Cover Image Courtesy: Astralis | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: ECS



The ECS Season 8 - Finals came to an end earlier in the day today with Astralis once again besting Team Liquid in the three-match finale. It was a clash between the titans which once again went in favour of the Danes, who were quite confident despite the series going down to the last map.





The two teams started out on Vertigo, and Astralis did not expect what came their way. A surprise pick by the NA team, it seemed odd that they pick Vertigo against Astralis, as they had shown in previous outings how good they could be on the map. But today was not their day to win on Vertigo, as Liquid on the back of an insane performance by NAF were able to slay the Danes in the opening game.



Astralis did fight back to secure eleven rounds to its name but could not see themselves through the overtime. With 36 frags to his name with an insane rating of 1.64, it was NAF that stood as the differentiating factor between the two sides.



Astralis were quick on equalising the series on the next map, Nuke. Liquid struggled through their CT-side gameplay, managing just a one-round lead while going into the second half. And this is where the Astralis engine picked up speed, stringing nine rounds in a row to race off to victory.





Down to the decider on Dust 2, a map on which both the teams were quite good. Astralis brought out their A-game, destroying Liquid in the first half itself with a ‘12-3’ scoreline. And though Liquid did try to keep themselves afloat, it was a losing effort as Astralis secured a second victory, to walk away as the champions of ECS Season 8 - Finals along with $225,000 in prize money.





Device picked up his fourth ECS MVP award, previously winning the same in the second, fifth and sixth season of the tournament. He held an impressive overall rating of 1.27 with 0.13 opening kills per round.





With this, Device now has a total of 15 MVP awards to his name, the most by any player so far. He has a significant lead when compared to the ones right behind him, GeT_RiGhT and kennyS with ten each.



We will be seeing the Danes shortly again, as they start their journey in ESL Pro League Season 10 - Finals starting tomorrow, in their own backyard Odense, Denmark.



