Team Liquid Win Clash Royale League 2019 World Finals after Surgical Goblin masterclass

Cover image source: @Team Liquid | Thumbnail source: @Clash Royale Esports

The second edition of the Clash Royale World League Finals came to an end with CRL West representatives, Team Liquid walking away as champions. The team looked a bit out of shape in the group stages and missed the leadership and skills of Frank ‘Surgical Goblin’ Oskam, who was delayed due to visa issues. However, with him joining the team in the playoffs, the team took down three opponents in a row to lift the trophy. The win means that the team will go back home richer by 150K USD and be hailed as the world champions in Clash Royale. 

Quarter Finals

Defending champions, Nova Esports had a rough going, falling to former teammate, Soloman’s W.EDGM in the first round of the playoffs. Despite having won the season in China, Nova were unable to take down their countrymen in the World Finals and lost the chance to defend their trophy.

On the other side of the bracket, Team Liquid took on Korean side, OGN Entus in an enticing quarterfinal matchup. After a 1-1 draw in the 2v2 and 1v1 matches, it came down to King of the Hill. Despite losing KaNaRiOoo early, Liquid put on an incredible display on the back of Russian youngster, Egor. The 16-year old rookie clean swept Entus, going 3-0, even pulling out his signature Mortar strat to seal the win for his team.  

16-year old rookie, Egor showed just why he is considered the best Mortar player in the world

Image via: @Team Liquid

Semi Finals

In the semifinals, Liquid took on arch rivals, SK Gaming, the same team who had beaten them to the top spot in the CRL West Finals. Having lost the 2v2 match, Surgical Goblin tied things up 1-1 after taking the 1v1 series against Javi. In KOTH, Liquid were on a roll, till SK’s specialist Morten brought things down to a tie with consecutive wins over KaNaRiOoo and Egor. However, SG once again stepped up, taking down Morten with a heavy defensive deck and only using chip damage with a Magic Archer. Since all structures were up even after over time, it came down to tower hitpoints and Morten fell short by 1 HP. 

On the other side, W.EDGM smashed Japanese side, FAV Gaming 2-0, winning both the 2v2 and 1v1 in a clinical display. 

Grand Finals

The Grand Finals was much more one-sided with Liquid edging out their Chinese opponents 3-1. A win in the 2v2 and solo wins for KaNaRiOoo and Surgical Goblin allowed the European powerhouse to lock things up and be crowned the world champions after a long season. 

Spain's KaNaRiOoo also stepped up in the Grand Finals with wins in the 2v2 and the 1v1

Image via @KaNaRiOoo

With this the 2019 season for Clash Royale has now come to an end and all eyes are set on 2020 to see what plans Supercell has for the game and the competitive ecosystem.