Liquid crash out of Logitech G Play Connect with 2-3 group record

Esports News UK, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 19/09/2026

Liquid have been eliminated from Logitech G Play Connect after finishing the group stage with a 2-3 record, according to Dust2.us. HLTV also reports the elimination, noting that Liquid and NIP were both knocked out as the Polish CS2 event advanced to its playoff bracket.

The North American side arrived without two key figures. Mario “malbsMd” Samoya sat out for personal reasons, with Serbian journeyman Vladan “VLDN” Radević standing in, while head coach Viktor “flashie” Tamás Bea missed the tournament for his sister’s wedding, replaced on the bench by Liquid data analyst Jay “DeMars DeRover” Li.

Dust2.us reports that all three of Liquid’s defeats came against teams ranked below them, which will sting given the roster had just won the PGL Masters Bucharest NA qualifier, beating NRG in the grand final after losing to the same opponents earlier in that event.

VLDN struggled in the stand-in role, averaging a 0.96 rating across five maps, well below the 1.11 he had posted over 83 maps for ex-Zero Tenacity across the previous three months, per Dust2.us’s figures.

How the group stage unfolded

Liquid opened with a 13-8 win over INFINITE on Mirage, but then dropped back-to-back matches: 13-6 to Inner Circle on Cache, and an overtime defeat to EYEBALLERS on Mirage after squandering a 10-3 lead. A 13-6 win over 3DMAX on Nuke, driven by an 18-frag display from Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, kept their playoff hopes alive going into the final round. That hope ended on Nuke against BBL, who closed out a 13-6 win to send Liquid home.

The early exit does have one practical upside for the roster. Dust2.us notes that Liquid can now return to North America ahead of schedule to prepare for iBUYPOWER Masters FML 2026, where they are set to open against Chicken Coop on 25 September.

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Esports News UK, Senior Editor

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