FURIA have picked up their third victory in Group D of ESL Pro League Season 16, defeating Liquid 2-1 after the teams won each other’s map picks in one-sided fashion before the Brazilian side ran away with the Vertigo decider.

Kaike “⁠KSCERATO⁠” Cerato continued to be a shining beacon for his team, superb rifle work helping to power FURIA to victory. The 3-0 record still isn’t enough to guarantee them a playoff berth, but they will have the chance to earn it on Saturday as they take on Cloud9 at 19:30 in a battle between the two undefeated teams left in the group.

Liquid will need to go back to the drawing board after suffering blowout losses on Mirage and Vertigo, especially now that they are delayed from locking in a spot among the top three teams in the group. A win over Eternal Fire tomorrow will be crucial in that regard as Nick “⁠nitr0⁠” Cannella‘s side would then hold head-to-head wins over all three teams below them in the standings, ensuring them a playoff berth.

No part of Liquid‘s Mirage pick went right for them, an ever-shifting and dominant defense from FURIA resulting in a completely lopsided first half in favor of the Brazilian side. Formidable rifle work from KSCERATO made sure of that too, with no one from Liquid able to truly contest him in duels for most of the map.

It was only toward the end of the half that Liquid recovered ever so slightly, managing to put three on the board, but the meager handful of rounds offered little comfort in the end. Mareks “⁠YEKINDAR⁠” Gaļinskis‘s best efforts to pull things back in the second half only served to close the gap between the two teams somewhat, but continued excellence from KSCERATO ensured that victory would always go FURIA‘s way as they eventually closed things out, 16-10.

It was the opposite scenario that unfolded on Inferno, Liquid giving Andrei “⁠arT⁠” Piovezan‘s men a taste of their own medicine with a strong defense of their own. A 7-1 lead was established by Liquid before FURIA began to claw some rounds back, garnering five by the break, but Keith “⁠NAF⁠” Markovic did them no favors in the second half as he took firm control of the proceedings to quickly help Liquid lock down the map win, 16-7.

The uninspiring one-sided scorelines carried through into the final map of the series, and it was again Liquid who were subjected to a battering by the entirety of FURIA. A completely lackluster passive CT side from Liquid and excellent calling from FURIA left almost no doubt as to who would come out on top of the map, and in one round where it looked like Liquid could finally build some momentum, Rafael “⁠saffee⁠” Costa shut things down to keep things in FURIA‘s control.

Once the sides switched over, FURIA wasted no time in cruising to victory with a more aggressive stance on the defense, which paid off in spades by giving Liquid no room to get the ball rolling on their T side. It was a 16-4 win that went the way of the Brazilian team to net them the series victory, leaving Liquid with a lot that they will need to look back at and improve upon if they hope to contest the Brazilian squad at the Americas RMR in October.