The review of ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals
Ihor MatusThe teams, which have disappointed
North
The Danish team performed pretty well at the championship and proved one more time that it can make comebacks. In the first match, North defeated Team Liquid, which became the champions as a result, and almost prevailed over FaZe Clan in the second one, having lost to the last ones with a score 1-2. The end of North’s performance at the tournament was made by MIBR, which beat the Danes with a score 2-1. The third map Overpass was over with a score 16-13 and North was close to the victory. Many viewers thought that North would advance to the final of the lower bracket, however, the situation was a completely different scenario.
North placed 9th-12th and earned $15,000 for their efforts.
Astralis
Astralis came to the tournament as one of the favorites. The Danes confidently beat Cloud9 and Heroic, however, they were not able to prevail over NRG Esports in the final of the upper bracket, on the outcome of which gla1ve with his teammates moved to the quarterfinal where they were waited by the guys from Team Liquid. The Americans, in turn, lost the first map to Astralis but won on the next two. The Danish team finished its participation in the tournament in the quarterfinal stage when it was expected to make it to the semi-final, at least. In such a way, all viewers see that the era of Astralis is over and this team can’t terrify its opponents for sure as it was during the last year.
Astralis placed 5th-6th and received a money prize in the sum of $20,000.
The participants, which have performed in accordance with expectations
FaZe Clan
The players from FaZe Clan had the same fate as Astralis. The team confidently won the first two matches but lost in the final of the upper bracket, on the outcome of which started its way in the playoffs from the quarterfinal. There, they were met by the French from G2 Esports who had prepared for the tournament pretty thoroughly and were in nice shape. Due to this reason, FaZe Clan was not able to show real opposition and left the tournament after the match with G2.
FaZe, just like Astralis, placed 5th-6th and received a money reward in the sum of $20,000.
MIBR
MIBR performed at this championship not in the best way. The Brazilians lost the match against mousesports and stepped down to the lower bracket. There, they beat their countrymen from Luminosity Gaming and defeated North in a tough battle. MIBR lost in the match for getting to the playoffs against Team Liquid. Due to this reason, the Brazilian team’s performance can be called pretty predictable. Many strong teams took part in the championship and there were only six slots in the playoff stage. MIBR was not able to enter the top six and that’s not surprising.
MIBR placed 7th-8th and became the owner of a prize in the sum of $17,000.
Fnatic
Fnatic is also famous for being not the most stable team. They can enter the top three at one championship, while they will not advance to the playoffs at another one, just like it happened at ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals. The Swedes lost the first match against NRG Esports with a score 12-16 and, having stepped down to the lower bracket, managed to beat the players from Grayhound Gaming. The luck was not on their side in the next match against Heroic and Fnatic left the competition in the second round of the lower bracket. It was a bit unpredictable for someone and someone expected not a very good performance from the Swedes.
As a result, Fnatic placed 9th-12th at ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals and earned a money prize in the sum of $15,000.
Cloud9
Cloud9 performed pretty predictably. They were defeated in the first match with Astralis with a score 9-16, after which moved to the lower bracket. There, they managed to beat DETONA Gaming with a score 2-0 with a big breakaway in rounds. After that, they faced G2 Esports, which were ready pretty decisively. C9 created a good fight against the French, having won 12 rounds on the first map and 13 rounds on the second one.
Cloud9, just like G2 Esports, placed 9th-12th and earned a money reward in the sum of $15,000.
HellRaisers
Despite HR surprised the public at the end of its performance, the team played almost without surprises, like the majority of the participants. HR defeated their opponents from Luminosity Gaming in the first round of the upper bracket and faced the power of mousesports in the second round. HellRaisers won 13 rounds on two maps in total in the match against the Europeans and went to play in the lower bracket. There, they met the most difficult opponent from all possible, Team Liquid. All viewers expected to see a quick loss to “the horses” and an end of the participation in the tournament. Liquid won the first map Vertigo without special efforts with a score 16-11. The battle was tough on the second battlefield, Inferno, but as a result, HellRaisers delayed their elimination for one more map. Overpass became the final map and there was a bitter fight. HellRaisers were leading with a score 13-9 and some viewers thought that would see HR in the match for getting to the playoffs, however, Liquid managed to turn the battle to their favor, having made a good comeback. The last map was over with a score 16-14.
HellRaisers placed 9th-12th and earned a money prize in the sum of $15,000.
Team Liquid
With regard to the first place of the standings, everything was without surprises there. The main favorite in the face of Team Liquid became the champion of the competition. It’s worth to notice an interesting fact that mousesports, HR, and G2 were a way bigger trouble for the American team than Astralis. Two most interesting matches with Liquid were their matches against HellRaisers and G2 Esports. Liquid was close to a loss in the match with HR and the team played the longest map, which lasted 47 rounds, in the grand final against G2 Esports. The last match was the most interesting and entertaining and Liquid proved one more time that it is the best CS:GO roster in the world.
The team earned a money prize in the sum of $250,000 for their efforts and the first place at the past ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals.
It’s worth to remind that this championship was part of the Intel Grand Slam series and Liquid now has 3 victories out of 4 required on their score. If the Americans achieve victory at one of the next tournament in the Intel Grand Slam series, they will earn the money bonus in the sum of $1,000,000.
Grayhound Gaming, DETONA Gaming, TYLOO, Luminosity Gaming
These teams initially came to the tournament as the main outsiders and there is nothing surprising about them placing 13th-16th and earning $14,000.
The teams, which have surprised with their performance
Heroic
Heroic advanced a bit further than viewers had expected from them. The Danes achieved an easy victory in the first match with DETONA Gaming, after which lost to their countrymen from Astralis. Having stepped down to the lower bracket, Heroic beat Fnatic with a score 2-1 and made a small sensation in such a way, having made it to the final of the lower bracket. There, they had to fight with G2 Esports in the last battle for them. They won only 3 rounds on Vertigo and they made a more serious competition on Dust 2 and won 11 rounds. As a result, G2 advanced to the quarterfinal.
Heroic placed 7th-8th at ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals and earned a money reward in the sum of $17,000.
NRG Esports
NRG Esports has not been showing interesting performances for a long time and their game became a bit worse. The Americans beat Fnatic in the first round of the upper bracket. After that, they fought with G2 Esports, having achieved victory over the last ones with a score 2-1, and NRG defeated Astralis in the decisive battle, which determined the seeding in the playoffs, with a result 2-1. In the semi-final, they faced G2 Esports, which had beaten FaZe Clan before that. The French were ready to win a rematch and, prevailed over their American opponents not without efforts, having brought their performance to the end.
NRG Esports placed 3rd-4th and earned $40,000 for their efforts.
mousesports
This CS:GO roster was assembled on March 14 and the past month was enough for the players to go far enough. Ropz with his teammates beat MIBR with a score 16-8 in the group stage, after which prevailed over HellRaisers, having lost 13 rounds in total on total maps to the last ones. The European team faced FaZe Clan in the final of the upper bracket, having beaten it with a score 2-0, and advanced to the semi-final. Mousesports met Team Liquid there and lost to the Americans. It’s worth to notice that the battle went long on the second map and was brought to overtime where the Americans won with a score 19-17.
mousesports entered the top four and earned the deserved money reward in the sum of $40,000.
G2 Esports
G2 Esports, of course, became the team to surprise most of all. The French managed to receive big support of the audience and made it to the final of the championship due to a moral. In the group stage, G2 beat Grayhound Gaming, after which lost to NRG Esports in the second round. Having stepped down to the lower bracket, the French beat Cloud9 with a score 2-0 and they prevailed over Heroic in the decisive match with the same result.
In the final stage of the championship, G2 started its way from the quarterfinal where they had to beat FaZe Clan. The French successfully did their objective without losing a map to their opponents. They played against NRG Esports in the semi-final and achieved victory over them with a score 2-1. Having made it to the final, G2 Esports had a very difficult goal: to beat the best team in the world, however, this goal didn’t look that impossible with the audience, which was cheering for G2 very well. The teams fought well on Dust, having brought the match to overtime. As a result, Liquid managed to tip the scale in their favor, having won the map with a score 19-15. The French won only 3 rounds against the Americans on Overpass. The match was interesting on Nuke and G2 scored the third map, having lost to Team Liquid 12 rounds. Inferno became the most intriguing and longest map of the tournament. There, the teams were playing till the second overtime series and as a result, G2, who were tired, were not able to resist against the pressure of the experienced Team Liquid who won the map with a score 25-22.