FURIA took home their second victory in DreamHack Masters Spring as they narrowly prevailed over Liquid in a three-map series, leaving the North Americans with an 0-2 record in Group A.

Liquid were unable to make up for an opening best-of-three loss to Chaos on Tuesday as they dropped their second series in the North American division of DreamHack Masters Spring against FURIA. Despite putting a halt to the Brazilian roster's five-game winstreak on Vertigo to kick off the series, Liquid failed to close out a 9-2 lead on Nuke, leading to a Mirage decider where they ultimately conceded a loss in double overtime.

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken helmed Liquid's effort on map one, with Canadian compatriot Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic stepping up to bat alongside him on Nuke to grant their side control early control of the series. The duo's rifling was not enough to keep Liquid ahead however, with Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan's relentless aggression, a handful of eco round losses, and the AWP of Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles proving crucial in FURIA's fight back in the latter half of Nuke and on Mirage. The win puts FURIA's head-to-head record in series play against Liquid at 4-1, with Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's side last claiming a win over arT and company at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019.

HEN1's AWP proved crucial in recovering rounds for FURIA

Double kills from nitr0 and Twistzz saw Liquid come out of the gates swinging on Vertigo, gaining control to post a 4-0 start. FURIA fought against the rising tide, making good on their effort as they gained ground with five rounds, but the duo of Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip and Twistzz proved too strong on the entries as Liquid surged forward to claim a 10-5 lead at the break.

A pistol win for FURIA was left by the wayside as a force-buy from Liquid kept momentum in the favour of the North Americans, allowing another four rounds to go their way before multi-kills from arT and Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato gave FURIA three of their own. A comeback was not to be however, with Liquid quickly finding match point before closing things out with a triple from Stewie2K, who took his side over the finish line for a 16-9 win.

Liquid seemed set to continue in their winnings ways on Nuke, putting up a dominant showing on the offense as they sustained in a handful of late-round situations to post a 9-2 lead. Refusing to be blown out, FURIA had a resurgence in the latter portion of the first half led by KSCERATO and arT, allowing them to once again to fight back and win four straight to give themselves a fighting chance heading into the side swap.

FURIA kept Liquid's defenses spread thin in the second half as they continuously abused squeaky door and vent, with the North American side being unable to string together CT round wins as FURIA closed the gap. It wasn't until arT's side sat upon match point that Liquid took back-to-back rounds for their thirteenth and fourteenth, but Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos and arT quickly combined in round 30 to close out the map for their side, 16-14.

arT's aggression allowed FURIA to narrowly edge out a win on Nuke

Liquid kicked off Mirage with a smoke defuse to take the opening round, but an immediate answer back from KSCERATO and company in the ensuing gave FURIA the upper hand. Liquid managed two once they had rifles in their hands, three frags from NAF and a quad kill from Stewie2K adding to their tally, but it was an inverse scenario from Nuke that unfolded as the Brazilians battered Liquid for much of the remaining rounds of the half, leading 10-5 at the break.

Liquid made an effort to even the score as they took the second pistol and ensuing round to move up to seven, but the Deagles of Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo and KSCERATO combined with HEN1's Scout gave FURIA the chance to recover a 3vs5 and get back in on the action. A back-and-forth brawl saw arT's side come out ahead, allowing them to claim match point at 15-11, but Liquid were able to create openings in the CT defenses to win four in a row and force overtime. There, FURIA reigned supreme, with Liquid managing to comeback from behind to force a second overtime before the Brazilians closed things out, 22-20.

DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 - North AmericaBest of 3 LiquidMatchpage 1 2 21st May 2020 FURIA 16Vertigo 9 14Nuke 16 20Mirage 22

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	71 - 59	+12	71.6	1.12
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	66 - 63	+3	80.9	1.11
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	68 - 69	-1	68.4	1.07
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	62 - 64	-2	73.2	1.05
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	59 - 69	-10	81.5	1.01

FURIA	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Henrique 'HEN1' TelesHEN1	82 - 57	+25	89.8	1.30
Andrei 'arT' PiovezanarT	66 - 74	-8	77.9	1.05
Yuri 'yuurih' Santosyuurih	64 - 60	+4	72.4	1.03
Kaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoKSCERATO	62 - 64	-2	72.4	1.00
Vinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoVINI	47 - 71	-24	67.4	0.85

The standings for Group A look as follows:

Group A TEAM M P FURIA 2 6 Chaos 1 3 MIBR 1 0 Liquid 2 0 Chaos #53 Joshua 'steel' NissanAnthony 'vanity' MalaspinaJonathan 'Jonji' CareyLogan 'Voltage' LongErick 'Xeppaa' Bach Matthew 'mCe' Elmore Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 24 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1291 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.66 Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1227 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 MIBR #15 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoVito 'kNgV-' GiuseppeFernando 'fer' AlvarengaEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloAlencar 'trk' Rossato Yuri 'yuurih' Santos Age: 20 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 635 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.64 Andrei 'arT' Piovezan Age: 24 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 620 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Liquid #6 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Eric 'adreN' Hoag Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Age: 20 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 543 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.57 FURIA #9 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesAndrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoKaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Nicholas 'guerri' Nogueira Henrique 'HEN1' Teles Age: 24 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 843 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.58 Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo Age: 21 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 614 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.67 Liquid #6 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1013 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.62 FURIA #9 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesAndrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoKaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1202 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.68 Chaos #53 Joshua 'steel' NissanAnthony 'vanity' MalaspinaJonathan 'Jonji' CareyLogan 'Voltage' LongErick 'Xeppaa' Bach