BLAST R6 Major Manchester semi-finals preview: Team Liquid keep Brazil's hopes alive, full North American grand final still on the cards

_{Banner Image: Ubisoft / Adela S. @adelasznajder}

Later today, four of the best teams in the world will meet in the BLAST R6 Major Manchester semi-finals. It's hard to name a clear favorite with the abscence of the Six Invitational 2024 grand finalists FURIA Esports and FaZe Clan, who were knocked out of Manchester following their defeats against Team Liquid and Beastcoast, respectively.

Here's a look at today's matches!

Storylines

Today's games include multiple storylines, with these being the most important ones:

• If Team Liquid and Team BDS win their matches, we will have a replay of the Six Jönköping Major grand final. Back then, the Frenchmen lifted the trophy after a 3-2 win.
• If Beastcoast and DarkZero Esports win their games, we will have two North American teams at an international Siege grand final for the first time since the Six Charlotte Major. Back then, DarkZero Esports won the competition after a 3-2 win against Astralis.
• Josh "Yuzus" Pritchard, Fatih "Solotov" Türker (Team BDS), and Nathan "Nafe" Sharp (DarkZero Esports) will meet for the first time since the three players left MNM Gaming.

Team Liquid vs. Beastcoast

Both Team Liquid and Beastcoast began Stage 1 with losing streaks. While the Brazilians kicked off the season with four back-to-back defeats, the North American lineup fell against M80 and Wildcard Gaming after two heated overtimes. Two months after their negative runs, both organizations will clash in the BLAST R6 Major Manchester semi-finals.

Surprisingly, after qualifying for Manchester through their region's Last Chance Qualifiers, Team Liquid is Brazil's only hope to bring the trophy home. If the Blue Cavalry fell against Beastcoast later today, the green and yellow region would miss out on a Six Major trophy for the first time since the Six Jönköping Major.

At this stage of the tournament, none of Team Liquid's players are among the best ten-rated players in the competition, with Luccas "Paluh" Molina and Gabriel "Maia" Maia being in seventeenth and eighteenth place with SiegeGG ratings of 1.14 and 1.11 after 17 maps played.

Meanwhile, Beastcoast currently has the highest-rated player in Manchester as Shaun "Gunnar" Pottorff's 1.86 performance against FaZe Clan saw his overall rating skyrocketing to 1.29. It's also worth mentioning that the American's only match against Team Liquid was a 2-0 victory for Soniqs at the Six Invitational 2023 — despite finishing the match as the worst-rated player in his team with a SiegeGG rating of 1.06.

Last but not least, the former DarkZero Esports and Spacestation Gaming players Gaven "Gaveni" Black (1.17) and Matthew "Hotancold" Stevens (1.10) follow him closely in Beastcoast's player stats. The experience both players have gathered in previous international competitions may prove crucial for the North Americans, who are one game away from reaching an international grand final only a few months after assembling the roster.

Team BDS vs. DarkZero Esports

On the other side of the bracket, Team BDS and DarkZero Esports will meet for the first time since the Six Invitational 2022. Overall, the record between both teams is even as they have two victories each. However, the Americans' wins may be a bit more impressive as they were in BO3 series. If that wasn't enough, five of the ten maps played between both teams have gone to overtime.

Today's match will include four of the best ten-rated players at the BLAST R6 Major Manchester in Josh "Yuzus" Pritchard (1.22), Jason "Beaulo" Doty (1.21), Nick "njr" Rapier (1.21), and Théo "LikEfac" Mariano (1.19). With both teams having a combined amount of seven international champions, this has the best odds to be today's best match.

Although it's hard to pick a favorite side to win this match, there's a stat that must be mentioned. Since the start of Year 8, Team BDS have won all of their matches against North American sides, including victories against Spacestation Gaming (7-2 and 7-5), Soniqs (2-1), Oxygen Esports (2-0), and M80 (3-0). Meanwhile, DarkZero Esports are yet to win against a European roster after falling thrice against G2 Esports (6-8 in Atlanta, 0-2, and 0-2 in São Paulo), Virtus.pro (1-2) and Team Secret (5-7).