Team Liquid secures return to international stage, eliminates Team Heretics

Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #11 paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski kamyk Maks Rychlewski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak has eliminated Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius in the EMEA Kickoff lower final after a quick 3-0 win. The victory marks Liquid's return to an EMEA grand final for the first time since 2023, as well as sending them to their first international event since Champions: Los Angeles in 2023. Team Heretics is now out of Kickoff contention, earning only one Championship point for Paris qualification.

Despite being two of EMEA's earliest orgs, with rosters going back to First Strike, this is only the fifth time this matchup has occurred. Prior to this series, the teams had an equal record, with Team Heretics taking the most recent win in the 2024 EMEA regular season. Besides being an elimination series, the match also had a more personal stake, as paTiTek has been a part of Heretics twice in the past, notably playing as stand-in during their Masters: Shanghai run.

Lotus was a strong start for Liquid, who, starting on defense, debuted a sentinel-less Reyna-Clove composition. Team Heretics failed to take advantage of their opponent's lack of anti-flank, all but letting Liquid run away with nine rounds in the first half. Keiko and kamyk , the unique aspects of the new composition, led the scoreboard with 15 kills apiece on defense, joined by nAts , playing Fade for the second time in his career, who earned a 1.45 rating on the initiator.

Wo0t did his best to keep his team in the game, looking to stifle Team Liquid after two triple kills led to round wins, but Liquid remained dominant. Only needing four more rounds to win map one, they took the second pistol round, eventually securing the opposition's map pick 13-4.

“It's good that you have a lot of questions, it's good that Vitality has a lot of questions,” nAts commented on Liquid's new Lotus composition. “I like playing Fade.”

“It was something we cooked up; it was pretty fun,” keiko added.

Liquid continued their strong defense on Abyss, setting off a streak of rounds after preventing Heretics from taking the lead in the anti-eco. TH had a better offense for the second attempt, but a key 4K from kamo on a retake and a 1v2 clutch from paTiTek kept TL in the lead, ending the first half 8-4.

The second half went Liquid's way, once again taking the pistol to further extend their advantage and setting up four of the remaining five rounds in their favor. Team Heretics was unable to find a way back into Abyss, as Liquid took the second map with a second 13-4.

The Spanish organization looked poised to make a comeback on Fracture, as they lost the pistol round but took the lead for the first time in the series. Led by MiniBoo , Heretics held strong against Team Liquid. Comfort wouldn't last long for the defenders, as the attack recovered after 4-3, allowing Liquid to eventually take the lead in the first half with an 8-4.

Liquid looked to replicate their dominant scorelines in the second half, taking the pistol round and reaching match point after a sneaky 4K from nAts. MiniBoo took an aggressive round to keep Heretics in the game, but Liquid's lead proved too large to overcome, and a Tejo-Breach combo secured the 2v2 to keep Heretics from planting, ending the third map 13-7 and the series 3-0.

After the series, nAts addressed his team's 2024 dry spell and improvement at this event. “Sometimes you need to work harder,” he said. “I'm glad we proved that. Now we're going to Bangkok.”

“It won't be a repeat of last year,” keiko added.

The final team to secure a Masters: Bangkok ticket, Team Liquid will next play against Team Vitality in the Kickoff EMEA grand final. The winner will earn an additional Championship point, which will aid in securing one of two Champions: Paris slots granted to EMEA via the points leaderboard.

“We have a lot of experience now, [we're] more comfortable on stage,” keiko said.

“[Vitality] was doing really good, it will be a good match,” nAts added.

The duo also talked about their upcoming Masters appearance. “G2 is looking really good,” keiko said. “I don't know about any other teams, to be honest.”