Team Spirit vs Team Liquid - Intel Extreme Masters 2026 Rio

Spirit's head-to-head record against Liquid is the story here. A 73% all-time winrate against this opponent is not a fluke. It is a pattern. Their most recent meeting, just 24 days ago, ended in another 2-0 Spirit victory. Liquid simply has not found an answer, and nothing in their recent run suggests that is about to change.

Both rosters are struggling right now. Spirit dropped series to MongolZ, PARIVISION, and Astralis inside the last month. Liquid fared no better, falling to Sashi and M80 within the past two weeks. But Spirit's map pool gives them a structural edge. Their 71% winrate on Dust2 and 64% on Ancient compare favorably to Liquid's numbers on the same surfaces. Liquid's comfort maps are Mirage and Inferno, and forcing those picks is their only real path forward.

The problem for Liquid is that Spirit knows this matchup better than almost any team on the circuit. Three losses in their last five is a concern, but Spirit has beaten Liquid at 73% across a large sample. Until Liquid shows they can break that pattern, backing the historical favourite is the logical call.

Thunderpick odds(at time of writing):

Team Spirit to win 1.08

Team Liquid to win 6.30