Team Liquid falls to vengeful SRG in epic M7 Swiss Stage encounter

In perhaps their most challenging match yet, Team Liquid dropped a 2-1 thriller to Malaysia's Selangor Red Giants (SRG) in the M7 World Championship Swiss Stage on Tuesday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Cavalry started strong after taking the first game, but the four-time Malaysian champions showed why they are among the teams to beat, storming back to claim the next two games and secure a playoff berth.

The win allowed SRG to avenge its previous losses to Team Liquid, including defeats in the finals of both the 2025 Mid-Season Cup and the 2025 Southeast Asian Games. It also snapped Team Liquid's 10-game winning streak dating back to MPL Philippines Season 16 lower bracket finals. 

Team Liquid had to buck a slow start in Game 1 as SRG gained an early upper hand thanks to a rare Savage play from Filipino import John "Innocent" Banal, who unloaded the feat using Sora in the gold lane. 

That Savage play also became the first one in the ongoing M7 tournament and fourth overall in the history of M-series. 

But his counterpart in Kiel "Oheb" Soriano (Claude) fueled the late-game surge of Team Liquid as the Philippine champions drew first blood. 

Innocent once again shone in Game 2, this time leading SRG to the victory with his five kills and 10 assists with his second consecutive use of Sora as the Malaysian crew tied the series to one game apiece. 

Everything then came down to a grueling Game 3.

Team Liquid finally decided to ban Sora during the drafting phase, but it also backfired on them as Innocent picked Cici together with Mark "Kramm" Rusiana's Uranus and Muhammad "Sekysss" Zaman's Hayabusa that all proved pivotal for SRG. 

The Cavalry was able to prolong the match despite SRG taking down all its turrets and the first three Lord objectives. Team Liquid even secured the fourth Lord courtesy of a Retribution play from Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno (Lancelot), sparking a potential comeback. 

But a crucial pick-off by Kramm on Oheb (Granger) at the 27th minute mark eventually led to a four-man wipe against Team Liquid, allowing SRG to complete the upset victory.

Team Liquid still has a shot at redemption as it faces the Yangon Galacticos of Myanmar in the next round, where the winner will advance to the playoffs.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News