Liquid survive elimination after tense win over M80 at ESL Pro League Season 23

Team Liquid stayed alive at ESL Pro League Season 23 after a hard-fought 2–1 victory over M80, keeping their playoff hopes intact in Stage 1 of the tournament.

Despite dominating the opening map, Liquid were pushed to the limit before finally securing the decider and avoiding elimination.

Liquid vs M80 result: series recap

Map results

Anubis — Liquid 13–3

Inferno — M80 13–11

Mirage — Liquid 16–13

The series highlighted both Liquid’s firepower and their continuing inconsistency during the early stages of the tournament.

Anubis: Liquid dominate early

Liquid opened the series with a near-perfect start on Anubis, racing to an 11–0 lead before M80 finally found their first round.

The North American squad avoided the 13–0 shutout but managed only three rounds on their own map pick, giving Liquid a comfortable 13–3 victory to start the match.

Inferno: M80 strike back

On Inferno, Liquid looked poised to close the series early after building an 8–4 lead at halftime.

However, M80 rallied on the CT side, gradually clawing their way back into the game. The comeback was sealed in the final round when Michael 'Swisher' Schmid secured a 1v2 clutch, forcing the series to a third map.

Mirage: Liquid survive a tense decider

The decisive Mirage map turned into a back-and-forth battle.

Liquid regained control with several key clutch rounds from Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski and Guy 'NertZ' Iluz, but the team nearly threw away the map after losing a 2v5 situation late in the game.

Eventually, Liquid held their nerve and closed out the decider 16–13, eliminating M80 from the tournament.

Top performers in the series

Liquid’s victory was driven by strong individual performances from their core players.

Best ratings for Liquid

EliGE — 1.33 rating (51–44 K-D)

Keith 'NAF' Markovic — 1.32 rating (53–40 K-D)

NertZ — 1.26 rating (44–39 K-D)

For M80, the standout performer was Jaden 'JBa' Bauman, who posted a 1.21 rating and kept his team competitive after the one-sided first map.

Liquid’s difficult ESL Pro League run

Liquid entered the elimination match after a shaky start to their ESL Pro League Season 23 campaign.

Earlier in the Swiss stage, the team fell into the 0–2 pool following losses to Gaimin Gladiators and Passion UA.

They avoided immediate elimination by defeating SemperFi, setting up the decisive series against M80.

The victory keeps Liquid in contention for a Stage 2 spot, but their performances so far suggest the team still has work to do if they want to make a deep run in the tournament.

Player perspective on Liquid’s progress

Liquid’s in-game leader Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek previously explained that building consistency in Counter-Strike takes time:

“Truthfully speaking, there will never be a moment when everyone’s feeling 100% comfortable on the server — that’s just Counter-Strike.”

He also emphasized the importance of practice and long-term improvement for the roster.

Meanwhile, AWPer Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak noted earlier in the season that occasional poor results should not define the team:

“I feel like it was just an off day… for everyone it was an off day.”

What’s next for Liquid

With the win over M80, Liquid advance to the final Stage 1 qualification match of ESL Pro League Season 23.

Their next opponent will decide whether they move on to Stage 2 or exit the tournament.