Liquid might have got through this stage, but it still felt like they didn’t, you know?

They scraped, and we mean scraped, past TYLOO, who threw away not only four series points but two of the absolute dumbest rounds you will ever see.

Attacker, mate. Please don’t come back. It’s so hard to watch you play.

In fairness, they were more convincing against Astralis, which can’t be a good sign for the state of Danish Counter-Strike. Liquid beat them 2-0 with ultimate topfragging - a surefire sign that Astralis are not tier one any more.

NIP went from 2-0 to 2-3 by getting banged out by 3DMAX in a 2-2 game, which is incredible commitment to the bit. It’s so on brand.

You can change personnel, but you can’t change the NIP DNA.

Passion UA beat M80 in the ‘whipping boys of stage three’ derby to go 3-2. We still have no idea how good they are, but we’re assuming it’s ‘kinda bad’.

PARIVISION and B8 both went 3-1, so big kudos to them. Jame has done a Jerry and brought four randoms to the Major and taken names, while B8 are steadily solidifying themselves in the upper tiers.

The most disappointing team of the stage were Aurora - not just because they went 1-3 as the highest seed, but also because they lost to Astralis and let Liquid go through nice and easy.

They desperately need some changes - but it’s not easy to find them.

Now the real stuff starts.