mousesports defeat Liquid to book grand final spot

mousesports are the first grand finalists of StarSeries i-League Season 4 after defeating Liquid 2-1 (16-7 on Mirage, 4-16 on Cobblestone and 16-9 on Train).

The series started on Mirage, MOUZ' map pick, with the European mixture securing a quick 3-0 lead after winning their Terrorist pistol with a team ace in a B execution. In the gun round, mouz executed A really well, with Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi's triple-kill while flanking putting the round to bed. 

After getting their economy back in order, Liquid looked set to pick up their first round as Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic found two openers, but a triple-kill from Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool helped MOUZ turn a 3v5 situation around.

Even though the North Americans then finally got their first round on the board thanks to a CZ triple-kill from Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes, they were immediately countered by mousesports. It was only in the 11th round that Liquid were able to string rounds together, and then they bagged the final round of the half to reduce the deficit to 4-11.

Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's men did not want to throw in the towel and began the second half with a successful T-side pistol. Nevertheless, MOUZ caught Liquid off guard with a B stack. With the momentum once again their favour, the Europeans lost just two more rounds before locking down the map, 16-7. 

mousesports will take on the winner of the clash between FaZe and Na`Vi

Next up was Cobblestone, where Liquid got off to a flying start, bagging a 7-0 lead without much response from MOUZ, who called a tactical pause to halt their opponents' momentum. 

However, the game remained the same as MOUZ failed to find any openers, with the half ending with a 15-0 scoreline. The Europeans still avoided a 16-0 humiliation by winning the second pistol, but once Liquid had money to work with it was all over for Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný's side.

The decider map, Train, began with MOUZ successfully retaking the B bombsite to pick up their CT pistol, and following that up with an anti-eco win. Despite buying up in the third round, Liquid still could not find a footing in the game. 

NAF was impressive on Cobblestone

With a very tight defence, MOUZ kept stringing rounds together, forcing Liquid to call a tactical pause when they were down 0-7. The North Americans would then win their first round, but only because suNny could not defuse the bomb in time.

MOUZ instantly reset their opponents' economy, but Liquid rallied back immediately thanks to a triple-kill from nitr0 in a 2v3 situation. That was the start of a great run from Liquid, who by the end of the half had brought the deficit to a minimum.

MOUZ started the second half with their fourth pistol round win of the series, setting themselves up for an 11-7 lead. After losing two more rounds, Liquid still found a lifeline by stringing two together, but that was simply too little, too late, as mousesports then regained control of the game and sealed a convincing 16-9 success.

StarSeries i-League Season 4Best of 3 LiquidMatchpage 1 2 24th February 2018 MOUZ 7Mirage 16 16Cobblestone 4 9Train 16

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	47 - 50	-3	77.9	0.99
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	43 - 49	-6	68.6	0.92
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	42 - 52	-10	68.1	0.88
Lucas 'steel' Lopessteel	43 - 52	-9	68.2	0.85
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	36 - 47	-11	60.6	0.82

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robin 'ropz' Koolropz	56 - 35	+21	87.9	1.35
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastnýoskar	54 - 41	+13	81.8	1.27
Martin 'STYKO' StykSTYKO	46 - 44	+2	73.9	1.17
Miikka 'suNny' KemppisuNny	51 - 47	+4	78.6	1.14
Chris 'chrisJ' de JongchrisJ	43 - 44	-1	68.8	1.05

MOUZ #6 Tomáš 'oskar' ŠťastnýChris 'chrisJ' de JongMiikka 'suNny' KemppiMartin 'STYKO' StykRobin 'ropz' Kool Lucas 'steel' Lopes Age: 24 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 586 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.65 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 777 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.68 Liquid #8 Lucas 'steel' LopesNick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi Age: 23 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 776 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.69 Robin 'ropz' Kool Age: 18 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 269 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.64 Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 713 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65 Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný Age: 26 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 676 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.66