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Every Race to World First is a huge event of its own, and the race through Manaforge Omega was no exception. And, as usual, it was Liquid and Echo, the top two guilds in the world, who battled for control of the race. But in the end, Liquid Guild stood victorious for the third raid in a row.

As usual, given the earlier North American server reset, Liquid took the lead on the mid-raid bosses. They fell behind only briefly on boss #6, Fractillus, before pulling ahead again going into the final boss, Dimensius the All-Devouring. Liquid and Echo wound up head-to-head on Dimensius, trading new best attempts and spots on the leaderboard for days before it all culminated in a grand finale on Saturday, August 23. On that fateful day, Liquid and Echo, both acutely aware of how close the other was to victory, pushed to secure the win on the final boss in this expansion. 

Echo seemed to have it in the bag, with two back to back attempts that could have been kills if only a player or two had stayed alive slightly longer. Many fans and commentators were convinced then that, despite the time difference and the fact that they had already been playing for 18 hours, Echo would emerge victorious. 

Liquid had been consistently nearing the finish line too, just faltering at the very end. However, they hadn’t yet seen the very low percent health wipes that Echo had just accomplished. And then, in the midst of a series of early wipes, Liquid had THE pull.

It was beautifully clean through Dimensius’ first two phases; the raiders dove through the ruins of shattered worlds and dodged a myriad of broken stars and void zones. They reached the final phase with everyone alive and executed several difficult mechanical overlaps with no players lost. Only when the boss reached 13% did players begin to fall… but Liquid still had the battle resurrections available.

1 player down - resurrected. 2 more players down at 12% - raid leader Max made the call to leave the healer down, prioritizing damage over all in the final moments. On the Team Liquid main stream, chat flew by as the fans, sensing that THIS was the one, sent all their energy to the team.

The shoutcasters on broadcast counted down, voices rising in anticipation. Behind them, the building buzzed with a chorus of growing cheers.

2%...

1%...

Then, Dimensius fell — and Team Liquid took World First for Manaforge Omega in typical Liquid fashion. Before Dimensius’ health even hit zero, Max was already up and celebrating; when the kill registered, he was out of the room immediately, his thrown headset even muting the celebratory screams of the rest of the raid team. The jubilant faces, discarded headsets, and raucous cheers of the Team Liquid raiders and support staff was a stark contrast to the composure each player had to demonstrate throughout the fight. This had been an incredible race, and the tension at the end was palpable. As Max said in his post-race interview, “It was so close, we knew how close they were… it was like my heart was going to explode.”

Any Race to World First victory is an exciting one, of course, but this particular win meant much more. This win earned Liquid Guild the three-peat, the full expansion sweep – something no guild on the modern Mythic raiding scene has been able to achieve. Raiding at the world first level has become so enormously competitive and simultaneously so restrictive, given the massive time and financial barriers to entry, that it’s almost impossible for a new RWF guild to break onto the scene. Yet still, none of the “Big 3” RWF teams (Liquid, Echo, and Method) have been able to seal the deal with an expansion sweep, either.   

Until now, of course. World of Warcraft: The War Within, and especially its third raid, Manaforge Omega, will forever stand as a remarkable moment in Race to World First history. This is the expansion, this is the raid, for the first ever RWF three-peat, accomplished by Liquid Guild. 

While the sun may be setting on this expansion, World of Warcraft: Midnight is on the horizon, and with it, an entirely new set of raiding challenges... ones that Liquid Guild will, no doubt, rise to meet.