Liquid have defeated fnatic 16-14 on Cache to start their ECS Season 5 Finals campaign.

Liquid and fnatic squared off in the second Group A opening match at the ECS Season 5 Finals. The game on Cache kicked off with Liquid on the T-side. The North Americans won the pistol round by turning around a 3vs4 disadvantage.

fnatic and Liquid traded punches in the first four rounds as the game was tied at 2-2. Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo's opening kills in the following three rounds helped Liquid take and extend the lead (5-2). Even though fnatic won the tenth round to trail 7-3, they couldn't start a streak and Liquid went on to win the half 12-3.

Liquid will play Astralis for a playoff spot

Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell got a triple kill in the second half pistol round as fnatic cut the deficit to eight rounds (12-4). Liquid responded in the following round to break fnatic's economy, making it 13-4.

After losing another round, fnatic won six in a row but ultimately couldn't catch up to Liquid who closed out the game 16-14 thanks to TACO's incredible flank in the last round.

ECS Season 5 FinalsBest of 1 fnaticMatchpage 14 16 8th June 2018 Liquid 14Cache 16

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	22 - 18	+4	81.1	1.11
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha	19 - 20	-1	67.8	1.00
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	19 - 24	-5	71.8	0.91
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	12 - 23	-11	53.6	0.68
Maikil 'Golden' SelimGolden	13 - 22	-9	51.8	0.68

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	26 - 14	+12	88.3	1.42
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	24 - 20	+4	80.7	1.21
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	21 - 14	+7	72.8	1.20
Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO	18 - 19	-1	81.2	1.19
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	18 - 18	0	63.9	0.99

Next up in London Liquid will face Astralis in the Group A winners' match for a spot in the semi-finals. fnatic on the other hand will take on Cloud9 in a best-of-three game tomorrow to stay alive at the ECS Season 5 Finals.

Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo Age: 23 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 696 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.64 Liquid #5 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Jesper 'JW' Wecksell Age: 23 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1326 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 Cloud9 #8 Pujan 'FNS' MehtaTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTarik 'tarik' CelikTimothy 'autimatic' Ta fnatic #6 Richard 'Xizt' LandströmRobin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' Selim