#Liquid progressed to the ESL Pro League Group D fourth place final match after defeating Rare Atom 2-0 in the last chance bracket. The North American team came into the match with a chip on their shoulder after the Chinese team had sent them down to the lower bracket to begin the tournament, but this time the match unfolded in a completely different manner as Liquid and Rare Atom opted to switch up the map pool with Nuke and Mirage, a decision that ultimately helped nitr0's side claim victory on both maps.

Liquid are not yet through to the playoffs because they must meet the victor of Spirit vs. Astralis on Sunday for the last place in Group D. The North American team has struggled to perform since arriving in Malta, and they are far from guaranteed to advance; Spirit already defeated nitr0's men in the lower bracket, and Nicolai #device Reedtz has always been a difficult individual for Liquid to shut down in previous iterations of their roster.

Game highlights

Rare Atom's punish choice of Nuke failed severely early in the series; Liquid put up a staunch defense right away, with a 1vs2 clutch from Josh #oSee Ohm in the first pistol round sparking an 8-1 start for the North American side. Rare Atom finally broke through the Liquid defenses with an outside smoke wall, and from there the Chinese team cut the deficit significantly thanks to a handful of clutch rounds going their way, losing only one more round to bring things back to a more respectable 9-6 score line at the break.

Liquid left no room for Rare Atom to continue on that path once the second half began, taking momentum on the offensive and winning five rounds in a succession, 14-6. Rare Atom only added one round to their total before Liquid won 16-7, sending the game to their choice of Mirage.

There, Mareks #YEKINDAR Gainskis launched an all-out assault, leaving no space for Rare Atom to react. A 12-3 score line on the T side gave way to a three-round spree to start the second half as Liquid quickly hit match point, with the team putting the map to an instant conclusion, 16-5, to remove Rare Atom from contention.

What’s next?

Following the defeat, Rare Atom's tenure in the ESL Pro League comes to a close. They impressed with a one-sided victory over Liquid and snatched a map from Natus Vincere in the lower bracket before dropping the series, but they couldn't sustain their upset run any further into the tournament. The Chinese squad can now focus on the European BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, which will take place from March 29 to April 2, followed by the BLAST.tv Paris Major Asia RMR.