over though. Let’s not forget what happened to FaZe in the RMRs for this Major. After going 2 W – 0 L, they lost three matches in a row.

In the first advancement match, FaZe will encounter ENCE and should prove capable of beating them. Meanwhile, G2 will need to defeat Apeks, whose results on day one were spectacular: 16-12 against Liquid and 16-0 against Grayhound Gaming. It’s extremely rare to see a perfectly one-sided match at this competitive level but Apeks did it.

Another team that should have done well but went 0 W – 2 L on day one was MOUZ. In their case, it’s very hard to be optimistic. They will likely beat GamerLegion in their third match, but it’s doubtful that they can win three matches in a row.

The fourth team that lost both matches on day one was Fluxo. As for the teams that went 1 W – 1 L, they can relax for now. But if they lose their next match, then the situation becomes stressful. These teams are Grayhound, Monte, paiN Gaming, Ninjas in Pyjamas, OG, Complexity, The MongolZ, and FORZE Esports.

Most of them are not spectacularly strong but some of them are good enough to deserver to qualify for the second stage of the tournament. The next few days will decide their fate.

Header: Team Liquid