Apeks eliminate Liquid to secure semi

Apeks continue their crusade in Paris and are set to face off against Vitality on Saturday.

Apeks became BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 semi-finalists after besting Liquid in a two-map series. They comfortably won their pick of Ancient (16-10) before getting the job done on Overpass (16-12), with Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson providing two crucial clutches to send his team to the Major semi-final.

Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad, who had a quiet game but showed up when it mattered, gave a post-match interview on stage. "It's been a while, I never expected to be in a semi-final again," he began to touch on returning to a Major for the first time since 2019. "We have been working our asses off and it pays off, I'm just super fucking proud."

On the game against the North Americans, he wanted to thank the whole team who prepared the quintet about every possibility. "We knew what was coming, so a big shoutout to our team, we had really good reads about what they were doing."

kyxsan led by example with a 1.34 rating

For Liquid, this is the end of an incredibly hot-and-cold Major. They fought back from 0-2 in the Challengers Stage and found form at the last possible moment to eventually secure a playoff berth, but fell short in the Accor Arena against an underdog in Apeks.

"This was an awesome Major, a crazy stage, and it sucks to not go any further," said Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski straight after elimination. "CS is always gonna be here, we're gonna be here for the next Major and hopefully be back on the stage."

The match between Apeks and Liquid started on Ancient, where the European combine previously won this matchup in the Challengers Stage. This time they were even more dominant, winning 16-10 after a dominant 11-4 offensive half.

Overpass was a much closer affair, and Apeks first needed Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski to carry them through the CT half with 21 kills and a 2-04 rating — an incredible feat considering the Macedonian is the IGL of the team. Once on the T side, it was nawwk's time to shine with two clutches that set their victory in stone and move them on to the semifinal, where they will face Vitality.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023Best of 3 LiquidMatchpage 0 2 19th May 2023 Apeks 10Ancient 16 11Overpass 16

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' GaļinskisYEKINDAR	41 - 39	+2	83.1	1.19
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	35 - 36	-1	75.3	1.05
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	32 - 36	-4	68.2	1.00
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	27 - 38	-11	63.7	0.86
Josh 'oSee' OhmoSee	31 - 33	-2	53.7	0.84

Apeks	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovskikyxsan	49 - 34	+15	88.4	1.34
Tim 'nawwk' Jonassonnawwk	39 - 24	+15	67.8	1.30
Martin 'STYKO' StykSTYKO	37 - 36	+1	88.3	1.02
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem	33 - 36	-3	68.6	1.01
Justinas 'jL' LekaviciusjL	23 - 37	-14	57.7	0.87

Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Age: 25 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1749 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 Vitality #1 Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautLotan 'Spinx' Giladi Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson Age: 25 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 1106 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.60 Apeks #19 Martin 'STYKO' StykJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadTim 'nawwk' JonassonJustinas 'jL' LekaviciusDamjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad Age: 29 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1530 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.70 Liquid #7 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJosh 'oSee' OhmKeith 'NAF' MarkovicMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski Age: 22 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 576 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.67