Team Liquid liquifies FNATIC, earns final Masters slot

In the final match of the VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 tournament, Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #4 purp0 Semyon Borchev wayne Wayne Chang MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak defeated FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #2 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Veqaj Sylvain Pattyn Alfajer Emir Ali Beder 3-0 for the final regional slot at Masters Santiago. These two historied franchises in VCT fought in the lower bracket finals, but this time Liquid was able to defeat a big regional rival dominantly.

Starting on Corrode, Liquid ran a double-Duelist comp with Sage, while FNATIC ran the same solo Waylay and Vyse comp that the team showed in the series against Gentle Mates. FNATIC earned the first pistol off a Veqaj 1v2, but wayne stopped the bonus round conversion with four kills. Liquid got the lead off of some stalwart holds, playing well around the slow attack side from FNATIC. It wasn't fully one-sided, as Liquid only held a 7-5 lead at the half, but it was a good start to the series.

Liquid won the second pistol, but some chaos in a won antieco led to a loss on the bonus. Even then, the strategy from Liquid was simple: find Alfajer and avoid him at all costs. The team clearly watched how well Alfajer played against Gentle Mates Gentle Mates Europe Rank #9 starxo Patryk Kopczynski bipo Taranvir Singh marteen Martin Pátek GLYPH Conner Garcia Minny Patrik Hušek the other day, as Liquid avoided him entirely on the way to a 13-6 map win.

Bind was next, as Liquid ran another double-Duelist with Waylay and Neon, while FNATIC ran Yoru and Raze instead. FNATIC shot its way to a pistol win to start the map, and converted the bonus for an early lead. Liquid grinded some rounds back, once again forcing FNATIC into late plants and taking advantage. After reaching a 4-4 tie, FNATIC adapted by forcing fights against Liquid as a team, ending the half up 7-5.

Liquid won the second pistol, tying the map again at 7-7, but lost the bonus round as FNATIC remained slightly ahead. After reaching double-digit round wins, some hero plays from nAts pulled Liquid back into the game to a 10-10 tie. The post-plants from Liquid were perfect, and nAts and kamo were starting to offer no access to Santiago as Liquid won Bind 13-10 to go up 2-0 in the series.

Now, FNATIC was in the position that Gentle Mates was in the other day: needing to reverse sweep to make it to Santiago. Abyss was the first hurdle, with FNATIC running solo Jett with Vyse as Liquid ran more Waylay and Neon double-Duelist. FNATIC won the first pistol off a kaajak round, and it took an absurd clutch from wayne to stop the bonus round win. Alfajer was heating up as FNATIC took a 5-2 lead, but only ended the half up 7-5.

Team Liquid won the second pistol, again forcing FNATIC to play with little time. The antieco was very clean, with the teams fighting tooth and nail for the lead. Liquid was the first to reach double digits, but another map reached a 10-10 tie. This time, FNATIC reached 12 first, but Liquid forced overtime.

The first two groups of overtime rounds were traded evenly, with Liquid losing out on two attempts to win the series. FNATIC then earned two advantages, but kamo and nAts extended the OT. When nAts pulled out the rare Outlaw buy in OT and got three with it, that ended the series as Liquid won Abyss 18-16 and swept the series.

With this win, Team Liquid joins Gentle Mates and BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #3 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan as the three teams from EMEA going to Masters Santiago.