Liquid secure Paris Major playoff spot over Into the Breach

The American-majority squad went 3-1 in the Legends Stage to earn their first Major playoff berth since the StarLadder Berlin Major in 2019.

Liquid are the fourth team to earn a spot in the BLAST.tv Paris Major playoffs after a clean two-map victory over Into the Breach in the 2-0 pool of the Legends Stage.

The North American roster came into the matchup as clear favorites, but were still made to sweat for the all-important victory, notably being taken to overtime on Overpass (19-17) before wrapping the series up with a more comfortable showing on Anubis (16-9).

oSee put up a 1.50-rated game to earn Liquid their first Major playoff berth since 2019

"It feels amazing honestly to be able to qualify for my first-ever Major playoffs," Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm began in a post-match interview on stream. "We've made it to a lot of playoffs before and played pretty well on stage, but I think the Major is completely different.

"It's a whole different feeling, everything is on the line, and everyone is putting their 120% in. It feels really good and I'm glad I could show up for the team for the last series. I just hope we come in prepared and play the same way that we have been during this Legends Stage. Everything should be going well [if we do]," the American sniper concluded.

Liquid's Major run thus far has been fraught with mixed results. The North American roster stared down the barrel of elimination in the Challengers Stage at one point, sitting on an 0-2 record before a hat-trick of best-of-three victories earned the side one of the last Legends Stage spots up for grabs.

Since that recovery, however, the side have looked far more composed, recording victories over 9INE and Natus Vincere before suffering a defeat to HEROIC to set up a playoff-qualifying bout versus Into the Breach.

Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis's men had a false start on the Overpass opener versus the British squad, looking up at a 5-10 deficit after a lackluster offensive campaign. The tide slowly began to turn once it was Liquid's time to defend, however, with the side holding on to force Into the Breach into an overtime tango, where Liquid narrowly prevailed after a full-length, six-round exchange.

This hard-fought nature dissipated rather rapidly once Anubis got started, though. oSee, who topped the scoreboard on the Germany-based opener, began running rampant with his AWP, pulling off no-scoped and being a complete menace in the server as Liquid got off to a 9-6 half on the CT-side.

A brief revival came through from Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting' troops, but the damage was done; Liquid marched forward with a piercing T-side, holding the British to just nine rounds on their map pick to clinch the series, 2-0, and progress to the Accor Arena in Paris.

oSee was a key reason for his team earning a playoff spot at the $1,250,000 spectacle in France, finishing the best-of-three with a stellar 1.50 rating — the highest in his team. He is also recording his best-ever performance at a LAN since joining Liquid in December 2021; the AWPer has posed a 1.19 rating in Paris, with IEM Cologne 2022 (1.11) being his next-best Big Event showing.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023Best of 3 LiquidMatchpage 2 0 15th May 2023 Into the Breach 19Overpass 17 16Anubis 9

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Josh 'oSee' OhmoSee	61 - 34	+27	95.8	1.50
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	49 - 34	+15	90.4	1.35
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	40 - 34	+6	78.1	1.14
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' GaļinskisYEKINDAR	39 - 34	+5	72.5	1.12
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	27 - 43	-16	54.3	0.83

Into the Breach	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Sebastian 'volt' Maloșvolt	38 - 39	-1	73.1	0.98
Thomas 'Thomas' UttingThomas	35 - 45	-10	71.3	0.93
Karol 'rallen' Rodowiczrallen	41 - 46	-5	80.4	0.93
Joey 'CRUC1AL' SteuselCRUC1AL	32 - 41	-9	59.8	0.85
Cai 'CYPHER' WatsonCYPHER	32 - 45	-13	57.2	0.84

With the win, Liquid are back to a Major playoffs for the first time since the StarLadder Berlin Major in 2019. The North American roster have since bowed out in the Legends Stages of the PGL Stockholm and Antwerp Majors as well as the IEM Rio Major in November.

Into the Breach aren't out for the count just yet. They will play in a must-win game on Tuesday if they wish to join Liquid in the playoffs. Their opponents will be decided later on Monday.

The current standings for the Swiss stage are:

Group Legends Stage 3W - 0L HEROIC Vitality 3W - 1L Monte Liquid 2W - 1L Apeks GamerLegion 2W - 2L Ninjas in Pyjamas Into the Breach FaZe Natus Vincere 1W - 2L G2 fnatic 1W - 3L Bad News Eagles ENCE 0W - 3L 9INE FURIA Josh 'oSee' Ohm Age: 23 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 1238 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.62 9INE #18 Wiktor 'mynio' KrukKrzysztof 'Goofy' GórskiOlek 'hades' MiskiewiczKamil 'KEi' PietkunKacper 'Kylar' Walukiewicz Piotr 'nawrot' Nawrocki Liquid #7 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJosh 'oSee' OhmMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Damian 'daps' Steele Natus Vincere #4 Oleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovIlya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyValeriy 'b1t' VakhovskiyAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy Thomas 'Thomas' Utting Age: 25 Team: Into the Breach Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1081 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.68 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Age: 23 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 1238 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.70 HEROIC #2 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' BeckJakob 'jabbi' Nygaard Richard 'Xizt' Landström Into the Breach #28 Karol 'rallen' RodowiczJoey 'CRUC1AL' SteuselThomas 'Thomas' UttingCai 'CYPHER' WatsonSebastian 'volt' Maloș Gustavo 'Juve' Alexandre