Liquid beat NRG to win SuperNova CS:GO Malta

Liquid won SuperNova CS:GO Malta after picking up a 2-0 victory over NRG in the final.

The series began on Overpass, NRG's pick. It was one of Liquid's worst maps, with just one victory in their last six LAN encounters, and one where they had been thrashed by Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele's men the last two times that the teams had met, one of them earlier this tournament. But everyone tuning in to the stream quickly realized that they were in for a very different game.

NRG were caught off-guard by Liquid's blazing start to the game, winning just one of their first ten rounds as CT, and it was only because of an impressive Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov 1v2 clutch in the first gun round. The cs_summit 3 champions still tried to reach, but any round they won was immediately traded back by Liquid, who went into the break up 12-3.

Now playing on the Terrorist side, NRG took the pistol round to keep themselves in the game, only to lose the subsequent anti-eco following a quad-kill by Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski. Liquid remained in control after that, picking up two more rounds for a clean 16-4 finish.

Liquid repeat group stage win over NRG to lift the trophy

Inferno, the following map, began at a frantic pace as rounds went back and forth and neither side could stamp their authority on the game. That trend ended in the fifth round as NRG took control of proceedings and began to build a solid lead.

A quad-kill from Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken on the A site punished NRG's slow approach and brought the streak to an end, but the Terrorists rallied back immediately and went on another massive run to close out the half with an 11-4 lead.

Liquid knew they had a mountain to climb to turn this game around, and they began their recovery by winning the pistol round and the subsequent anti-ecos. Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte turned the hero in the first gun round as he defused the bomb through a smoke in a 1v1 situation, but there was no follow-up as Liquid continued to run all over the NRG defense.

The game continued to go Liquid's way, forcing NRG coach Chet "⁠Chet⁠" Singh to call a timeout when his team were down 12-13. daps' men then had a great chance to get back in the game but managed to waste a 3v2 advantage with two opponents caged in the A site.

Liquid kept pressing on and hit championship point, and though NRG still attempted to make a late comeback, Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's men kept their composure and locked down the map as overtime loomed.

SuperNova CS:GO MaltaBest of 3 NRGMatchpage 0 2 2nd December 2018 Liquid 4Overpass 16 14Inferno 16

NRG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovCeRq	30 - 29	+1	63.2	1.03
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	27 - 31	-4	61.2	1.00
Jacob 'FugLy' MedinaFugLy	33 - 42	-9	74.2	0.93
Ethan 'Ethan' ArnoldEthan	26 - 39	-13	68.8	0.81
Damian 'daps' Steeledaps	17 - 36	-19	52.9	0.68

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	42 - 20	+22	78.6	1.51
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	47 - 29	+18	95.9	1.46
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	33 - 28	+5	73.0	1.25
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	26 - 24	+2	61.5	1.14
Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO	29 - 32	-3	69.2	1.07

SuperNova CS:GO Malta final standings::

1. Liquid - $80,000
2. NRG - $40,000
3. BIG - $15,000
4. HellRaisers - $5,000
5-6. TYLOO - $3,000
5-6. Virtus.pro - $3,000
7-8. Kinguin- $2,000
7-8. Gambit- $2,000

BIG #10 Fatih 'gob b' DayikJohannes 'tabseN' WodarzTizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschJohannes 'nex' MagetOwen 'smooya' Butterfield Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Age: 21 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 973 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 Virtus.pro #32 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki Gambit #30 Mihail 'Dosia' StolyarovRustem 'mou' TelepovNikolay 'mir' BityukovDmitry 'dimasick' MatvienkoSergey 'Ax1Le' Rykhtorov Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 23 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1000 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 Damian 'daps' Steele Age: 25 Team: NRG Rating 1.0: 0.88 Maps played: 759 KPR: 0.59 DPR: 0.66 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte Age: 20 Team: NRG Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 624 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.67 Liquid #3 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Kinguin #29 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasJacek 'MINISE' JeziakKarol 'rallen' RodowiczPaweł 'reatz' JańczakMikołaj 'mouz' Karolewski Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Age: 18 Team: NRG Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 652 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.63 Chet 'Chet' Singh Age: 22 Team: NRGC HellRaisers #15 Kirill 'ANGE1' KarasiowAbay 'HObbit' KhassenovÖzgür 'woxic' EkerBence 'DeadFox' BöröczIssa 'ISSAA' Murad Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Age: 19 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 720 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.63 NRG #8 Damian 'daps' SteeleJacob 'FugLy' MedinaVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov TYLOO #22 Ke 'captainMo' LiuHui 'DD' WuHansel 'BnTeT' FerdinandHaoWen 'somebody' XuKevin 'xccurate' Susanto