Team Liquid lost a heartbreaker last night in their quarterfinal match against underdogs, Team Heretics.
The best-of-3 series saw Team Heretics take Split, before Liquid were able to take Ascent to tie up the series. The thrilling third map on Bind saw the game go into overtime, but in the end, it was Heretics who were able to close out the series 15-13.
Despite the losing effort, ScreaM was by far the MVP of the series, finishing with 89 kills and a 39% headshot percentage spread across the three maps.
ScreaM’s skill on Jett was undeniable. The former CS:GO superstar famous for his headshots and one-taps had casters, analysts, and fans talking about him being the only player to fear on Liquid’s roster. However, ScreaM maintains that it is still a team effort.
“Even if I got a lot of kills in this game, we still lost,” he told ONE Esports after the match. “It doesn’t matter, it’s a team effort after all. Everyone is helping each other. I’m being put in a position to be entering and getting the kills, so it makes sense. Obviously, the win is the most important and we didn’t.”
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ScreaM also took time to acknowledge that Heretics have excellent players and that Liquid didn’t play up to their usual standard.
“I think it’s more like our problem, the way we played, the decisions we took that ended up working against us. We didn’t read them the best way and they had a good game as well, so it was a very close game.”
With Liquid now out of the tournament, ScreaM said they’ll be taking a break to reassess their gameplay. He could not hide his disappointment on social media, but thanked the fans for the never-ending support.
“We’re going to take a few days off after this tournament,” he shared. “Try to think about what went wrong, and keep grinding. That’s the most important. We’ve been playing really well in our practices. We’ve been evolving a lot as a team.”
For ScreaM and the rest of Liquid, this is only the beginning and they’re determined to bring their A-game to their next tournament. He’s certain there will be a lot more to come from Team Liquid, especially with what Riot has in store for the scene.
“Everyone’s planning for 2021. I’m very excited. It’s also good to plan so we can prepare and we can manage our time. I’m super hyped about what Valorant is going to propose. I can’t wait.”
Liquid’s First Strike run might have been short-lived, but ScreaM is grateful to have been a part of it nonetheless.
“I think it’s very exciting to see all the different regions – Korea, Japan, America, Oceania, Europe, Turkey. It’s beautiful. The community is growing. The identity of the game is being made up right now. It’s a great time.”
Day 2 of First Strike EU will go live at 11:30 p.m. (GMT+8) on Valorant Esports EU Twitch and YouTube.
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