Team Liquid crush FURIA to win cs_summit 8

Team Liquid defeated FURIA 3-1 in the grand finals of cs_summit 8 on Sunday, May 30. North American side ended the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a near-perfect run and pocketed $17,000 in tournament winnings.

Team Liquid Reign Supreme at cs_summit 8

Team Liquid entered cs_summit 8 ranked fourth on the North American Regional Major Rankings (RMR) leaderboard. Although they were rated behind FURIA, EXTREMUM, and Evil Geniuses, Liquid were viewed as one of the main favorites to hoist the trophy.

Early into the tournament, Liquid showed some struggles, edging past Bad News Bears (2-1), only to lose against Extra Salt (1-2). Liquid barely made it into the playoffs with a narrow 2-1 victory over EXTREMUM, leaving many concerned about this team’s form.

Things, however, started to look much different in the cs_summit 8 playoffs. There Team Liquid found their stride and started their road to the title with a clean 2-0 sweep of paiN Gaming, to which they added a close yet convincing 2-1 victory over FURIA in the upper bracket finals.

In the cs_summit 8 grand finals, Team Liquid met with FURIA once more, after the Brazillian side-swept EXTREMUM (2-0) in the lower bracket finals. Unfortunately for FURIA, they were unable to improve upon their showings from the reverse fixture.

FURIA No Match for Liquid

Team Liquid already beat FURIA in an intense upper bracket final just two days before the grand finals. The match saw two maps reach double overtime, which set the stage for an exciting best-of-five (Bo5) rematch.

Exciting might be the right word to describe the finals. But perhaps the word “one-sided” is better suited to label what has happened that day.

Liquid held the reins of the series in their hands from the get-go, securing a commanding 16-5 victory on Overpass and added another convincing 16-11 win on Nuke to get themselves to a 2-0 series lead. It wasn’t until Inferno when FURIA showed some resistance.

Inferno ended up as the only close map of the series and the only one that ended in FURIA’s favor. Team Liquid struggled a bit on T-Side and found themselves trailing 4-8 before securing three maps in quick succession to complete the first half 7-8 down.

The Brazilians struggled to stop Liquid, who carried over the momentum to the CT-side. They won the first five rounds, extending their streak to eight back-to-back rounds, adding two more after dropping the ball in the 21st round.

Trailing 8-14, FURIA found their stride and stunned Liquid with seven straight round wins. They stole the win from underneath Liquid with 16-14, narrowly surviving elimination.

After the chaotic Inferno, it was back to usual for Liquid, who stomped FURIA on Mirage. The North American side secured a convincing 11-4 lead as CT and finished the job quickly on T-Side, dropping only one round in the process.

Liquid won Mirage with 16-5, largely thanks to Michael “Grim” Wince, who ended the map with a 2.03 rating. Behind were Jacky ‘Jake’ “Stewie2K” Yip (1.40), Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski (1.38), Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo (1.25), and Keith “NAF” Markovic, who managed a 1.06 rating.

On the side of FURIA, not a single member managed a positive rating on Mirage. Their best-performing player was Yuri “yuurih” Santos, with 0.77.

Team Liquid Rise Up the RMR Rankings

By winning cs_summit 8, Team Liquid pocketed $17,000 in tournament winnings and 1600 RMR points. FURIA received a $10,000 consolation prize and 1500 RMR points.

With 1600 RMR points in their pocket, Liquid are now ranked third on the NA RMR Standings with 1840 points. FURIA have now passed EXTREMUM and are the top-rated team in the region.

North America RMR Standings

FURIA – 1980 Points
EXTREMUM – 1880 Points
Team Liquid – 1840 Points
Evil Geniuses – 1310 Points
O Plano – 1300 Points
Extra Salt – 1200 Points
paiN Gaming – 1100 Points
Bad News Bears – 950 Points
Gen.G Esports – 80 Points (disbanded)

There are only two more RMR tournaments left before the season ends. The top three teams from the RMR Standings will receive a Legends Status for the PGL Stockholm Major, the fourth team will qualify as Challengers, whereas the fifth-ranked team will travel to Sweden as Contenders.

The PGL Stockholm Major is scheduled for October 23 – November 7 at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. It will feature 24 CS:GO teams and a $2,000,000 prize pool.

The Stockholm Major will mark the first CS:GO Major Championship event of the year and the first since StarLadder Berlin Major 2019. There are traditionally two Majors per year; however, there were none in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.