ESL One Cologne 2019: Team Liquid lift the trophy!

Liquid is at it again. With this victory, North American Counter-Strike:Global Offensive squad claimed another $1.000,000 as they are already the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 winners. To be honest, Liquid faced some of the best teams that CSGO professional scene can offer, and they came out on top. Below you will be able to find Liquid’s path to winning ESL One Cologne 2019 so stay tuned.

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Road to ESL One Cologne 2019 Trophy

It took Liquid a total of 5 matches to lift the trophy here in Germany. This basically means that they won all 5 of their bouts which is impressive.

Liquid vs MVP PK

Truth be told, the only problem Liquid had here in Germany occurred in their opening match against Korean squad MVP PK. After a bad showing on the CT-side of Nuke, Liquid found themselves in a whole world of trouble. With a bit of luck, Liquid was able to edge out MVP PK with a 16-14 score.

Natus Vincere vs Liquid

Now that Liquid advanced through to the upper bracket, they were matched against Natus Vincere. After a brawl on Dust 2, Liquid was able to edge out Natus Vincere with 22-19 scoreline.

However, s1mple and co. proved that they are also capable of competing on Overpass, and this time around, Liquid found themselves on a losing side of things. Another 16-14 scoreline. However, Ukrainian CSGO squad had nothing left in the tank on Mirage as Liquid left them with only 8 rounds to their name.

NRG vs Liquid

In their placement match, Liquid edged out NRG. Even though both Inferno and Nuke were very close, it was easy to spot who was leading the charge in this best-of-3 series.

To be honest, Liquid had an excellent T-side of Nuke, but they didn’t offer anything on the CT-side and this is the only reason why they lost Nuke(16-12).

However, NRG didn’t want to give up on that semifinal spot, and they really tried hard to win Inferno. Take note that NRG had two map points in this one, but they suffered a 22-20 defeat in the second overtime.

Let’s not forget to mention that EliGe fragged his mind out. 60 kills over the course of two maps is simply incredible.

Liquid vs Natus Vincere

Now that Liquid advanced to the semifinals, they had a day off. After eventful quarterfinals, Liquid was once again matched against Natus Vincere.

This time around, Liquid kept their cool and they did not get complacent. Swift victories on both Dust 2 and Overpass sealed the deal for Liquid as they were waiting for their opponents in the grand final.

All in all, solid showing from Natus Vincere given the fact that Boombl4 has joined the team just recently. Future is definitely bright for Natus Vincere.

Liquid vs Vitality – Grand Final

Given the fact that this was a best-of-5 series, we were in for quite a match. Liquid went for Overpass as their map pick and they delivered. To cut things short, Vitality had nothing to offer on the CT-side of Overpass as they were only able to put 6 rounds on the board. Excellent performance from Liquid.

There is no denying that Dust 2 is Vitality’s best map and they proved that against Liquid. To be honest, Liquid played on a really high level, but let’s just say that ZywOo happened. Overall, a narrow victory in overtime to tie the series.

Lastly, Vitality was not able to cope with Liquid on Mirage and Inferno as Liquid better on both of those maps. Final score, 3-1 in favor of Liquid.