The first Americas RMR teams to make it to the Major are the two North American heavyweights.
After defeating 9z and Complexity, respectively, Liquid and Evil Geniuses completed the North America RMR with a perfect 3-0 record, securing their spots in the Rio Major.
The two 3-0 teams will compete for a spot in the Legends Stage in Sunday’s first-place decisive game after advancing through the Swiss system. In the Americas RMR, there are still four spaces up for grabs. The remaining three 3-1 teams will receive those spots, while the final spot will go to the 3-2 team that triumphs in the match for sixth place.
Evil Geniuses vs 9z Match Recap
Overpass, a favorite map among North Americans, oppened up the series between Evil Geniuses and 9z. EG  won the first round of their chosen map, but 9z immediately came back and took the next one. Jadan “HexT” managed a three-kill. HexT and Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte dominated the 9z defense as Postma returned his squad to winning ways. They took advantage of the change in momentum by quickly building a 10-1 lead. With a commanding 13-2 victory to end the first half, Evil Geniuses advanced to the CT side.
Timotheus “autimatic” Ta successfully dominated the pistol round for the North American side, advancing them to a map point. They failed to gain control of their economy after losing the initial force buy, but managed to finish the map 16-5 without incident, continuing the series to Dust2.
Evil Geniuses jumped out to an early lead on the second map but lost the opening gun round once more. However, this time, 9z were able to go on a significant eight-round streak to dominate the first half, which ended 12-3 in their favor. They were also able to string together more than one round.
At the beginning of the second half, Evil Geniuses found themselves trailing 15-5 and were given the enormous burden of rallying the team against 10 map points. They performed admirably, taking six consecutive victories before 9z finished off the map with Lucas “nqz” Soares completing a triple on the A site.
The game of Mirage was the deciding one, and Evil Geniuses quickly assumed control after a strong start gave them a 5-3 advantage. However, 9z struggled to stop the T side, losing the first half 5-10. Individual plays helped 9z win a few rounds, including a 2vs4 won by Franco “dgt” Garcia and Nicolás “buda” Kramer and David “dav1deuS” Tapia Maldonado’s quad-kill on an eco round.
Early in the first half, 9z began their comeback effort, closing the gap on their opponents to 12-11. When that time came, it was rookie HexT who stepped up to the plate with two kills through smoke to change the tide of the match and propel Evil Geniuses to series point, which the North Americans converted and clinched a 16-13 victory.
Team Liquid vs Complexity Match Recap
Complexity attacked Inferno head-on right away, winning the pistol and turning it into a 3-0 advantage. With the score shortly tied at 3-3, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski stepped up in the opening gun round with a triple-kill. EliGE’s victory in a 1vs3 clutch to extend their winning streak was the highlight of the map.
Liquid had been dominating and had jumped out to a four-round lead until EliGE. Complexity only won one round before the break and entered the second half seven rounds down.
Liquid made a bold play in the pistol to open the second half, winning it and advancing to map point with a 15-4 score. Complexity made a late comeback and edged closer, but they were unable to prevent Liquid from ending the map with a 16-9 victory.
In a closely contested first half of Overpass, Hkon “hallzerk” Fjaerli and Ricky “floppy” Kemery each prevailed in a 1vs2 in the opening exchanges. Before Liquid steadied and regained the lead, Complexity held the lead for a bit before the first half ended with an 8-7 score for Complexity.
Josh “oSee” Ohm’s 1vs3 clutch against an eco put Liquid in a solid position after a second-half pistol put the EPL S16 finalists ahead 14-7. The 22-year-old then put on an absolutely beautiful half, earning clutches, finding opportunities, and single-handedly stopping the offensive with his stellar performances. He led Complexity to a nine-round winning streak to end the match 16-14 and complete the map with an astounding 38 kills.
Complexity quickly jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the decisive game of Ancient, undoubtedly riding the wave of their remarkable comeback on the previous map. Liquid persisted nevertheless, destroying their rival’s economy to begin regaining the upper hand. The score was 8-7 in their favor after their seven-round winning streak, giving them the advantage once more.
After switching to the more advantageous side of the map, Liquid put on a perfect performance, winning all eight consecutive rounds to take the match 16-7. EliGE put his poor performance in the EPL final behind him and led the series with a rating of 1.41.
