Favourites of Group A EnVyUs came up against Liquid in the Winner's Match, and overcame them in two straight maps. While EnVyUs' defense was their strength on Dorado to deny Liquid the second checkpoint, Numbani was a showcase of their offensive prowess as they stormed through the map.

Dorado

EnVyUs appear to be favouring the Pharah/Mercy combination against tank-heavy opposition, especially on maps with height potential. They came out of the gates on Dorado with that lineup, but Talespin was instantly caught out by a slightly unpredictable composition. With Dahang on Zenyatta and azk on McCree, they were able to pick Talespin instantly and it forced nV to think again. The counter strategy was swift and effective as HULK's Winston dove onto azk and stopped him from being useful.

The plan worked perfectly until a Graviton Surge from rapha caught everyone and let Liquid regain the height. With the height advantage and his team around him, azk was well protected and able to shut down the Pharah/Mercy threat. This forced Talespin and Harry to move back to Tracer and Lucio, letting them take the second checkpoint but no further.

EnVyUs built up Graviton, Pulse Bomb, and Primal Rage, using all three to wipe Liquid and clearing the route to the final area. They fell into the classically sticky situation on Dorado though: with the spawn advantage so far in favour of defenders they had used their ultimates too early and couldn't establish position before the spawners returned. As the map went into overtime the spawns were constantly staggered for Liquid and EnVyUs finally prevailed.

EnVyUs repeat their group dominance. Photo Credit: ESL

The mesr Nanoboost that had worked so well against NRG was completely negated by the whole of EnVyUs. Every time it came in it was dodged, put to sleep, controlled, or otherwise handled excellently. It took almost all of the attacking time for rapha to finally get the space he needed on Reaper to do real damage, but Liquid eventually pulled it together and claimed the fountain.

A Pulse Bomb onto chipshajen set up the second checkpoint attack, but it wasn't enough to take the high ground. As the time ticked down into the final minute and a half the ultimate situation was looking awful for Liquid. Without the tools in their arsenal to open up space or get guaranteed damage out, they just fell onto the swords of nV around the cart and were unable to get CP2.

EnVyUs were one map up and one map away from getting out of groups with a clean bill of health.

Numbani

Liquid had a choice between Route 66 and Numbani for their potential comeback and opted for Numbani. They went for the PharMercy attack but ID and Dahang were split up in the fight as they were alongside harass heroes of Winston and Tracer. The team composition and overall synergy looked awash for Liquid as ID came in for a solo barrage and was easily picked off and ultimates flew in for no reason, one at a time.

With 30 seconds left Liquid charged in on the top right and pinned Talespin. The crucial Mei was taken out to deny a Blizzard on the point. Without support from Mei Taimou also got caught out and the point fell in the final moments. It took Liquid the full time to push through the streets giving them only a minute and a half to take last, but an amazing flank from azk got a Deadeye onto five people, killing two and damaging the rest. This single play set his team up to take the final point and nV couldn’t get to the cart.

EnVyUs on attack were sublime. They took the first point in mere seconds as they swarmed in like a deathball and took azk before he could blink. Talespin gave a masterclass in Pharah and rolled snowball ults through the streets. One lost teamfight gave Liquid the hint of hope, but it was too hard an ask to defend for 6 minutes. A boosted Reinhardt from cocco took out ID on Zarya and forced the rest of Liquid back. They couldn’t stop bleeding players from thereon out; every hook that Taimou hit ended in a kill that made it so hard for Liquid not to bleed players straight out of spawn.

With timebank, Liquid had 1 minute to take the point while nV had 3:52. Liquid went for a super dive combo but chips was so well defended and far back. With a Mei, Winston, Hog, and Zarya to get through or dive onto it was impossible for them to get anything done. That was until Minstrel came out with a huge play, booping Talespin off the cliff and winning a 1v1 against HarryHook. The attack went into overtime and the blob of Liquid on the cart forced cohesion. With only one attempt to take the whole map it wasn’t possible and they ended with a final score of 38.34m after CP2.

EnVyUs' attack again took the first point with an insta-kill onto azk and had none of the desperation in their attack that Liquid showed. After capping CP2 they had 1:30 to push it further than Liquid. In their first attempt Talespin died early and switched to Tracer, putting Harry back to Lucio. With speedboost they could have pushed the defenders back far enough to steal it from under their nose and Liquid, knowing this, engaged onto them in the choke to avoid giving up space. The superior teamfight from nV gave them the win and they were able to push it across the line for a victory in the fixture and their route out of groups.