The top Counter Strike players in the world were in Southern California last week as eight teams met at the Anaheim Arena for the conclusion of the second season of the eSports Championship Series. Four teams from the EU and four from the Americas were on show in what was expected to be a competitive tournament. It didn’t turn out that way however.
Danes crush the competition
The Danes of Astralis took the ECS Season 2 Finals by storm, taking the title without dropping a single map as they brushed aside all opposition.
Astralis have been on an upswing ever since the addition of Gla1ve as their in-game leader, going as far as reaching the ELeague Season 2 Finals recently in Atlanta against OpTic.
While Astralis ultimately failed at ELeague, they experienced no such difficulties in the ECS Season 2 Finals, where they once again faced OpTic. Closing out games on both Overpass and Train, Astralis ascended to the top of the HLTV rankings after their dominating run.
There’s no question that the impact of adding Gla1ve and removing Karrigan has worked wonders for Astralis, in particular it has provided them with a greater tactical edge against almost any opponent.
Not to take anything away from Karrigan, but over time it was clear that the other members of Astralis had lost faith in their leader, leading to lower and lower results as time pressed on. The introduction of Gla1ve has had a profound impact on Astralis’ Terrorist side (the more tactical of the two), increasing the amount of success on executes by a significant margin.
Dev1ce stands out
Even in a team full of stars, Dev1ce stands out among them as the true carry of this team. Whether it’s with the AWP or AK47/M4, Dev1ce has been one of the best players in the world for quite some time. Dev1ce has the ability to completely take over a game and showcased that skill in one of the most incredible rounds CS:GO has seen this year.
During the 2nd pistol round vs. OpTic in the Grand Finals, Dev1ce was able to eliminate three members of OpTic before running out of ammo in his USP. With no gun around to pick up and replace his USP, Dev1ce made the hero play; pulling out his knife to kill the final two members of OpTic, leaving him with an Ace (killed all five opponents in a single round), two knife kills, the bomb defuse, and the round win. Dev1ce showed everything Astralis could ask for in the finals, including consistency with the ability to single-handedly take over rounds when they looked all but lost.
With Gla1ve’s mind and Dev1ce’s superstar level, the three perfect complimentary players for Astralis are Dupreeh, Xyp9x, and Kjaerbye. Even though each player could be the star of a different team, all three combined well to be the consistent riflers this team needed, allowing Gla1ve to implement his strategy and for Dev1ce to run wild.
Kjaerbye comes to the fore
The player from the trio who has stood out most recently has to be the second most recent addition, Kjaerbye. When he came over from Dignitas, Kjaerbye was supposed to be the missing piece of the jigsaw for Astralis to put them over the top. With Karrigan at the helm Kjaerbye never seemed to hit his stride and was unable to reach the potential so many predicted for him in the star-studded line up. With Gla1ve’s introduction Kjaerbye has finally been unleashed, becoming the subtle star that so many expected him to be.
Virtus.Pro has generally been considered the best team in the world in recent months. However, the addition of Gla1ve to Astralis has been a masterstroke and the team is a worthy entry into the discussion.
