CSGO: Liquid beat G2 to win ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals

Liquid lifts the trophy at Montpellier after a 3-1 win over G2 in the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals (Dust2 19-15, Overpass 16-3, Nuke 12-16, Inferno

Unlike the previous matches, the final between the two big boys is the BO5 series with the first map being Dust2, the map pick of G2. Playing at home, the French team got off to a good start in the pistol round on the CT side. Lucky and AmaNEk continued to widen the gap for the team to 7-1. Here, Liquid got their second round win when pushing A, but a quick hook from the shox helped G2 win the next round.

Liquid finally found a way to break G2’s chaotic play at the end of the first half. Stewie2K with a 2v5 clutch completely destroys the opponent’s economy.

The North American team shortened the gap to 1 round in the first half and quickly took advantage of the next pistol round and force buy. It seemed that Liquid would win map 1 easily, when EliGE kept getting many kills, but when the score reached 14-9, G2 started exploiting bombsite B.

By the time the two teams were tied at 14-14, Liquid’s Twistzz had a quadruple, helping Liquid reach the map point. G2 got themselves another win on the B side to push the game to overtime. This time, it was nitr0’s turn to play firmly, not allowing G2 to win a round in extra time, ending game 1 with a score of 19-15.

.@TeamLiquid win the first three rounds of overtime!#ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/y32dC0nqg8 pic.twitter.com/vLQXXBLBw7

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 23, 2019

On Overpass, G2 won the pistol round with ease and resisted Liquid’s force buy, but lost the Deco round unnecessarily. after that, nitr0 and NAF successfully attacked A, helping Liquid take full control of Overpass, winning 7 rounds in a row.

Liquid increases the gap when rushing to B quickly (8-2). Finally, G2 also countered a round thanks to AmaNEk successfully defending A. Unfortunately, the home team failed to create a morale advantage when Twistzz got 2 kills in a 3v5 situation. Liquid temporarily took the lead with a 12-3 gap. Stewie2K and Twistzz got themselves 5 lives in the second pistol round at Overpass and finished the map quickly with a score of 16-3.

WOW @TeamLiquid REALLY wants to close out this final.

They DOMINATE @G2esports on Overpass 16:3.
The third map will be Nuke up next.#ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/y32dC0nqg8 pic.twitter.com/e7jxWH212t

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 23, 2019

At Nuke, the two teams struggled in the first rounds, with G2 temporarily leading 4-3 on the T side. NAF shined when they got themselves a treble with AWP. Unfortunately, G2 responded by pushing Ramp quickly with only a pistol in hand, destroying the opponent’s economy and leading 6-4.

The French team went on to win 8-4, before Liquid tightened their defense, reducing the gap to 1 round in the first half. The second half played out in the same way as the first half. When the score was 10-10, JackZ made a treble at the Ramp, putting Liquid in a weak position.

The North American team could not find a solution, so G2 reached the match point with a score of 15-11. G2 lost the next round, but won quickly after, reaching a score of 16-12.

The french get one back.@G2esports take down @TeamLiquid on Nuke 16:12 and take us to the 4th map of Inferno.#ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/y32dC0F1EI pic.twitter.com/BrW9dEITwk

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 23, 2019

Entering the map Inferno, the two sides continuously force-buy and mix-buy. Liquid were the team that took the lead most of the time, but they couldn’t control their own economy. The two sides continued to struggle for the first 13 rounds, before G2 won 3 consecutive rounds thanks to a treble from shox (7-6).

Liquid responded by winning the last two rounds of the first half, temporarily leading 8-7. Going to CT, G2 won the pistol round and started the 3-0 advantage first, putting pressure on the opponent. Stewei2K relieved his teammates of stress with a double, starting the winning streak for Liquid on the T side.

When the score was 13-10, G2 also successfully retaked side A’s 3v2, and then it was kennyS and JaCkz’s turn to play B perfectly. In the last rounds, neither side would give up. G2 had the opportunity to finish the map when reaching the map point first, but Liquid, despite being weak in money, still successfully clutched 1v3. Inferno went overtime.

In the extra time, Liquid began to stabilize and control the tempo of the game. However, 2 rounds won by T was not enough to help the North American boys finish the series, allowing G2 to push into the second overtime. The second overtime still could not find the winner thanks to clutch A from shox. In OT3, the game also ended: Liquid played a perfect T-side to finish the map Inferno 25-22, thereby winning 3-1 for the series.

Final rankings of teams at ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals:

first. Liquid – $250,000
2. G2 – $80,000
3-4. NRG – $40,000
3-4. mousesports – $40,000
5-6. Astralis – $20,000
5-6. FaZe – $20,000
7-8. Heroic – $17,000
7-8. MIBR – $17,000
9-12. fnatic – $15,000
9-12. HellRaisers – $15,000
9-12. Cloud9 – $15,000
9-12. North – $15,000
13-16. TYLOO – $14,000
13-16. Grayhound – $14,000
13-16. DETONA – $14,000
13-16. Luminosity – $14,000