Karrigan explains why Team Liquid is a ‘tougher challenge’ than Astralis
Astralis may be regarded as one of the best CSGO rosters in history, but veteran star Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen has revealed mousesport have a tougher time against NA heroes Team Liquid than the Danish superteam.
Liquid and Astralis were two of the hottest topics across most of 2019, as the orgs battled for Counter-Strike supremacy. The North American roster held sway for most of the first half of the year, but was thwarted by their Danish rivals when it mattered most at the Berlin Major.
As the year came to a close, however, mousesport emerged as a genuine threat. The new contenders even ousted Astralis personally, delivering the Pro League favorites a 2–1 defeat in the semifinal, and going on to win the whole event.
ESLIn part due to their success against them in Odense, karrigan explained on the DDK Show, Astralis isn’t the team mouz worries about in the bracket. Instead, that honor goes to NA’s leading team right now, Liquid.
That’s not to say karrigan believes Liquid are simply a better team than Astralis – there’s few that would echo that belief right now. What makes Liquid so great against Mouz specifically, however, is their “explosive” individual prowess.
“I think Liquid are a very explosive team, they’re really good in the scrappy rounds, and when it comes to us, we have an issue with these scrappy rounds, so they can really turn the momentum in the rounds because of that,” he explained.
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“They win these small ecos, or have on AK and a few pistols. They’re really good at winning those games with their individual skill. Liquid’s play-style is based around their individual stars popping off, and I think they’re the strong individual team.”
ESLOn the other side of the coin, Astralis are a known quantity. They may be near-unstoppable in their calculated, controlled playstyle, but you know what is coming. You can prepare for it, and build strategies against their plans.
“Astralis, I feel, are different [to Liquid’s crazy style]… they’re a different team,” karrigan continued. “They don’t suddenly go off, and someone is pushing randomly and kills three people in the back. That’s why we might have issues with Liquid.”
That struggle against their North American rivals has been quite apparent as mousesports have made the bid to return to the upper echelons of the circuit.
Their last two meetings at major events, in Odense for the Pro League, and Berlin for the last Major, saw Liquid towel mouz up. Both times, the NA squad was able to win 2–0, though three of the four maps went to overtime.
For mobile readers, the related segment in the video below begins at 29:52.
Overall, however, mouz have stormed back into the discussion as a leading team heading into 2020, and victories over the likes of Astralis, Evil Geniuses, and Fnatic – including their 3–0 EPL final win over Fnatic – have proven they’re back.
Mousesport’s next chance to reverse their unwanted scorecard against TL may have to wait a little while too, as they head in different directions.
While Liquid is competing in the BLAST Premier series in two weeks, Mouz are bound for the GG.Bet ICE Challenge, meaning it may be a month before the two could potentially meet in Katowice for the first Major of the year.