Liquid completed a flawless run at iBUYPOWER Masters FML 2026 by defeating Wildcard 2-0 in the grand final. The North American lineup won Inferno 13-4 and Anubis 13-9, ending the $30,000 LAN without dropping a map across four series.
The trophy carries historical weight for the organization. HLTV identified it as Liquid’s first offline event victory since the IEM Road to Rio qualifier in 2022 and their first tournament title since the five-LAN run achieved by the 2019 roster.
Liquid reached the final by beating Chicken Coop, NRG and M80, all by 2-0 scores. M80 came closest to taking a map during the semifinal opener, but Liquid protected the perfect record and then produced their clearest championship performance against Wildcard.
malbsMd led the final with 41 kills against 22 deaths, 102.6 average damage per round and a 1.62 Rating 3.0. NAF followed at 1.48, Jorko at 1.34 and EliGE at 1.23, giving Liquid four strongly positive individual lines across the two maps.
Liquid turned an early Inferno lead into a controlled final
Inferno established the direction of the series. Liquid’s CT side limited Wildcard to four rounds, producing enough separation that the opening map never developed into the close contest expected from a domestic final. A 13-4 score placed Wildcard under immediate pressure on their own tournament life.
Anubis was more competitive, but Liquid again prevented the opponent from reaching double digits. The 13-9 finish confirmed the sweep and preserved a map record that had survived every previous round. Across the event, Liquid won eight maps in four best-of-three series.
The championship route consisted of:
- A 2-0 group-stage win over Chicken Coop.
- A 2-0 group-stage win over NRG.
- A 2-0 semifinal win over M80.
- A 2-0 grand-final win over Wildcard.
A regional title does not carry the same competitive weight as a tier-one international trophy, and the $30,000 field should be judged on its own level. Nevertheless, completing any LAN without a map loss is useful evidence of preparation and consistency, especially when the roster must handle opponents familiar with its tendencies. It also means Liquid avoided the uncertainty of every possible deciding map.
The final also showed that Liquid did not depend on a single narrow win condition. malbsMd supplied the highest impact, but NAF, Jorko and EliGE all finished with ratings above 1.20. That distribution reduced the possibility that Wildcard could change the series simply by neutralizing one player. It also let Liquid maintain pressure when individual opening duels changed from round to round.
JT’s 0.79 rating was the only negative number on Liquid, but an in-game leader’s contribution cannot be measured through fragging alone. The team maintained control across both maps and allowed Wildcard only 13 total rounds, which is the more important collective outcome.
The perfect map record is the strongest part of the result
Tournament titles can be won through difficult lower-bracket runs or repeated recoveries, but Liquid followed the shortest available route. They never needed a deciding map and arrived at the trophy with no recorded map defeat. That consistency distinguishes the campaign from a single strong grand final.
Wildcard had earned their place by advancing through the same LAN, yet they could not reproduce the resistance M80 had shown in the semifinal opener. Inferno was decided quickly, and the nine rounds on Anubis were not enough to force a third map.
The result should still be treated as a foundation rather than proof that Liquid have solved every issue against international opposition. Its immediate value is precise: a regional LAN trophy, a clean 8-0 map record and a long organizational title drought brought to an end. The four straight sweeps also gave the roster repeated practice at converting early advantages without depending on a lower-bracket recovery.
| Stage | Opponent | Series result |
|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Chicken Coop | Liquid won 2-0 |
| Group stage | NRG | Liquid won 2-0 |
| Semifinal | M80 | Liquid won 2-0 |
| Grand final | Wildcard | Liquid won 2-0 |
| Final maps | Inferno / Anubis | 13-4 / 13-9 |
Liquid leave iBUYPOWER Masters FML with the trophy and every map on their side of the ledger. malbsMd’s 1.62 final rating supplied the headline performance, while three teammates above 1.20 made the deciding series a broad team success across both sides of the map.
The next events will determine how far that momentum travels beyond the regional field and whether the same balance survives against deeper opposition. For this tournament, however, the result is unambiguous: Liquid beat four opponents without conceding a map and closed the final against Wildcard in two.
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