Sunday’s ECS Season 6 grand final was one of the most exciting series sweeps that I’ve seen in a long time. Astralis took victory, and a second consecutive LAN event victory, in a hard-fought contest with MiBR. It was also a series punctuated with several “what ifs?”, those small moments that, in hindsight, defined an incredible grand final.

The series began on Inferno, Astralis’ map pick, and a map that MiBR had struggled on against North in the semi-finals. Astralis, considered the best Inferno team in the world currently, quickly got out to a 6-2 lead on their T-side. However, MiBR was able to adjust their defense, using a more aggressive approach to prevent Astralis from getting comfortable on offense. FalleN was instrumental in turning the half around, as his aggressive play with the AWP netted him multiple opening picks, and a +5 opening kill differential for the map. MiBR only gave up two more rounds to end the half 8-7 in Astralis’ favor.

Astralis opened the second half by winning the first five rounds. However, MiBR was able to exploit Astralis’ weaker CT-side, and took 7 of the next 9 rounds to take the game to 15-14. At this point overtime looked very likely, as Astralis could only manage a fairly weak buy that consisted mostly of CZ’s and SMGs. Despite having the clear advantage, MiBR proceeded to throw away a chance at overtime by pushing through a smoke in top mid, a major choke point, and were destroyed by Atralis to lose the map 16-14.

This is our first “what if” of the series: what if MiBR had won round 30 and forced the game into overtime? The chance was there for MiBR to get a surprise win on Astralis’ map pick. They would have started OT on the T-side, and given Astralis’ CT struggles, combined with how well MiBR had been playing, it’s not impossible to imagine MiBR stealing a win away. In the end, however, Astralis was able to secure a 1-0 lead in the series.

The second map was Overpass, a pick which had surprised the analysts, but one that Astralis has been known to avoid at times. Astralis managed to win the opening pistol round (they would win all 4), and got off to another strong start on the T-side. MiBR, lead by coldezera and stewie2K, battled back on defense winning 7 straight.

On round 12 we had our second “what if” of the series: what if stewie had defused the bomb? Astralis had managed to get the bomb down on the A site, and stewie was left on a 2 on 1 with device and Magisk. Magisk, after the plant, rotated through long A into the bathrooms where stewie, after smoking the bomb, promptly deleted him. With device well out of position, stewie, who had a defuse kit on him, could have easily defused the bomb, but instead chose to hunt down device. This allowed Astralis a round win they shouldn’t have had, and allowed them to end the half down 8-7.

MiBR then went on to go up 15-11 by round 27. Astralis once again force bought CZ’s with device getting a scout. In these circumstances, MiBR looked like they would easily force a game three on Mirage. However, despite MiBR planting the bomb on A, device managed a heroic kill with his USP in a 1 vs 1 against FalleN, and managed to win the round. This swung the momentum firmly back in Astralis’ favor, and they went on to tie the game, taking the game to overtime where they eventually would win.

This was our final “what if” of the series: what if MiBR had managed to close out the game? If Astralis hadn’t won another force buy round, then we would have gone to Mirage, a map that Astralis has looked shaky on at times. With FalleN, coldzera, and stewie fragging extremely well, it would have given MiBR a chance to topple the kings of Counter-Strike. Considering that they also could have gotten one more round in the first half, it seems that MiBR once again threw away a chance at a map win.

Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, this was a series full of drama, and amazing play from both teams. MiBR showed that they do have the talent to compete, though they still have to show more consistency. Astralis showed us why they are on top, demonstrating that they won’t break under pressure, and that they can always find a way back into a game. Both these teams will be headed to the upcoming ESL: Pro League finals in Odense, and I for one hope to see them go head to head again.