OpTic Gaming upset Team Liquid at DreamHack Masters Malmo

OpTic Gaming came to DreamHack Masters Malmo to prove themselves. 

In their first match against Team Liquid, the underdog team dominated the competition. The one-sided match concluded with OpTic Gaming victorious, 16-9. 

This came as a shock to the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community. Team Liquid had just come off of a third-place finish at ESL New York, a big event where OpTic trailed behind in fifth place. Team Liquid is thought to be one of the best CSGO teams in the world, thanks to recent championship wins at Intel Extreme Masters XIV: Chicago, ESL One: Cologne, and ESL Pro League Season 9. 

It seemed like fans weren’t the only ones stunned by the match. OpTic Gaming themselves seemed just as surprised at the results. 

“Won over Team Liquid! What is going on! Sick game by us,” René “TeSeS” Madsen exclaimed on Twitter. 

OpTic Gaming’s MSL leads team to victory over Team Liquid

In-game leader Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen proved he was worthy his position here. The veteran player led his Danish team off to an explosive start, pressuring Team Liquid throughout the course of the map. 

Team Liquid only managed one round during the first half of the match. The favored team seemed completely lost, struggling to find anything. Team Liquid even fell victim to a sneaky defuse from Nikolaj “Niko” Kristensen on Overpass that probably shouldn’t have worked. 

In fact, Overpass is usually a strong match for the North American powerhouse team. But OpTic Gaming won it easily, finishing the first half with a 14-1 record. 

Team Liquid looked like they might turn it around in their favor in the second half of the match. They took six rounds in a row before MSL shut them down with a key entry kill. It was still looking like a possible overtime scenario, but OpTic’s immense lead continued to work in their favor. MSL top-fragged with 26 kills, a reminder that he can frag as well as lead.

The victory against Team Liquid has led OpTic to another tough opponent. Tomorrow, the surprise victors will play against Natus Vincere. 

After the loss, Team Liquid will have to win more best-of-three series just to qualify for the playoffs. Fans are hoping they won’t lose their confidence as they face off against North tomorrow.