SK Gaming have won ESL One Cologne 2017 after defeating Cloud9 on three maps.

The first map of the series, Cobblestone, began with a one-sided first half as SK Gaming cruised to a 10-2 lead even after losing the pistol round, with Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David clutching a 1v3 situation with a CZ in the next round.

A triple kill from Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham then brought SK's winning streak to an end and set Cloud9 up to win the remaining rounds, but as the half came to an end all the talk was about coldzera, who was now on 20 frags.

The second half started with Cloud9 winning the pistol round and the subsequent anti-ecos, but they were unable to break through SK's defence when the Brazilians finally bought up.

With Cloud9 down 13-9, Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip picked up an ace to give his team's fans some hope. However, SK were unwilling to let their lead slip, and picked up three rounds in a row to take the map, 16-9.

SK win ESL One Cologne title

Next up was Train, which saw Cloud9 take the pistol round thanks to three quick kills from Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek following an A split. After losing the following round, SK hit back thanks to two long-range Desert Eagle kills from coldzera, and it led to a string of rounds from the Brazilians.

Down 4-3, Cloud9 were able to restore parity in the unlikeliest of rounds as Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta picked up three stunning Desert Eagle kills to help overturn a 2v5 situation. That was the start of a phenomenal run from the North Americans, who took a commanding 10-5 lead.

SK got off to a blazing fast start, winning the pistol round with an ace from Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga. Even when Cloud9 finally got money to work with, they simply could not keep up with SK, who won ten rounds without response to reach map point.

With their backs against the wall, Cloud9 managed to pick up two rounds, but the finishing blow from SK came in the 28th round, when Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo found three opening kills to give his team their 16th round.

Cloud9 came close on Inferno but fell at the final hurdle

Map three, Inferno, began with Cloud9 getting out to a quick 9-1 lead despite losing the pistol round following a B push from SK. João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos then stepped up and powered his team to win four of the remaining five rounds with a series of key individual actions.

SK got off to a dream start on the CT side, winning the first six rounds to take the lead for the first time on this map since the pistol round. Cloud9's offence then finally came to life as they took four rounds in a row to get on the brink of victory.

It looked like the map was all but over, but SK tightened up their defence and won the final five rounds en route to a 16-14 finish.

ESL One Cologne 2017 final standings: