Our Main team, led by the newly appointed in-game leader, Nicolai 'dev1ce' Reedtz, is set to face the international roster of Liquid in the quarter-finals of ESL Pro League S19 in Malta.
After emerging victorious in the Group A upper final by defeating the French 3DMAX lineup with a commanding 2-0 win, our players secured a spot in the playoffs, advancing directly to the quarter-finals. In contrast, Liquid had to overcome FlyQuest in a shaky showing in Playoffs Round 2 before preparing for a tough matchup against our strong-performing lineup.
This matchup will mark the first time dev1ce's combined AWP-IGL role is tested directly against Danish rival Casper 'cadiaN' Møller, who has assumed the same roles at Liquid.
While our legendary 28-year-old star AWP'er has been excelling as team captain alongside his top-performing teammates and remains undefeated at ESL Pro League S19, Liquid has been delivering a shaky performance at this LAN event in Malta.
We spoke with Casper 'ruggah' Due, our head coach, about his team's standout performance in the ESL Pro League Season 19 group stage.
"The level has been really high," ruggah mentions.
"We've rolled over some great strategies from Chengdu. Each game, the guys get to know each other better. Our gut-feel plays and mid-round strength are killing it, and honestly, I couldn't be happier," he added.
"We're good at giving space to players like stavn and jabbi, which lets us mess with the opponent's rotations and punch holes in their defense—this is a huge part of why we're smashing it on the T side. A big shoutout to dev1ce, too; he's been fantastic at creating chances for us."
When it comes to our rosters map pool, especially their strong game on Nuke, ruggah said:
"Our map pool is solid. We've got a few maps where we're definitely world-class, though some have yet to be played much in official matches. Still, our choices throw off our opponents, giving us an edge. Plus, there's the fear factor—we often win on their map picks, which really messes with their heads."
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