Liquid crush Aurora in IEM Beijing opener

With the victory, Liquid get some revenge for the 1-2 loss to Aurora at PGL Masters Bucharest last week, which cost Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou 's troops a playoff spot.

Liquid went on to lose to eventual champions FURIA in the last round of the Swiss stage. Liquid established 9-3 halftime leads on both maps and allowed Aurora just one round after the breaks.

Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski finished with 36 kills and 104.9 ADR, while Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa matched his series rating after powering the Inferno victory with a 2.56 rating. In the next round, Liquid will face the winner of PARIVISION vs G2 .

Facing consistent-playoffs team Aurora, Liquid wasted no time as they put on a clinic to win 2-0, dropping only seven rounds over two maps.

Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski ended the series with the same 1.81 rating after each took a map to go above a 2.00 rating. With a combined K/D of 64/29, the two riflers were unstoppable on the server.

Also read: FURIA eliminate Liquid from PGL Masters Bucharest The series began on Liquid's Inferno pick with Liquid turning a pistol win into a 6-0 start.

Aurora got two back, but Liquid got another three in a row before a final Aurora win brought the score to 9-3 in favor of the North American side. Liquid took the second pistol as well and cruised to a quick 13-3 victory.

malbsMd was a beast as he ended the map with an 18/8 K/D, a +17.75% round swing, and a 2.56 rating. Aurora's Anubis pick started with Liquid's first pistol loss, but they quickly recovered and dominated the rest of their T-side.

The showdown between the two teams for the first time since April proved to be a competitive affair, with the Brazilian squad ultimately coming out ahead in a 2-1 victory to send FaZe to the lower bracket of the Chinese LAN.

Also read: EliGE and malbsMd star as Liquid smash Aurora in IEM Beijing opener Map one, Ancient, began with FURIA in an utterly dominant position as a near-perfect CT-side from the Brazilians saw them lead 10-2 at halftime.

The Polish rifler posted 17 kills, a +10.94% round swing, and a 2.37 rating in the second half to help FaZe lock down Ancient.

Moving onto Dust2, FURIA once again began in the driver's seat as they started the map up 7-0 on their T-side before FaZe won the last five rounds of the half to narrow their lead to two rounds at halftime.

After switching sides, FURIA once again mustered in an indomitable start as they won six rounds in a row to quickly take Dust2 13-5 to even the series up.

They will face the winner of MOUZ vs BETBOOM in the Group B upper final, where victory would send them directly to the playoff semi-finals. Defeat would still leave them with a quarter-final spot.

PARIVISION took the initiative on Ancient, where Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev led the way with 19 kills and a 1.61 rating.

After Liquid narrowed a 2-7 deficit to 5-7 at halftime, PARIVISION won the first five rounds after the switch to put the opener beyond Liquid 's reach.

For Liquid , the defeat means their opening win over Aurora has yet to translate into a playoff spot. They remain in contention through the lower bracket, but now need two consecutive victories to advance.

The result marks G2 's third consecutive group-stage exit since reaching the FISSURE Playground 3 final in September. Across EPL S24, PGL Bucharest and IEM Beijing, they have managed just one win in nine series, with their only victory coming against ShindeN .

The coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha had already described the team as "stagnating" in Bucharest, pointing to poor decisions and a lack of coordination in late-round situations. The Turkish rifler led the series with 60 kills and a 1.30 rating.

G2 will next face MOUZ at BLAST Rivals in Hong Kong, ahead of their Singapore Major Stage 2 campaign. Aurora remain alive and will face the loser of MOUZ vs BETBOOM in the lower bracket semi-finals.

Facing PARIVISION for a spot in the playoffs, Liquid were unable to win a map as they were knocked to the lower bracket with an 0-2 loss.

The team is now one defeat away from being eliminated from the event and will need to win two series in a row to make the playoffs.

Also read: EliGE and malbsMd star as Liquid smash Aurora in IEM Beijing opener PARIVISION picked Ancient to start the series and had a hot start on their T-side to up 7-2 before Liquid got three to close the gap at the end of the half.

PARIVISION got five in a row to take map point quickly and closed it out 13-7 after Liquid could only get two on their T-side. Liquid picked Inferno for map two, but again PARIVISION won the first pistol and got up to a 6-1 lead.

Liquid fought back with a 4-1 run, but still trailed slightly as the score was 7-5. PARIVISION won their fourth pistol before Liquid got three to tie the game 8-8.