ESL One Cologne NA: EG Through To Playoffs

Yesterday, Evil Geniuses managed to dismantle the boys of Team Liquid and were rewarded with a playoffs spot for ESL One Cologne NA.

On Mirage, Liquid were able to start off strong with a pistol round win, getting a 4-0 lead on the board. But as EG adapted their defenses, Jonathan “ELiGE” Jablonowski and his boys failed to find the entries necessary. At halftime, EG led with 8-7. On the CT side of Liquid, the players soon found out that the tactical prowess of Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz was just too much to handle. In 8 consecutive rounds, EG stormed towards map victory. Ethan “Ethan” Arnold achieved a 1.93 rating and secured more than 17 first kills for his team.

On Nuke, EG immediately jumped on an 8-2 lead over Liquid – on the T side! Led by Jake “Stewie2k” Yip, Team Liquid were able to get back into the game. Again, EG led them with 8-7 at halftime. But as Stewie and his team had to go up against the Geniuses’ CT side, they hardly stood a chance. Keeping the sites on firm lockdown, EG eventually got the map victory at 16-9. Once again, Ethan was the top performer with 11 entry kills and a 1.63 rating.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LIQUID?

The Liquid boys shouldn’t have their heads handing low. Having recently changed players, they can’t immediately expect to play on par with their best regional rivals. They still have a lifeline with the Decider Match, in which they will go up against either Cloud9 or Triumph. Liquid have beaten both of these teams recently, so they should be able to secure their playoffs spot later on. Despite this decisive loss, the match indicates a promising trend for Team Liquid. Even in his new role as in-game-leader, Stewie2k proves to be a capable individual performer.

In the next few days we will see the Elimination Matches and The Deciders play out. For now, Evil Geniuses can lay back and watch the rest of the Group Stage unfold.