ESL One New York 2019 kicked off in Brooklyn with some of the best CS:GO squads in the world. Will we get to see the iconic matchup Astralis – Team Liquid once again? Well, it is very likely to happen. The first day of ESL One New York concluded with no much surprise.

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ESL One New York 2019 is another exciting event with a possible Liquid and Astralis rematch

A 2-0 day

What a day of CS:GO when every winner managed to win 2 straight maps. After the Berlin Major 2019 with so many upsets, CS:GO is finally safe once again. The opening matches kicked off with Team Liquid vs. eUnited and G2 vs. ENCE.

The #1 team in the world – Liquid broke a sweat in their own best map against eUnited. It was understandable as it turned out to be eUnited’s map pick where they had prepared beforehand. Liquid managed to close out the game at 16-12. However, the next map - Mirage turned out to be a great showing for Keith “NAF” Markovic with his sky-high 2.27 rating. Liquid defeated eUnited 16-3 on Mirage.

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NAF was too hot for eUnited to handle

Astralis told the same story as Liquid. They faced great opposition from OpTic on Vertigo with a great showing from Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen It took a tremendous effort from the #1 Danish team to close out the map at 16-14. However, the Berlin Major 2019 champion showed no mercy for their compatriot on Dust2, crippling every offense attempt from OpTic. The game closed out with a huge lead for Astralis 16-1. Who is gonna be the next victim for the all-fired-up Astralis?

"Fabien "kioshima" Fiey was the problem"?

G2 and ENCE turned out to be an exciting match with both teams so close in competition. The match kicked off on Dust2 – G2’s map pick. Both G2 and ENCE had to rely on individual performance to win so many crucial rounds. With that, the game reached the first overtime in ESL One New York and G2 managed to close it out with 19-17.

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Once labeled the problem for the French CS:GO scene, kioshima is now the problem for ENCE

The next map – Nuke – turned out to be another close match. ENCE closed out the first half with 7 rounds, looking so strong to bring the game to map 3. However, a strong showing from François “AmaNEk” Delaunay has helped G2 secure enough round to close the match. G2 won ENCe 16-14 on Nuke.

Debut for new FaZe Clan roster and EG

NRG has recently sold their roster to Evil Geniuses – an established North America Esports organization most famous for their Dota 2 roster. Not sure if it is intended or a coincident, NRG has been infamous as a #3 title contender as they managed to reach semi-final every time and lost there. EG in Dota 2 is also notorious for their #3 placings in so many tournaments.

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The real reason why a "3G" organization decided to enter CS:GO with the NRG roster

This is the first time the ex-NRG roster has played under the EG jersey. The same could be said about FaZe Clan. With the latest addition of the Brazilian star Marcelo “coldzera” David and an upcoming talent Helvijs “broky” Saukants, FaZe boasts even more firepower, rivaled only by Team Liquid.

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This was the first tier1 tournament for broky

Before the match, the ex-member of FaZe Clan - karrigan made a Tweet to jokefully taunt NiKo with 2 new additions to the team. Outside of the game, NiKo and karrigan are good friends

The clash between the two giants kicked off on Nuke – the map pick for FaZe Clan. EG proved that they were also one of the best Nuke teams. With a strong showing from Tarik “tarik” Celik, EG closed out the map at 16-12. Vertigo went one-sided as EG demolished FaZe Clan 16-6.

Not the best but decent debut for both teams

This was the first-ever tier1 LAN experience for broky yet the 18-year-old rifler managed to keep his ratings above 1.0. In fact, he was the only FaZe Clan player with a positive rating in the match. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač said in an interview that the youngster would fit in the team really well. However, it takes more than ratings to bring a victory to FaZe. Let’s see what other feats can the young Latvian player pull off in the upcoming matches.

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What FaZe needs now is to connect the dots, unite the firepower they have gathered

Fate decided, 1 team left and 1 team advanced

ENCE and eUnited faced each other in the elimination match. Both squads lost one Bo3 and had another chance to stay. However, ENCE displayed their dominant strength on Overpass and Train with strong showings from Jere “sergej “ Salo and Sami “xseveN” Laasanen. The Finns closed out the match in 2 maps with 16-12 and 16-10.

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It was either do or die for ENCE at that point

Team Liquid and G2 faced each other in the advancement match. Contrary to their map picks, G2 lost their Dust2 pretty one-sided with a scoreline of 3-16. All fired up after the initial loss, the French powerhouse scraped a victory in overtime on Inferno to bring the game to map 3.

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Hard as they tried, G2 could not overcome the hardest test Team Liquid

However, that was the last they could do as Nick “nitr0” Cannella had a good time on Overpass with a 1.65 rating. Liquid vs. G2 was the only game reaching 3 maps on the first day.

A possible rematch between Astralis and Liquid?

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After the Berlin Major 2019, Astralis is still in high spirits to win more

Team Liquid has secured their ticket to the semi-final. Meanwhile, in the other group, Astralis is still showing a dominant performance. Astralis will face EG next to get a ticket to the playoffs. If the Danish giant wins, they will likely face Team Liquid in the grand final. The grand battle for the ultimate ESL New York title will take place on September 29. Tune in to watch this rivalry pan out right on Liquid’s territory.