​With a clean 3-0 sweep at the FACEIT London Major Challengers Stage, Team Liquid has built significant momentum heading into the Legends Stage. Each and every heavy hitting team in professional​ Counter-Strike has shown recent weakness, setting the table for a prime opportunity.





Astralis, who qualified Saturday for the Legends Stage, recently lost the final of DreamHack Stockholm against their Danish counterparts in North, an event in which Astralis was heavy favorites. At the same event, FaZe Clan fell short to mousesports earlier in the playoffs while coincidentally Natus Vincere looked rather ordinary during a quarterfinal exit. Team Liquid, on the other hand, didn’t attend the event, which might have given the team a leg up on many opponents heading into the Major.





In the second half of 2018, Team Liquid has become much more selective about the events it attends. Instead of attending DreamHack, Liquid bootcamped in the Netherlands before heading to London. Astralis employed this selective approach during its recent ascension to the best team in the world, and though it isn’t the sole reason for its dominance, it surely helped attribute to it. The extra time drilling fundamentals and reinforcing the foundation of their play style should allow those who fade in the late stages of an event to otherwise flourish throughout it.





Since this current lineup formed in April, they have amassed three second place finishes at international events (thanks to Astralis). They lost 3-1 to the Danish squad at the ESL Pro League Finals after blitzing Na’Vi and Mousesports 2-0 earlier in the playoffs. At the ECS Finals they lost to Astralis in a close 2-0 after romping both Fnatic and NRG Esports. Most recently, they lost 2-0 to Astralis at ELEAGUE Premier after disposing of MiBR and Na’Vi 2-0. The pattern is quite clear, Astralis is the final boss for the North American stalwarts. The extra preparation heading into the Major is as good of an opportunity that they’ll ever get to beat the world’s best.





The highest rated Liquid player during the Challengers Stage was Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken over their three maps of play. While still young, he has played at 28 LAN events since joining the team last year. The once inexperienced and emotional superstar will be instrumental if they have plans to help North America lock out Major titles for the entire year of 2018.





This Team Liquid roster is better than the Cloud9 roster that won in Boston, and it’s time the world saw just how much better. Man for man they are as skilled as anyone else in the world, and their hybrid AWP system has been proven to pay dividends. It’s up to them if they are finally ready to cash in.





Photo b y Helena Krisitiansson/ESL