Liquid edge out Forsaken in close series
It took four games at BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 to get a single full best of three, and then we ended the second day with two.
In the second of those, our only Americas Showdown match of the day, saw the titans of Team Liquid return to their ancestral home to face new team Forsaken.
With Forsaken bringing far more fight than many would have expected them to before the game, let's get into the action.
daps returns to the server on Inferno
Coming into this series, many eyes were on daps, Liquid's coach who returned to the server as a player following the recent benching of Rainwaker.
The legendary NA IGL didn't disappoint, he ended the game positive with a 15-14 statline as Liquid opened the series with a 16-8 win.
The real star, however, was NAF. Liquid's longest standing player earned himself 25 kills, with 13 of those coming in a T half in which Liquid secured 11 rounds.
Photo: Michal KonkolForsaken show their potential on Mirage
Being such a new team, there were no expectations for Forsaken going into this series. That might change following this game, JBa and Infinite both put in huge performances on Mirage to help their team claim a victory in overtime.
The latter of those two was the real star, his 34 frags made him the top fragger on both teams. Overall, it was the team performance of Forsaken that gave them the map win. Liquid had two players get above 30 kills, but Forsaken's four players with 20 plus was the difference maker.
A game with two 9-6 halves in favour of the CT side, Forsaken claimed the map win 19-17 after clutching out the overtime.
Photo: Michal KonkolLiquid show their experience on Overpass
Heading into Overpass, Forsaken carried a lot of their Mirage momentum into the decider map. Kicking it off with a pistol win, they won seven of the first nine rounds.
JBa was again a star for Forsaken in what could turn out to be a breakout game for the young American, he picked up 15 kills in a half that ended 8-7 in his teams favour.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Forsaken, Liquid showed their experience on the CT side with a 9-1 half to secure them the series. Patsi continued his strong first half into the second, ending the map as the top fragger with 24 kills.
Photo: Michal Konkol