Heroic survive against Team Liquid, to the EPL S14 semifinals

The reigning ESL Pro League winners, Heroic, who secured the first place in a highly competitive group A, faced off against Team Liquid, a team which looked solid in groups and then even better in their opening match in playoffs against fnatic.

Starting on Overpass, it looked dark for the North American team, as the Danes jumped to a “8-1” lead, but TL still managed to reduce the deficit to five rounds before the switch. Going from offence to defence helped immensely, as an eco win right after losing a pistol round allowed Team Liquid to take control of the economy game and snowball, taking the entire map, “16-12”. Back and forth on Nuke, Heroic had a narrow lead at the break and after tying the score at “10-10” with another eco round, equalized the series score with a “16-12” victory of their own. A monster half by the Danes on Inferno gave them a “12-3” lead, which evaporated in a blink of an eye, as Team Liquid hit the match point first, but an absurd “1v5” clutch by “refrezh” clinched the overtime for Heroic and a victory against a dejected TL lineup, “19-16”, “2-1”.

Now Team Liquid will go and prepare for the BLAST Premier Fall group stage, while Heroic are going to face Natus Vincere on Saturday for a chance to return to the EPL finals for a yet another time.