Against all the odds, Version1 took down Team Liquid 2-1 at Masters: Reykjavíc. The North American roster continues to impress, looking great in the first map despite an overtime loss, but eventually overcoming Europe’s finest in the following two maps.
Despite Version1 making quite the entrance on the big stage, it was a very peaceful map veto, with Split and Ascent as first two maps and Haven as the decider.
Things looked equally balanced on the server, outside of V1 rocking Astra, while Liquid stayed true to their Brimstone bias.
The side of Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom got a slight edge moving into the second half, with a 1v1 clutch from Travis “L1NK” Mendoza in the pistol round extending that lead.
However, as soon as Liquid reached double digits, they lost flow of the match, with Erik “Penny” Penny taking over the highlight reel as Version1 kicked the game into overdrive.
And just as V1 got to 12, a clutch flank from Dom “Soulcas” Sulcas converted a 3v4 and got 11. On the final round, he would answer the call again with a huge double-kill taking us to overtime.
On the third overtime, L1NK would come in huge for Liquid and strike gold twice in the A site, with a multi-kill to close out the first map, 16-14.
Ascent showed even more promising signs from Version1, with the North American team stringing together the first five rounds and even closing out the half on a 7-5.
However, Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen wasn’t going to let them run away scot-free, and scored a quad-kill with the Frenzy to kickstart their defensive side.
Even on the defence, Liquid was on a pure man-hunt for Version1’s stand-in Jamal “jammyz” Bangash, constantly harassing him in his own spawn.
And even though Jamppi was dropping 20+ kills on the server, every round was going V1’s way. The underdogs were just one round away from completing an impressive achievement, but Liquid would just squeeze their way to the Final Round, with Jammyz nearly converting the 1v3 post-plant but opting to save his ultimate for the 24th.
In a spectacular round over at the A site, both teams threw everything they could at the wall. But it was then that Version1, with a stand-in, took down Team Liquid in their best map: 13-11.
Team Liquid evaporated on Haven, putting up no resistance to Version1. A crushing 10-2 first half cooled down much of the excitement of the first two maps and a showstopper play from Jordan “ Zellsis” Montemurro got them match-point at 12-4. Without much ceremony, V1 completed the upset 13-4.
For their next challenge at Masters: Reykjavíc, Version1 will face NUTURN on Thursday. In that same day, Liquid will also have their elimination match against the winner of KRÜ Esports – Sharks Esports.
