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Well, well, well…. look who’s going to London.

Despite being booted early in the qualifiers by none other than VP.Prodigy, yes, Virtus.pro’s academy team, Team Liquid are making their way to BLAST Open London after The MongolZ had to pull out due to visa troubles.

It’s the kind of plot twist no one saw coming, not even Liquid themselves. Just not too long ago, the CS2 world watched them get absolutely schooled in the RES Showdown 2: BLAST Premier Rising. That early knockout, especially to an academy squad, had fans questioning whether the whole siuhy-led rebuild was dead in the water.

From Shaky Ground to a Shot at Redemption

But Liquid got lucky.

With The MongolZ forced to withdraw after being unable to secure travel access to the UK for the LAN playoffs, a slot magically opened up. BLAST handed it to Liquid, giving them what might just be their last real shot to salvage this season.

They’ve already kicked things off in BLAST Bounty Season 2, starting with a wild ride of a match against ECSTATIC. The match was an absolute banger, dragging on for five overtimes on Train. It wasn’t perfect CS by any means, but it showed a different fire from the North American squad.

And let’s be honest, for a team that’s been spiralling for most of the year, any sign of life is worth talking about.

The Road to Wembley Is No Walk in the Park

The BLAST Open London kicks off online on August 27, with only six squads making it through to the LAN finals at Ovo Arena Wembley (September 5–7). And when you’re up against the likes of Vitality, MOUZ, NaVi, G2, and FaZe, nobody’s tipping Liquid to make it out alive.

Still, the path’s there. And if they manage to book a ticket to Wembley, they’ll gain precious VRS ranking points ahead of the Starladder Budapest 2025 Major cutoff.

That said, Liquid need more than just luck. They need to show they belong. Five overtimes against ECSTATIC is a good start. But against tier-one monsters? They’ll need to look like a completely different beast.

MongolZ Sit This One Out

As for The MongolZ, it’s a tough blow. The Mongolian giants are currently ranked #4 globally and had one hell of a run earlier this year, remember their runner-up finish at the Blast.tv Austin Major after knocking out FaZe and paiN?

Unfortunately, their recent IEM Cologne showing was underwhelming, partly due to only having four days of prep. And now, with London off the table, they’ll be sidelined while the rest of the field battles it out.

Still, sitting out may not be the worst thing for them. Their rankings are stable, and this forced break could give them time to sharpen the little details needed to start lifting trophies again.

Team Liquid might have stumbled into BLAST Open London through the back door, but opportunity doesn’t knock twice. They’ve already tasted humiliation this season, this might just be the turning point they desperately need.

London’s calling. Let’s see if Liquid answers.