MIBR (GS #29) is currently experiencing what we’ve noted as a form of ‘resurgence’; they’ve dropped a few characters that many consider as the original core of MIBR while signing promising new talent, and have begun making waves almost immediately after the shift that some speculated was the new rise to the top ten of the international esport.
Today, they put those statements to the fire to see if they held any truth as they faced off against Liquid (GS #14) in a best of three format for the BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Showdown.
Only two maps of the three needed to be played as Liquid had a strange return to form with every member making impeccable moves that were soured only by a notably weak T side (again) for the North American juggernauts.
Nuke was MIBR’s pick and the first map played of the series, where Liquid managed thirteen rounds in the first half with MIBR on T; MIBR fired back on their CT side with a clean nine before Liquid managed three to close the first map.
GG @mibr!! We take the series 2-0. We play @furia tomorrow.#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/3JqBfhd87B
— Team Liquid CS (@TeamLiquidCS) November 28, 2020
The second map of Dust2 was Liquid’s pick, and it was over surprisingly fast with Liquid finally shaking the dust off of their T side on Dust with a clean (0-3) that restuled in a scoreline of (2-16). It was over before most had officially settled in to watch the two teams (with a fair bit of history) wage war against each other.
It’s worth noting that MIBR is far better than what they were prior to the transfers, but the match today against Liquid (arguably a strong yet not dominant team) has quelled a bit of excitement regarding the Brazilians returning to form.
For Team Liquid, however, this isn’t the end of their concerns: they are facing off against a rather competent looking FURIA (GS #8) tomorrow with a fierce Brazilian roster; FURIA has long upended MIBR as the most concerning competitor stemming from South America at this point in time.
Granted, Liquid has looked fiercer recently than they have throughout the year: Michael ‘Grim’ Wince has been readily fragging and looking laser-focused in clutches with little more than a rifle and a dream, Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken returned to form today in a beautiful way, and even Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip was firing on all cylinders against MIBR.
If you’re looking for the proverbial ‘who’s who’ match-up for North America, then tomorrow is the match you don’t want to miss as FURIA and Liquid face off against each other in a best of three format for the BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Showdown.
