In one of the most intense and competitive tournaments of the year, Brazil’s SK Gaming walked away as champions of the Esports Championship Series Season 3 Finals at the SSE Arena at Wembley in London.
There were numerous surprises, not least Cloud9’s undefeated play in the Group Stage and Fnatic not winning a single game, but when all was said and done, the best CS:GO sides rose to the top.
Group of Death sees G2 Esports fall
Placed into Group A, which was dubbed the Group of Death due to three of the top four teams being placed within it, SK squared off against the French super-team of G2 Esports in their opening match.
SK displayed brilliance on their CT-side of Cache, opening up a 12-3 lead at the interval. G2 continued to have limited success in the second half as SK split the opening eight rounds 4-4, which gave the Brazilians the win.
Next up for SK was FaZe Clan on Train, where once again the Brazilians secured a commanding lead early on. After a 10-5 T-side, SK showed no sign of slowing down on their CT-side as they secured six out of nine rounds, giving them a clean 16-8 win. At the forefront for SK was entry-fragger fer, who secured an impressive 26 kills in 24 rounds.
Classic clash in the semifinals
Moving on to the playoffs, where it was a best-of-three single elimination format, SK played two of the best series in Counter Strike this year.
In the semifinals SK met the Danes of Astralis, a team considered by many to be the current #1 team in the world. The first map was Overpass, a map upon which Astralis had only lost twice on LAN this year (both times to a team featuring stanislaw, first OpTic and then Liquid in the Group Stage here).
Astralis dominated from the start, securing nine rounds on the less-favoured T-side. The Danes then gathered six of the first seven rounds of the second half, putting them on map point. While SK then did pick up five rounds in a row, the game was never in jeopardy as Astralis secured the final round they needed to close off a 16-12 win.
SK fight back
Map Two was Mirage, on which an entire team effort gave SK the win. SK only managed to grab six opening T rounds, which put them on shaky ground moving to the CT-side. However, the Brazilians had an incredibly odd string of results after this, losing one round before winning three in a row. This occurred three times to open the second half, putting them on map point at 15-12. Astralis then battled back with two rounds in a row before SK slammed the door at 16-14, forcing a third map.
Inferno was the location of this battle and Astralis and SK once again found themselves in a slugfest. After Astralis had garnered five rounds in a row on their T-side to start the map, SK countered by winning seven of eight. Astralis then finished the half by grabbing the last two rounds, giving them an 8-7 halftime lead. However, SK looked completely dominant on their T-side, putting together impressive round after impressive round. They only dropped four rounds on their T-side, giving them a 16-12 win and a date, and rematch, with FaZe in the Finals. FalleN in particular had a standout game on Inferno with 22 kills.
A familiar opponent awaits
Beginning on Mirage in the Finals, FaZe Clan set the tone early by winning 10 of the first 12 rounds on the less-favoured T-side. While SK countered with nine out of 10 rounds (three to close the half, then six of seven to open the second half), FaZe were able to stabilize and win the final five rounds to secure the map victory. Superstar NiKo had a brilliant performance for FaZe as he dropped 27 kills in as many rounds.
The second map of the Finals was Inferno, where SK had just enough to edge FaZe Clan. Both teams secured six T rounds and nine CT rounds to force Overtime before SK grabbed four of the six OT rounds for the victory. Entry-fragger fer once again had a dominant performance for SK as he gathered 31 kills (tied for most), as well as a 1.42 rating (which was the highest on the server).
The final map was Train, where each team dominated their CT-side to the tune of 13-2. This forced the second straight Overtime, where once again SK found themselves the victors. After struggling on their T-side SK swapped their play style for Overtime, instead taking a slow and methodical approach. FalleN’s switch-up paid off as SK picked up one round on their T-side while not dropping a single CT round, giving them the title.
Astralis has come into the tournament as one of the favourites, but to fall in the semifinals illustrates just how good the top teams are at the moment. Meanwhile, SK Gaming walked away with the $250,000 top prize and, at least for now, international bragging rights. With more events coming up, it’ll be interesting to see if the Brazilians can build on their victory here in what is a highly competitive field right now.
