A Winning Weekend: Smash, Quake, & R6 take gold; CS:GO places 2nd

Team Liquid had another winning weekend as we claimed 3 titles and 2 silver medals. Our Rainbow 6 squad was crowned champions of the world in Atlantic City, host of the R6 ProLeague S7 Finals. Over in Mississauga, Canada, Hungrybox bested a strong field to claim Get On My Level's prized ring. Of course, we did well across the pond too, at DreamHack Tours. Our Quake duo of rapha and DaHanG demolished the competition to earn gold. To round things out, our CS:GO squad placed second in Dallas at the ESL ProLeague Finals, while ChuDat climbed his way to a silver medal at Battle Arena Melbourne.

Suffice to say, our boss was pleased!

Things started well down under (also known as the future), where ChuDat schooled the local scene and then some. Although he would fall short against Armada in the finals, Chu teamed up with local lad Noxus to get revenge in Doubles. That first achievement set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Sunday was an eventful day for Team Liquid with 3 teams competing in the finals. First up was our CS:GO team. After dominating throughout the North American season of ESL ProLeague Season 7, Team Liquid was tipped to go far in the tournament. Quick wins against Aussie fan favorites Greyhounds and Turkish squad Space Soldiers did not reveal much, but it was enough to earn us a spot in the playoffs. Our group was then decided in a preview of the finals, though Astralis would best us 2-0 in our group decider.

We had everything to do in the bracket stage of the tournament, as mousesports and Na`Vi lay in waiting. Despite close calls in the first game of both series, we surged to the grand finals with 4 wins and no losses. There, Astralis stood a dominant figure — they were undefeated in the tournament thus far. A cigarette-eating bet later, we were on the finals stage with a monumental task ahead of us. After a rough first match, we found our footing Nuke with a rough loss. Despite being down 0-2, we mustered the strength to claim Mirage and force one of our best maps, Inferno. Unfortunately, Astralis would once again triumph, though Rain would be forced to eat his words (and a cigarette). nitr0, EliGE, Twistzzz, NAF and TACO put on a hell of a performance throughout Season 7 of ESL PL and the home crowd showed their appreciation with amazing cheers.

With one shooter done, we were on to the next one. Over in Atlantic City, our Brazilian boys of Rainbow 6: Siege were up against title favorites PENTA in the finals. After dispatching of both Fnatic and Millenium, we were in good shape heading into the final round of the tournament. A big loss on Bank threatened to derail our momentum, but ziG and Co. righted the ship on Border in a very close 6-5 victory. With the score tied, our team picked up steam to seal the deal on Consulate with a leisurely 5-1 win. Our title at R6 ProLeague Season 7 marks our very first premier title in Rainbow 6, and we are certain that this is just the beginning.

While guns were blazing in Dallas and Atlantic City, Hungrybox was busy beating people up north of the border. Plup was the first player to show resistance by shooing away Puff in the winners final, but Hungrybox earned a rematch in the grand finals by sweeping Axe aside. Plup looked like he was in championship form, winning with 3 stocks on Pokemon Stadium. Still, Hungrybox silenced the crowd by winning the first set 3-2 to earn the rubber match. With the title on the line, Hbox turned it up to 11 and made sure that Plup would not come close to threatening again. A comprehensive 3-1 victory followed, and Hbox improved on last year's silver at the same event.

Okay, so Monday is technically no longer the weekend, but we're going to count it here. Quake legends rapha and DaHanG traveled to France and put on a clinic. The duo swept everyone aside as they amassed a 10-0 record heading into the finals. Sleep to Awake shocked the crowd with a narrow 50-47 win on Blood Covenant, but the experienced pair regrouped quickly with successively stronger wins. In the end, rapha and DaHanG earned another Quake title while dropping a single map.

It was an epic weekend for Team Liquid, and we'd like to thank all of our fans in Dallas, Atlantic City, Tours, Melbourne, and Mississauga for coming out and cheering for our teams. Of course, our fans on Discord deserve a big shout out too for always being around to meme cheer on all of the action.