We chose the five coolest finals from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as an eSports discipline which every fan of the game must-see. Spectacular comebacks, tough confrontations, and sweaty seven-hour long play sessions — read and watch!
Cloud9 vs. FaZe, ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
The grand finals of the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 saw Cloud9 and FaZe going head to head. The match ended with the victory of the American team by a score of 2:1, and it’s by far the most hard-won victory in the whole history of Majors.
At the PGL Major Kraków 2017, the previous Major, Cloud9 had almost reached the playoffs and ensured a legendary status for themselves (but they didn’t). The team faced the beginning of the tournament in Boston in good shape. A couple of first places in competitions and a position in the top 4 at Intel Extreme Masters XII: Oakland — all testified to thorough preparation for matches on the part of the Americans.
The Major started very favorably for the guys. The team got 3:0 in the matches within the New Challengers Stage right off the bat and reached the next stage of the tournament. And they weren’t just three regular victories. In the match against mouz, for example, the team achieved an overwhelming victory by a score of 16:5 on Train!
But starting from the New Legends Stage, Cloud9 began having a hard time. To reach the playoffs, the guys had to really strain themselves after they initially got a 0:2 score in matches. But even after this breakthrough, it was FaZe who were the favorites in the finals.
The final match was really sweaty. The teams had to play all three maps, and on the last one, the outcome was resolved in additional rounds. From the very beginning of the match, Cloud9 were on the line, with them having lost on their map and only barely won on the second one, even though they had a huge head start on their side.
Either way, the final of the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 deserve to go down in the history of Majors. The Cloud9 lineup showed an incredible will to victory, and, despite everything, they did win the much-coveted cup.
Fnatic vs. FaZe, Intel Extreme Masters XII
One more final to feature FaZe Clan. This time their opponents were Fnatic. By early 2018, the Swedish club was really eager to win. Their last gold at a LAN-tournament dated back more than a year, after all — no wonder they wanted to win that badly!
The tournament went well for Fnatic. In the four matches preceding the finals, the team only lost one map. But the “boss” in the shape of FaZe hugely increased the consumption of sedatives by fans of the Swedish team.
The final was a best out of five match, and the contestants got to play on all three maps. While the games on Cache and Overpass were relatively calm, the remaining three were a genuine massacre. Two maps of the match ended in overtime.
Intel Extreme Masters XII is definitely worth watching, at least to witness how a thirst for victory can turn players into machines able to play seven hours giving 110%.
HellRaisers vs. mousesports, Acer Predator Masters Season 1
No reminiscence of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive finals is possible without mentioning the epic fight between HellRaisers and mousesports in the finals of Acer Predator Masters Season 1. This is a unique case when the final was the best out of seven matches at the pro level.
While mousesports finished the group stage with first place, HellRaisers barely made it to the playoffs. Similarly, the CIS team had a hard time winning in playoff matches. The club lost the first match and had to fight its way to the finals.
In the finals, mousesports, who’d passed from the upper bracket, had an “auto win” on the first map, Inferno. Having started with an advantage on their side, the team quickly grabbed their point in the series, and after the fourth map in the match, the score was already 3:1 in favor of the European team. It seemed that the victory was already around the corner. But HellRaisers managed to stabilize the situation and upend the course of the game!
These finals are worth seeing for many reasons, but we’ll just name two. First, Acer Predator Masters was supposed to be a “light” tournament, and this hell of a final put everybody on pins and needles. It’s really something to watch. The second one is the best out of seven marathons! This kind of match, especially in the finals, is truly an event in the whole history of the game.
Gambit vs. Immortals, PGL Major Kraków 2017
Usually, the finals of Majors are a battle of either two favorites, such as the matches of NiP against Fnatic five years ago, or of a favorite and an underdog, like NAVI against Luminosity Gaming. The final of the PGL Major Kraków 2017 was a confrontation between Gambit and Immortals.
Both teams were difficult to see as finalists, given that there were clubs such as FaZe, NAVI, SK Gaming, and Astralis in the same tournament. However, it was Gambit and Immortals who reached the finals, making the event unforgettable.
The grenade moment by Mikhail “Dosia” Stolyarov on the third map of the match deserves special mentioning. It was not only perpetuated n the form of graffiti on the map, but also served as the best proof that in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, it’s not only aim that matters but also a 200 IQ and a profound understanding of the game.
If you don’t care about 200 IQ tricks, then the PGL Major Kraków 2017 is the first and so far the only opportunity to see how the CIS region plays at its full capacity.
Virtus.pro vs. SK Gaming, EPICENTER 2017
The final of EPICENTER 2017 is remembered for the sharp contrast between expectations and reality. The final match was a fight between Virtus.pro and SK Gaming. The Brazilian team, SK, was an absolute favorite. The team had been playing flawlessly in their group, defeating VP by a score of 2:0. In the playoffs, the guys battered Astralis.
Virtus.pro, on the other hand, hadn’t shown a single confident victory in the whole tournament. The club had been displaying very poor results from the very beginning of the year, after winning at the DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017. Against this background, even the top 4 PGL Major Kraków 2017 looks like a random success rather than a legitimate achievement.
But reality turned out to be drastically different from the expectations. In the final match, Virtus.pro gave their best play — probably for the whole season. The best out of five match stretched to three maps, two of which ended in additional rounds.
And although Virtus.pro failed to win the gold, the team definitely did manage to gain respect from the audience and revive the faith of their fans.
Which finals in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive did you like the most? Tell us in the comments.
