Liquid have defeated fnatic 16-14 on Cache to start their ECS Season 5 Finals campaign.
Liquid and fnatic squared off in the second Group A opening match at the ECS Season 5 Finals. The game on Cache kicked off with Liquid on the T-side. The North Americans won the pistol round by turning around a 3vs4 disadvantage.
fnatic and Liquid traded punches in the first four rounds as the game was tied at 2-2. Epitacio "TACO" de Melo's opening kills in the following three rounds helped Liquid take and extend the lead (5-2). Even though fnatic won the tenth round to trail 7-3, they couldn't start a streak and Liquid went on to win the half 12-3.
Jesper "JW" Wecksell got a triple kill in the second half pistol round as fnatic cut the deficit to eight rounds (12-4). Liquid responded in the following round to break fnatic's economy, making it 13-4.
After losing another round, fnatic won six in a row but ultimately couldn't catch up to Liquid who closed out the game 16-14 thanks to TACO's incredible flank in the last round.
ECS Season 5 FinalsBest of 1
fnatic
Matchpage 14 16 8th June 2018 
Liquid 14Cache 16 | fnatic | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ | 22 - 18 | +4 | 81.1 | 1.11 |
| Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha | 19 - 20 | -1 | 67.8 | 1.00 |
| Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW | 19 - 24 | -5 | 71.8 | 0.91 |
| Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt | 12 - 23 | -11 | 53.6 | 0.68 |
| Maikil 'Golden' SelimGolden | 13 - 22 | -9 | 51.8 | 0.68 |
| Liquid | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF | 26 - 14 | +12 | 88.3 | 1.42 |
 Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE | 24 - 20 | +4 | 80.7 | 1.21 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0 | 21 - 14 | +7 | 72.8 | 1.20 |
 Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO | 18 - 19 | -1 | 81.2 | 1.19 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz | 18 - 18 | 0 | 63.9 | 0.99 |
Next up in London Liquid will face Astralis in the Group A winners' match for a spot in the semi-finals. fnatic on the other hand will take on Cloud9 in a best-of-three game tomorrow to stay alive at the ECS Season 5 Finals.
Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo 
Age: 23 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 696 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.64 Liquid #5 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Jesper 'JW' Wecksell 
Age: 23 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1326 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 
Cloud9 #8 Pujan 'FNS' MehtaTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTarik 'tarik' CelikTimothy 'autimatic' Ta fnatic #6 Richard 'Xizt' LandströmRobin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' Selim