The Danish wolves of North demolished the underdogs in Team Liquid and will battle against G2 Esports for the championship of EPL Season 5.
Team Liquid vs. 
North - 0-2 (5:16; 17:19)
de_Nuke - 5:16 (2:13, 3:3)
The second semi-final game started with North on the CT side and Team Liquid on the T side. As de_Nuke is known for being incredibly CT sided, North picked up the first pirtol round with no sweat. They also had no trouble in picking up the next two eco rounds. It was time for the first gun round and Team Liquid attempted to execute an upper push in Bomb Site A. But the Danes shut it down and the lead stretched to a 5:0 scoreline. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken ended the sixth round with a spray down of two North players and earned his team the first round win of the map. However, his success was not followed up as the superior firepower of the Danes and their advantageous position on the CT side proved to be too difficult for the North Americans to contest. Even in disadvantaged scenarios, North were still the better team. An ultimate example would be the 1v2 clutch by Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen. The half was difficult to watch, for the North American fans who filled the Verizon Theatre with spirit and energy were constantly met with disappointment from their home team. In the end, the half ended with a dominantly one-sided score of 13:2.
The second half of the map was even more devastating for Team Liquid fans. North won their second pistol round on the map. In a matter of minutes, the Danes reached mappoint. But it looked like Liquid would only move when pushed to their limits as, to the joy of many, Liquid picked up a few rounds, bringing the score to 5:15. But that was all Liquid could get. Emil "Magisk" Reif clutched a 1v2 and brought his team the first map win in the best-of-three series.
de_Mirage - 17:19 (11:4, 4:11, OT1 2:4)
It was time for the second map of the semi-final series between North and Team Liquid. The map kicked off with the North on T side and Team Liquid on CT side. North took the pistol round, but the win was not followed up as Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski pulled off an impressive eco ace against the Danes. With the score tied at 1:1, the third round of the map was a crucial one. The round was filled with constant trades between the two opposing teams and it came down to a 1v1 between Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke and Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken in a post-plant situation. Bomb-timer was coming down to the wire and in desparation, Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken ninja defused the bomb amidst smoke while Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke blindly shot through the smoke. Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke knifed the North American player, but it was too late at that point, as the youngster had already sneakily secured his team the round win. From then on, Team Liquid obliterated North and ended the first half with a dominating score of 11-4.
Team Liquid secured the second pistol round, thanks to three sick frags contributed by the North American superstar Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski. But North struck back immediately with a victorious eco win in the 17th round. Afterwards, the Danes commenced their journey to comeback into the match. Due to numerous mistakes by the Americans, before you know it, the score was tied to 13:13. The two teams then divided up the last few remaining rounds. Liquid were the first to reach mappoint, but North forced overtime. With all opportunities washed away from their hands, Team Liquid eventually lost the map and North earned themselves a long-yearned grand finals spot, something the team haven't been able to get ever since EPICENTER Moscow.
Image courtesy of ESL.
