Team Liquid vs paiN Gaming

Lastly, we have a fairly underwhelming clash between Team Liquid and Pain Gaming.

This is by no means a must watch, but it’s a match that Team Liquid desperately need in order to retrieve their confidence (and stock value) after an abysmal showing at the ONE Esports Invitational in Singapore.

Ever since Liquid opted to sign the former Alliance roster, things haven’t been going according to plan. They’re far too volatile and are painfully inconsistent, and while they certainly have standout moments, they’re too few and far between to actually warrant any benefit of the doubt.

In essence, they’re struggling to find an identity to call their own. You never know which shade of Liquid you're going to get, which is why they’re one of the biggest dark horses in Leipzig.

Their Top 6 finish at the MDL Chengdu Major is definitely a solid result, but they pretty much imploded immediately afterwards so it’s impossible to say where they stand power-wise at this point in time.

As for PaiN Gaming, they’re yet another relatively underwhelming underdog. They’re considered as one of the best South American contenders, but they never really accomplished much whenever they had to face the best teams in the world. Will they be able to surprise us in Leipzig, now that the playing field has been leveled? The odds certainly aren’t on their side, given the group they’re in and the level of talent they’ll have to face.

It’s downright impossible to predict whether Team Liquid will perform to the best of their ability or not. But despite their many recent ups and downs, they’re more than experienced and talented enough to take down PaiN Gaming without much of a problem. It might not be particularly clean or one-sided, but they’ll get the job done.