MLG Columbus: Team Liquid sensationally beats Fnatic on day 2

Liquid makes history by being first NA team to make it out of groups at a Major in nearly two years. This has been a great tournament so far.

After only two days of play, MLG Columbus is already one of the most memorable tournaments of the past year.

Team Liquid managed a historic upset in the Group B winners match where they faced Fnatic, currently the best team in the world. No North American team has managed to move on from the groups in a Major since Cologne 2014, and with Fnatic being on a six-tournament winning streak, this should have been an easy day at the office for the Swedes.

But no-one had told Team Liquid that, apparently. After rallying from a 1-5 deficit on Dust II, Liquid took the following nine rounds for a 10-5 score at half time. They even won the pistol round after switching to T-side.

Fnatic, kings of fighting back from a deficit, managed to take back the lead and got the match point with some great play, but Liquid wouldn't let up. They pushed the game into double over time, and eeked out a win through clutch plays by Hiko, S1mple, EliGE and adreN.

The win sends Liquid to the playoffs, meaning they've earned Legend status and will automatically qualify for the next Major, whenever that happens.

Fnatic, on the other hand, will play FaZe Clan today in a best-of-3 decider match to determine which of the two move on to the playoffs.

Team Liquid pulled the biggest upset of MLG Columbus by defeating Fnatic last night.

The day began with a marathon match between FlipSid3 and Mousesports that went into quintuple overtime as the teams kept trading rounds and couldn't finish their opponents off. Mousesports eventually pushed through, ending the game with a ridiculous 31-28 score.

FaZe knocked out Splyce, while G2 Esports picked Cloud9 apart. Gambit Gaming got the final word in the tale of EnVyUs' fall from grace, as they knocked the Cluj-Napoca Major winners out of the tournament.

In the winners matches, Luminosity predictably made short work of Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis beat Counter Logic Gaming, and Na'Vi had a dominant 16-4 win over Virtus.Pro.

Today features the decider matches of each group, which will determine what final four teams will move on to the playoffs. These games will be played as best of three series, starting at 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST later today.

MLG also revealed the bracket draw for the round of 8. One notable matchup here is Astralis vs the winner of Fnatic/FaZe clan. Given that Fnatic will likely win their decider match, it seems Astralis drew the shortest straw. You'll find the playoff bracket below.