Liquid books IEM Chengdu 2024 playoffs spot
The first BO3 on the opening day of IEM Chengdu 2024 had Liquid take on G2 in the Group A upper bracket semi-final with the winner set to move into the playoffs.
The action started on Liquid's pick of Ancient as cadiaN and co. went 8-4 up on their T side. A force buy win on their CT-side saw Liquid ran away with a 13-6 win to get the series underway as NAF and Twistzz topped the scoreboard with 19 and 17 kills respectively.
G2 pulled it back to a 6-6 half on Anubis after going 1-4 down before seeing off a Liquid comeback attempt to keep the series alive with a 13-10 win. The series decider, Inferno started with Liquid racing away to a 7-0 lead before clutches from m0NESY and NiKo got G2 in the half. m0NESY helped G2 secure four on their T side.
G2 once again looked like they would turn it around in the second half but Liquid held on for a 13-9 win to secure the series 2-1 and book themselves a playoffs spot at IEM Chengdu 2024.
The Group A lower bracket game saw 9z and HEROIC face each other for survival and HEROIC stole away 9z's pick of Nuke at 13-11 before taking a comfortable 13-8 win on Mirage to 2-0 the series. The loss also meant that 9z were eliminated on the opening day itself.