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The Champions Stage of the CS:GO BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 has begun, and two teams have already fallen. Only six teams remain in contention to win the final CS:GO Major title and cement their legacy. The winners will also earn a cash prize of $500,000 and book a spot in the group stage of IEM Cologne 2023. A tournament victory would ensure a spot in the Blast Premier World Finals as well.
The fourth and final quarter-final matchup of the Champions Stage will feature an intense combat between Team Liquid and Apeks at the Accor Arena in Paris. The winning team will advance to face hometown heroes, Team Vitality, in the semi-finals.
Team Liquid vs. Apeks: Who will win this CS:GO BLAST.tv Paris Major quarter-finals matchup?
Predictions
Team Liquid has had an interesting CS:GO Major so far. They were woeful during the opening day of the tournament but quickly pulled it back to make it to the Legends Stage. Since then, they have looked like a top 5 team with clean fundamentals, a strong map pool, and incredible consistency thanks to riflers Keith "NAF" Markovic and Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis.
NAF has enjoyed a phenomenal showing so far. YEKINDAR taking up some of the IGL-ing duties from Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella has enabled the latter to attain his career-best rating in a CS:GO Major. Team Liquid is looking to be an outside contender for the title, and is deadly when they are playing at their best. This is also the first time since 2019 that Team Liquid has qualified for a CS:GO Major playoffs.
Apeks has witnessed an interesting trajectory as an organization. They were considered by many to be a failed project after the signing of French legend Richard "shox" Papillon did not work out. The team was loitering in the tier-two scene of CS:GO for a while. The addition of young IGL Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski rejuvenated the Apeks lineup, and they peaked at the perfect time.
Apeks' roster has the right balance of veterans and young blood looking to prove themselves on the main stage. Players like Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad and Martin "STYKO" Styk have been in the scene for so long and are looking to make the final push towards stardom. Apeks has been a pleasant surprise at the CS:GO Major so far and definitely has the capabilities to pull off an upset against Team Liquid.
All odds are against Apeks coming into this matchup. Liquid is expected to be the heavy favorite, but Apeks' current roster has proved they have the skill and mental resilience to fight against the best. This will be an interesting quarter-finals matchup, but Team Liquid should be the favorites to close this series out and end Apeks' underdog run.
Head-to-head
Team Liquid and Apeks previously met in the Challengers Stage of the CS:GO BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. Apeks won 16-12 in their comfort map, Ancient. Team Liquid will be looking to strike back and get their revenge against Apeks in this quarter-finals matchup.
Recent results
Team Liquid and Apeks had to fight through the Challengers and Legends Stage. Liquid had a disastrous start to the Major. They lost their first two games to Apeks and Forze before making the reverse sweep a reality. They had a close series against Fluxo, after which they comfortably dealt with regional rivals Complexity and Australian contenders, Grayhound.
Team Liquid had a much better Legends Stage, where they dominated 9INE and Natus Vincere. They had a close defeat against tournament favorites, Heroic before dealing with Into The Breach to advance to the Champions Stage.
Apeks advanced with a 3-1 scoreline to the Legends stage defeating Team Liquid, Grayhound, and paiN Gaming. The team had a few struggles in the Legends Stage, dropping games versus Heroic and GamerLegion. However, they managed to advance to the Champions Stage with a 3-2 scoreline, defeating Into The Breach, Bad News Eagles, and Ninjas In Pyjamas.
Expected lineups
Team Liquid
- Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
- Keith "NAF" Markovic
- Joshua "oSee" Ohm
- Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella (IGL)
- Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis
- Damian "daps" Steele (Coach)
Apeks
- Tim "nawwk" Jonasson
- Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad
- Martin "STYKO" Styk
- Justinas "jL" Lekavicius
- Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski (IGL)
- Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński (Coach)
When and where to watch
Viewers worldwide can tune into Blast's official CS:GO Twitch channel to watch the live broadcast of Team Liquid vs. Apeks in the Champions Stage of the CS:GO BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. The matchup is a best-of-three and will be held on May 19, 2023, at 10:00 AM PDT / 7:00 PM CEST / 10:30 PM IST.
