Liquid scrapes by in Stake Pulse Beat III group stage to advance to single-elimination playoffs bracket

Also read: Official: Astralis complete international roster with siuhy and cmtry Liquid's first match was BBL's pick of Nuke.

The map began with BBL taking rounds off of Liquid, but Liquid quickly responded with a couple of rounds of their own and finished the half 6-6.

In the second half, BBL ran away with it, only letting up three rounds and taking the map 13-9. Liquid started on the T-side, getting five rounds in a row before letting up one.

Liquid then got another six rounds to finish off a dominant T-side 11-1. Liquid slipped up a bit on the CT-side but was able to hold it down off the back of NAF's 1.47 rating. Cache was a barn-burner, with both teams trading 11-1 halves.

Liquid began on their terrorist side, again dominating BBL with an 11-1 half. BBL did not let up easily, though, as they got an 11-1 half of their own and pushed the game to overtime.

Despite winning the first map 13-0, it was a competitive series that eventually saw 100 Thieves take a 2-1 win.

According to HLTV's VRS prediction model, their performance today has boosted their chances of securing a Major invite from roughly 30% to 55%, putting them inside the range for an invite.

Also read: 0-13 opening map costs Liquid against 100 Thieves The series began on 100 Thieves' pick of Dust2. The European mix absolutely clobbered Liquid with a 12-0 T-side, locking in the 13-0 with the second pistol win.

Swedish phenom Alex "poiii" Nyholm Sundgren was the team's top performer, ending the map with a 13/5 K/D, +18.01% round swing, and a 2.55 rating. Liquid had a big turnaround on their Inferno pick.

After winning the first pistol, Liquid and 100 Thieves jostled for control with Liquid coming out on top to end the first half up 8-4.

Read more Astralis bench HooXi and jabbi In Stockholm, Astralis began their campaign by defeating Sashi , who have also gone through a controversial change in recent times, which meant they faced HOTU in the winners' game.

Gytis "⁠ryu⁠" Glušauskas , who also topped the board in the game against Sashi (1.41 rating), was once again the star of the show and was his team's highest-rated player (1.55), putting him second overall in the tournament charts.

Though Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand was brought back after Michael "chelleos" Hawkins was cut, Tynan "TjP" Purtell and Jordan "Hatz" Bajic retained their spots on the formerly Danish team.

Even with the instability outside the server leading up to the event, they had a terrible showing as they were quickly knocked out of the event after two 0-2 losses to Astralis and Fnatic.

Also read: BIG Co-Founder: "Valve explained to me that Sashi was the straw that broke the camel's back" After a relatively competitive 0-2 loss to the new Astralis in their opener, Sashi faced Fnatic in their elimination series.

The match began on Sashi's pick of Inferno, with Fnatic putting up a wall on the CT-side to take an 8-1 lead. Sashi got three to end the half, but still faced a big gap going into their CT-side.

Sashi started the second half with a promising 5-1 run that tied the score 9-9, but Fnatic found their footing and closed it out with four in a row to earn a 13-9 win.

The team topped Group C of the Swedish LAN with a 2-0 record following wins over Sashi and HOTU, joining Ninjas in Pyjamas, Sangal, Liquid, and 100 Thieves in the single elimination playoffs bracket.

Also read: Official: Astralis complete international roster with siuhy and cmtry Astralis' day started with a fairly close matchup against the now-Asian Sashi lineup.

Starting the series on Nuke, Astralis trailed on their CT-side 4-8 heading into the second half before finding themselves down 8-12 as Sashi were the first team to find match point.

Astralis would rally to win the last four rounds of regulation to force overtime, going on to take the map 16-13 after a much more dominant showing in overtime.

Heading onto Mirage, Astralis were dominant on their T-side, winning the half outright 9-3 while siuhy led the charge with eleven kills and +11.75% round swing.

Overtime started with BBL on T-side, and they got two rounds in a row, but Liquid was able to stop them with a round of their own to force the score to 14-13.