The second day of the PGL Masters Bucharest NA Closed Qualifier wrapped up with Liquid and NRG claiming Upper Bracket victories. Meanwhile, Chicken Coop and Villainous were knocked out in the lower bracket, leaving six teams competing for a single spot at the $1,250,000 Romanian LAN event.
Liquid faced Marsborne in a surprisingly competitive series that went the full distance. On Inferno, Liquid dominated the first half with a 9-3 CT-side lead. However, Marsborne flipped the script after halftime, mounting their own strong CT defense to take an 11-9 advantage. Liquid managed to push the map into overtime, where they found their rhythm on T-side, starting with three consecutive rounds and ultimately closing out Inferno 16-13.
Anubis told a different story as Marsborne's CT-side proved formidable, winning the first half 8-4. Bogdan "ogwizard" Savula spearheaded Marsborne's charge to a 12-5 lead in the second half. Despite Liquid's late resistance, Marsborne secured Anubis 13-10, forcing a decisive third map. On Nuke, Liquid reasserted control with a crushing 10-2 CT-side half. Although Marsborne won the second-half pistol and two subsequent rounds, Liquid closed out the map 13-10 to seal the series.
NRG's matchup against Voca proved more straightforward, ending in a clean 2-0 victory. On Nuke, after Voca jumped ahead 4-0, NRG responded with seven straight rounds to take control. The second half saw back-and-forth action until NRG pulled away late, winning 13-10. Cache was even more dominant for NRG, who opened with six consecutive rounds. Though Voca fought back to stay within two rounds at halftime, NRG's CT-side was overwhelming in the second half, securing six straight rounds with three successful retakes to finish 13-5.
In lower bracket action, the antivalue mixteam delivered an unexpected 2-1 upset over Chicken Coop, while Without a Roof swiftly eliminated Villainous. Tonight's action features Liquid versus NRG in the upper bracket, with Voca facing antivalue and Marsborne taking on Without a Roof in the lower bracket.
