An Exciting Upset: Team Liquid Defeats SK Gaming at ESG Tour Mykonos
At the ESG Tour Mykonos, Team Liquid from North America defeated SK Gaming, one of the strongest teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in a surprising upset. Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski was Team Liquid’s hero of the day, racking up 50 frags in two games against SK. EliGE’s partner, sniper Josh “jdm64” Marzano, also had a huge impact on the game.
The victory was even more impressive given SK Gaming’s best player, Marcelo “coldzera” David. Despite coldzera’s impressive contributions, EliGE not only met but exceeded them. Team Liquid maintained a 13-6 lead in the opening game on Inferno. Although SK Gaming made a comeback and won six straight rounds in the second half, Liquid took the map 16-12.
The second map, Cobblestone, followed the same pattern, with Liquid controlling the majority of the game. SK Gaming scored a mid-game run, keeping Team Liquid’s final score at a respectable 16-10. Earlier in the day, Team Liquid defeated German team BIG in two games. These victories have earned Liquid a place in the ESG Tour Mykonos final, where they will meet Mousesports, another unexpected finalist.
Mousesports advanced to the knockout round after defeating Gambit Esports and Heroic in the group round. They defeated Virtus Pro in the playoffs, with the last map coming down to the last round of regulation.
SK Gaming and Virtus Pro will compete in a third-place match, which is unusual in Counter-Strike. This game will decide which of the two semifinal losers will join Team Liquid and Mousesports as seeded teams in the upcoming ESG Tour event.