G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive opened the Masters 1: Reykjavik playoffs with a victory over the underdog ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Unranked Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe CLZ Hikaru Mizutani SyouTa Shota Aoki Xdll Yuto Mizomori squad, and LOUD LOUD Brazil Unranked dgzin Douglas Silva v1nny Vínicius Gonçalves pANcada Bryan Luna tuyz Arthur Andrade cauanzin Cauan Pereira kept their undefeated streak alive by defeating Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Unranked nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak in the day's other match.

G2 Esports vs. ZETA DIVISION (2-0 G2)

G2 came into this match as massive favorites due to being the de facto top European team. However, their path to the playoffs was far from dominant, and they came into this match with a looming cloud of uncertainty.

Their new roster barely made it past the open qualifiers while the team flip-flopped between starting keloqz and Mixwell over each other in the lineup. G2 just barely made it out of the group stage, and then needed to rely on a lower bracket run to qualify for Reykjavik. Although the team finished second in the region, they were promoted to EMEA's top seed after FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks became unable to field a roster.

Naturally, the squad had a lot to lose.

On the other hand, ZETA came into the match with nothing to prove and nothing to lose. They secured Japan's second and third international wins to become Japan's first ever representative in the top eight of a VCT event.

Before the tournament, ZETA stated that their goal was to win a single match, which they accomplished in a historic win over a FNATIC FNATIC Europe Unranked Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu stand-in Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder squad that was fielding two substitutes. They continued to focus on making progress one step at the time by defeating Ninjas In Pyjamas Ninjas In Pyjamas Inactive to reach the playoffs. A major region opponent without substitutes would be ZETA's greatest test yet.

“We noticed the individual level of the players here right now in Reykjavik,” nukkye said of ZETA. “We know how to adapt to their playstyle because it is heavily based on aiming.”

The playoffs opened with a ZETA pistol win on the attacking side of Split. Picking the map was a bold move by the Japanese squad since they just lost the map to NIP on the previous day. G2 battled back from their slow start and traded thrifty rounds to tie the game at three rounds each. ZETA found some success by slowing the pace, executing onto site late, and holding post-plants, but G2 won the majority of the individual duels to win the half with seven rounds.

Despite Split being the most defender sided map in the game, ZETA had a mere 40% winrate on their defensive side this year. A clutch by Mixwell started the second half the right way for G2, and two more clutches extended G2's lead. ZETA won two rounds off the back of a quadra-kill and an ace, but it was not enough to prevent G2 from running away with the map 13-7.

SugarZ3ro aces to keep ZETA alive on Split.

A big team effort from G2 put them across the line. All of their players except Meddo finished with more kills than every player on ZETA. G2 also had double the clutches and almost double the multikills to showcase their individual skill.

After winning ZETA's map pick, G2 got to play their map pick of Bind, on which they entered the map undefeated this year. ZETA were solid but unspectacular on the map against a much lower level of competition, and faced an uphill battle to extend the match.

An aggressive pistol play down A short gave ZETA a big advantage in their defensive pistol, but G2 brought the round back to take the early lead.

hoody saves the pistol for G2.

ZETA started to pick up momentum when they got their hands on rifles, but once again, back to back clutches from G2 kept them in the map. G2 were unable to open up the map with their full buys, and ZETA took a two round lead at the half.

Dep playing target practice with G2.

ZETA pushed the pace on their attack, but they ran into the jaws of the G2 defense and quickly gave up their lead. They kept the game close, but G2 ultimately put their foot down and won the map 13-10.

TENNN and Dep had some of their best games of the tournament, but their combined +9 first kill to first death differential was not enough to overcome the favorites. Hoody and Mixwell kept up their performance from the first map to finish the series with a combined 27 more kills than deaths to lead G2 to the semifinals.

ZETA have dropped to the lower bracket where they will face Team Liquid in an elimination game. G2 will move on to face LOUD in the upper semifinals. G2 are ready to face their next opponent, but they aren't going to assume it is an easy matchup.

“It was the first official nerves on LAN, I think those nerves will go away next game, and we should be back on track like we were online,” said nukkye after the match. “[But] you can never underestimate Brazilians. They can pop off on LAN especially and snowball.”

LOUD vs. Team Liquid (2-1 LOUD)

The much anticipated Brazilian superteam of LOUD found itself as South America's lone representative in the playoffs after KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Unranked keznit Angelo Mori Mazino Roberto Rivas adverso Benjamín Poblete mta Nicolás González Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro and NIP faltered in the group stage.

LOUD ran rampant over Brazil, losing only two maps early in their Stage 1 run. Their 14-match undefeated streak since the formation of the roster set expectations sky high, especially since they won by even larger margins in the decisive games to qualify for Reykjavik.

However, expectations never drove LOUD's mentality. They constantly stated that they are treating Reykjavik as a learning experience to prepare their younger players for Champions.

“Our team works really hard focusing on our performance, the results just don't matter,” said 17-year-old sentinel player Less .

Expectations also formed a cloud over Liquid's head, although their expectations were decidedly mixed. Liquid were only allowed into the event as a replacement for FPX. They struggled throughout Stage 1, and their coach Sliggy even suggested that they were down to their last straw with finding a comfortable IGL situation.

Doubts about Liquid were suppressed but not silenced during a group stage run at Reykjavik that included close victories over underdogs KRU and XERXIA Esports XERXIA Esports Asia-Pacific Unranked b3ta Puwadon Jaisuekul Siraww Siraphop Honghirun bnwgiggs . Despite the regional difference, Liquid and LOUD were not unfamiliar with each other coming into this match.

“Liquid is a team we practiced a lot against this past week,” said LOUD's in-game leader saadhak .

Liquid threw caution to the wind by picking Icebox first. They lost the map all four times they played it this year, although LOUD had been banning it through the later stages of Stage 1. Unlike the casters, LOUD were completely prepared for the Icebox pick.

“We let it through because we had already practiced it; we were already pretty confident they'd pick Icebox on us,” said aspas .

Back to back quadra-kills by Nivera and Jamppi gave Liquid an early lead, but Sacy immediately responded with a 4k of his own to help LOUD find their rhythm.

The Brazilians looked dominant with guns in their hands as they threw together an excellent mix of aggressive plays and slow defaults to take a commanding lead. An eco 4k by ScreaM turned the tides, but Liquid were only able to salvage five rounds in the half.

Sacy gave a 4k right back to Liquid.

The second half played out in much the same way as the first. A quick start by Liquid was immediately turned on its head by LOUD once they established a strong economy. The pattern of round winners was almost exactly identical as LOUD closed the map 13-10 after a late Liquid push.

Liquid's late comeback fell apart in a chaotic final round.

The young duelist aspas top fragged in the server, but he had only two first kills to seven first deaths. The support players of Sacy and Less provided excellent backup while winning multiple retakes to finish close rounds. Jamppi continued his hot streak at Reykjavik with a map leading 335 ACS, but the rest of Liquid, and soulcas in particular, lagged behind.

Nerves played a role for LOUD, but they didn't let it get in the way of their success.

“I was kind of tense at the start, but that's just because it was my first international game — I'd never played abroad,” aspas said. “I wasn't worried because of it being a LAN.”

LOUD got a chance to win the match on their map pick of Haven. It was another map that LOUD were undefeated on, and they even had a monstrous 73% round winrate. Liquid themselves were no slouches on Haven, and had only suffered losses to FPX this year.

Nivera lit up the scoreboard with a Marshal to start Liquid's defensive half, and LOUD found themselves in an early half deficit for the third time this match. Unlike the last map, LOUD were unable to find any success with their full buys. They lost opening duels in almost every round, and Liquid continuously caught them off guard with aggressive pushes and flanks to take a dominant 10 rounds in the half.

A crazy ending to one of the few rounds Liquid lost.

Liquid reached eleven rounds by winning their fourth pistol of the match. A force buy win gave LOUD a chance, but the half was done almost before it began with a 13-3 Liquid victory.

The Belgian brothers carried the day for Liquid with a combined 41 kills to only 16 deaths. LOUD were only able to manage two first kills in the entire map, and never had the space to overrun any of Liquids defensive setups. For the first time in their history, LOUD lost a map decisively.

“In Brazil, truthfully, we don't get punished as we do here in Europe,” said Sacy. “I think that comes from the power that European teams have to adapt out here, so we have to change things up round to round.”

The deciding map of the series was Ascent where LOUD had amassed a 9-0 record in Brazil. Both Omen players started off the map with quadra-kills as L1NK shut down LOUD's push before pANcada nearly pulled off the 1v5 clutch.

LOUD clawed back the lead, but multiple eco wins by Liquid kept them in the half. Multiple rounds slipped away from LOUD due to incredibly aggressive plays by in-game leader Jamppi.

Crazy plays by Jamppi like this shorty snipe prevented LOUD from running away with the map.

pancada was finally able to pull his team across the line on a pistol round with a triple kill that gave LOUD their first pistol win, but they were unable to hold onto the second round force buy. With both teams at the economic breaking point, aspas bought an Operator without armor and opened up back to back rounds with first kills.

Coordinated plays from LOUD started to build the momentum in their favor. Liquid looked frayed as exemplified by round 19 where Jamppi rushed forward and died with the spike. Liquid tried to recover by taking the opposite site and using the Omen ult to retrieve the spike. LOUD, however, were not caught off guard by the strange play.

“The other day we were watching a DRX VOD and we saw them doing that play on Haven. Their Jett went in alone and died with the [spike], then their team hit C and [Omen] ulted on the bomb,” aspas explained. “And when the [spike] dropped on A, I tabbed and saw [L1NK] had his ult, and I started yelling‘the guy has his ult, the guy has his ult,' and everyone understood.”

An eco round put LOUD on map and match point, and they closed the map 13-10 to give Brazil its first marquee win over elite international competition. Liquid won a miserable two out of eleven full buy rounds, and never got their economy off the ground.

LOUD will face G2 in the upper semifinals. During a pre-tournament interview, aspas stated that G2 was the team that he was most looking forward to facing, and now he will get his chance. LOUD aren't backing down from the challenge.

“I think that G2 is one of the best in the tournament, maybe the best,” said Sacy. “But winning against Liquid, I think, gave us hope in a way that we can do it.”

Liquid will face ZETA in the lower bracket, and will have to win five straight matches to take the Reykjavik crown. ZETA came into the event as a massive underdog, but they've proven to be a massive upset threat.

“They are a pretty drilled team, a lot of their individuals are stepping up. You can see them improving event to event,” said Liquid coach Sliggy.

Looking Ahead

The second half of the opening playoff matches takes place on April 15. It will be a brawl of regional rivals as Paper Rex and DRX are APAC practice partners, and the second match is a rematch of top North American teams: The Guard and OpTic.

Tomorrow's matches are:

Eutalyx contributed to this article with interviews and translations