With day four of the MLG: Columbus Major the whole circus moved to the Nationwide Arena where we were about to witness yet another upset in this Major held on North American soil.
Natus Vincere vs. 
Ninjas in Pyjamas 2:0 (16:09, 16:10)
Maps: de_inferno and de_mirage, Best-of-Three
The first series kick off on de_inferno between Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas. Thanks to great defensive play it took a while before Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg found the first round for the Swedes via a 1vs.2 clutch. Na'Vi however kept things together, regaining control of the game to close out the first half with a commanding 13:02 lead. After switching sides it was NiP who got a run for seven rounds in a row while Na'Vi was struggling to build up bank. It was due to guardiaN's crucial AWP kill contribution that the CIS team made it up to match point where Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev finished the job with a 1vs.2 clutch.
Natus Vincere continued on the second map, de_mirage, how they ended the last map, taking the 05:00 lead as attackers. Ninjas in Pyjamas managed to grab a round by their own but got quickly reset afterwards, calling a tactical timeout. This pause seemed to work as they turned a 01:06 deficit into a heavily contested 05:07 score line, showcasing two great eco rounds. Na'Vi then took the last three rounds of the first half. The second half on Mirage looked almost the same as the early stages of the first half with Natus Vincere grabbing four in a row, getting close to match point. NiP tried to find their way back into the game and won five of the following six rounds but the CIS team remained calm and ultimate succeeded with the last needed rounds to seal the victory with a 16:10 score line.
Astralis vs. fnatic 2:0 (16:10, 16:05)
Maps: de_overpass and de_cache, Best-of-Three
In the second quarter-final series of the day we saw Nicolai "device" Reedtz kicking things off on de_overpass with three kills in the pistol round. Although Jesper "JW" Wecksell was close the ruin the day with an almost 1 vs. 4 clutch in the first buy round, the Danish powerhouse managed to build up a 08:00 lead before the Swedes called a tactical timeout. It seemed to work as fnatic picked up three rounds in a row but Astralis answered by winning a 2vs.2 situation, followed by an ACE from Finn "karrigan" Andersen with a saved M4A1-S from the previous round. The last round was won by fnatic for a 10:05 score line in favour of Astralis. After winning the pistol Wecksell had to save the day, clutching a 1 vs. 3 by killing two opponents and defusing the bomb without faking. The Danes then secured more rounds on their own before both Reetz and René "cajunb" Borg clutched a 2 vs. 5 situation. Denying a comeback, Astralis secured the first map of this Best-of-Three with a 16:10 score line.
The Danes then kicked things off as attacker, picking up the pistol alongside the following two rounds on de_cache. The Swedish team answered by winning the first weapon round but Astralis had also an answer to send fnatic back to an eco round. Despite Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer getting three with his AWP, the Danes reset fnatic once more. Astralis then had no trouble rushing into the bomb spots as they desired, finishing the first half 13:02 and ultimately finishing the series shortly after with 16:05 as final score line.
Team Liquid vs. Counter Logic Gaming 2:0 (16:13, 16:06)
Maps: de_cache and de_mirage, Best-of-Three
With the third quarter-final of the day, which was also the last match of the day as the last quarter-final will be played tomorrow, we had the North American battle for the semi-final between Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming which started pretty good for CLG. Being 05:00 in the lead it was Josh "jdm64" Marzano who denied the first round for Team Liquid despite Alexander "s1mple" Kostyliev's efforts with a triple kill in a 2 vs. 4 situation. Doubling his effort, the Ukrainian got a quad kill with his AWP the following round, the only weapon the team had to work with at this point. Liquid was reading the enemy but failed to secure rounds, thanks to Kostyliev Team Liquid could add two more rounds to their scoreboard as the first half ended with 12:03 in favour of CLG. The Ukraining continued to perform great and Liquid slowly but steady came closer and closer, after Spencer "Hiko" Martin and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski won a 3 vs. 5 CLG tried to stop the momentum with a double AWP setup. Failing to do so, Liquid powered their way up to 13:01 as attacker and ultimately to a 16:13 score line for the first map win in the last series of today.
The momentum continued despite all efforts, CLG's economy got destroyed by the force buy of Liquid. The story repeated itself as Liquid powered their way to a 08:02 lead. Towards the end of the first half, CLG found a gap in the B side defence of Liquid and abused this for two much needed rounds to close the first half 09:06 in favour of Liquid. With Liquid winning the pistol of the second half, everything went downhill furthermore until a team kill from Marzano seemed to seal the deal in combination with a smart fake. Liquid closed the series with a 16:06 win on the second map, awaiting their next foe who will be determined at tomorrows face off between Luminosity and Virtus.pro.
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