Esports Gaming: Brazil’s SK Gaming fought tooth and nail on their way to becoming crowned champions of the ESL Pro League Season 6 at the Sparekassen Fyn Arena in Odense, Denmark.
SK have been on a tear as of late, seeing a number of strong final positions in tournaments ever since the addition of boltz, formerly of Immortals, to the roster.
Fer quickly off the mark
SK opened Group B play against North, a team expected to make it through to the playoffs. The map was Overpass, where SK Gaming had a surprisingly efficient T-half, claiming nine of the first 12 rounds before North fought back to claim the final three for a 9-6 SK Gaming lead. The second half CT side was all about SK’s aggression, with fer, in particular, playing well. Focusing his aggression on both Long A as well as Mid/bathrooms, fer continually disrupted North, giving SK a strong advantage. SK dropped only a single round on their way to a 16-7 stomp.
SK Gaming then dropped a match to OpTic Gaming who, coupled with coach ImAPet, have been known for their anti-strats, particularly against SK. OpTic pulled off the nail-biting 16-14 win on Mirage. However, with a heightened focus, SK ended up sweeping the final three match-ups in group play, with wins over NiP (16-9 on Overpass), NRG (16-9 on Cache), and Misfits (16-7 on Cache), giving them a 4-1 record and the number one seed.
Misfits no match
That top seed sent SK straight into the semifinals, where they found themselves against Misfits, a fellow Group B member. The entire best-of-three series was a one-sided affair, with SK Gaming taking control from the start. SK, opening on Cobblestone, completely shut down Misfit’s attacking strategy, claiming ten rounds on their CT side, primarily on the back of the often-criticized TACO, who held down B quite well. SK dropped only the pistol round in the second half, leading to a quick and easy 16-6 win. The second map of Overpass was the most one-sided affair of the tournament, with SK crushing in a 16-1 stomp. To put it in perspective, fer, who had dominated on Overpass all tournament long, carrying them in a sense, only needed seven kills during the entire match.
FaZe Clan await
The finals saw a clash of the titans, as SK faced off against FaZe Clan, with each team attempting to prove they deserve to be ranked number one. The first map was Inferno, an intelligent selection for FaZe Clan given SK’s recent struggles on the map, even with boltz in the lineup. The first half was incredibly even, with FaZe narrowly holding an 8-7 lead at halftime. From there, FaZe found a rhythm, continually winning an extra round here or there, allowing them to pull off the close 16-13 win.
The second map of Overpass was truly one-sided, even if the scoreline does not reflect that. SK Gaming grabbed seven rounds on their T side, with FaZe acquiring eight almost solely on the back of olofmeister’s incredible play. Olof cooled off in the second half and FaZe struggled, only getting three rounds in the 16-11 SK win. The third map was Mirage, FaZe’s choice, yet SK dominated the opening half with an impressive 13-2 CT side. Karrigan and crew, however, bounced back and made the game interesting, claiming seven of eight rounds on their CT side. SK were too potent, claiming the final two rounds needed for the 16-9 win. In-Game leader and AWPer FalleN had a fabulous game, grabbing 23 kills and topping the scoreboard.
Final map a classic
The fourth map of Train was an all-time classic, with one of the most insane plays in CS:GO’s history. The game looked all but over in the 28th round, with SK up 15-12, in a 2v1, with FalleN defusing the bomb inside the smoke. FaZe’s GuardiaN was able to kill fer before running out of bullets, thus believing the map and series was over, as he would have no way to kill FalleN, the defuser he could not see. Guardian, however, made an incredible play at the last possible moment, whipping his knife out and stabbing around in the smoke to kill FalleN, just before the defuse went through, to give FaZe the round. Eventually, overtime would be forced but SK recovered, winning 19-16 and claiming the championship.
Overall, it was an excellent win for SK as the Brazilians took home both first-place bragging rights and the $225,000 prize. That’s six consecutive event victories for SK, who continue to be the team to beat.
