This wasn't supposed to happen.



With this being the first Major on North American soil there was plenty of NA hype coming into this tournament. A record number of NA teams qualified and there were some pretty favorable groups. But this was not one of the outcomes which anyone expected.



While most were giving Liquid a shot at an upset, the panel tipped the two European teams as the favorites to advance. The first best-of-one between Liquid and FaZe was to be a toss up. Then Fnatic would advance in first and FaZe would edge out Liquid in the best-of-three.





Cue adreN







Fnatic













Post-Match Reactions

Speaking of things which were not supposed to happen, adreN coming in to the tournament and playing like a demon should top that list. Liquid's lineup shakeups were a story at the qualifier and heading into the main event, but with nothing to lose adreN came up big in map one.With a pair of quad kills and some clutch plays adreN helped Liquid to a shocking 12-3 lead on the CT side of Cache. nitr0 was another player to come up big on his home map of Cache with an Ace in round ten and a closing scoreline of 25-22. All the while, the pair of Hiko and s1mple demonstrated strong teamwork and even stronger baiting.After the great start, however, things started to look shaky. FaZe started to come back in a big way and Liquid's lead began to dwindle. Luckily for Liquid fans nitr0 had a present for us in round 24. nitr0 scored a triple kill as FaZe stormed the A bombsite and gifted Liquid their fourteenth round. From there Liquid won two out of three and locked up the match before it could slip away.So Liquid beat FaZe. An unlikely but not unexpected result.But Fnatic. They are something else.The Swedes have been on an historic run and seemed destined to take down this Major. Coming into the match most Liquid fans were expecting a loss but were still optimistic about advancing after yesterday's game. Despite taking round three, this storyline seemed likely as Fnatic jumped to a 5-1 lead on the CT side of Dust.But that's when things got weird.Liquid went on to win the next nine rounds and closed their T side 10-5. Anders and Semmler were trying to temper expectations on the cast but it looked like the narrative might be about to change as Liquid took the pistol. AdreN landed a 3k in the pistol round but we had all started to expect that out of him.The world's best team, however, would not be denied and anti-eco'd Liquid in round seventeen and took the next five. With the score now tied at eleven Liquid found a much needed win in round 23. Fnatic tied the score again in round 24 and then Elige came through with an Ace.Liquid were unable to keep this momentum alive, however, as they lost the next two rounds. With the score tied at thirteen Liquid made an aggressive force buy to keep Fnatic off fourteen wins. The plan ultimately failed and Liquid had to take an eco round and give Fnatic their fifteenth point. The eco was not a complete failure, however, as Liquid were able to take two AWPs into round twenty-nine.With their backs now against the wall it seemed like the clock had struck midnight. But Liquid won round twenty-nine. And then they won round thirty. And then in overtime...That shot may have been the highlight but the entire team stepped up in unison for overtime. It took two periods but Liquid were able to slay the giant and take the map 22-19.And now, on to the quarter finals.