After an amazing weekend of Dota 2, Team Empire defeated Evil Geniuses 2-1 in the Grand Finals and became the MLG Pro League Season 1 Champions.

Evil Geniuses started the series with an early Game 1 victory but the Russian team turned it all around by narrowly winning Game 2. With momentum on their side, Team Empire was able to close out the series and take home ~$34,000.

Here's how the series went:

Game 1

Inspired by NiP’s 17 minute victory over EG in the round robin stage, Empire chose to draft the classic Tiny/Wisp combo.

Despite EG taking an early 4-0 kill lead, Empire quickly evened the score with some well-coordinated ganks.

What was once a scrappy game quickly turned into a farm fest with both teams playing passively.

EG however was the first to break the silence, hitting just before Empire.Resolut1on’s Tiny could pick up his Aghanim’s Scepter. Sumai1L hit a great Reverse Polarity which allowed his team to wipe all of Empire without losing any teammates.

After taking some more impressive team fights, EG found themselves in a commanding economic lead; despite this, they were unable to break the Russian teams high ground defense.

Being so far behind, Empire went for a risky Roshan attempt which was quickly punished with Reverse Polarity and Omnislash tearing apart the Tiny and Wisp.

What happened next was a non-stop fight that saw both teams use several buybacks however EG came out on top in the end. With no buyback available for Empire, EG went for the throne and took the first game.

Game 2

Empire kept their tournament hopes alive after defeating EG in an amazingly epic game of Dota 2.

Empire secured an early game lead that severely delayed EG.Fear’s Spectre's Radiance. Empire.Silent on the other hand enjoyed free farm in his safelane as he quickly rose to the top of the net worth chart.

With Empire securing what seemed to be a free Roshan, it was looking all but over for the boys in blue — but that’s when it all changed.

EG.Fear Haunted in and stole the last hit on the Roshan, earning gold for his entire team. Empire did manage to take the Aegis but they ended up losing the team fight as they were caught completely off guard.

Despite evening up the net worth, it was still going to be a long game as the American team was still at a disadvantage.

After a team fight victory forced EG.Universe to buyback, Empire went for another Roshan. Although they were in a desperate situation, EG stayed calm and made one of the most impressive plays of the entire tournament — Fear stole the Aegis and Sumai1L landed a huge Sonic Wave that allowed EG to wipe the Empire squad.

With momentum finally starting to swing in favor of EG, Empire started to panic with Silent’s Juggernaut being completely caught out of position. Fear’s Spectre was starting to out-carry Empire’s Sniper and Juggernaut.

Empire regrouped and slowed down the pace of the game; the Russian team out-maneuvered their opponent’s and secured their first uncontested Roshan. With Aegis and Cheese, they managed to decisively win a team fight and take out EG’s mid Barracks.

With another fight victory taking place near the Roshan Pit, Empire finally won the game as EG had no more buybacks available.

Game 3

EG put all their eggs into one basket as they sacrificed their top and bottom lane in order to secure Suma1L’s farm. Even Fear was forced to offlane as he would have had an even harder time in the safelane. Empire opened standard and enjoyed a more balanced net worth distribution.

Both teams traded their mid players however since EG invested so much in their Storm Spirit, Empire came out on top.

Empire countered EG’s smoke gank with brilliant team fight coordination. A well placed Static Storm followed up with an Orchid of Malevolence-silenced EG.Fear and prevented a possible Chrono Sphere. Empire also took the Repel off Suma1L with Razor’s Diffusal Blade.

Being in an economic disadvantage, EG was forced to take the fight outside of their base and on Empires terms. With this last team fight victory, Empire took the game and became the MLG Pro League Season 1 Champions.

Connor Dunn is a writer for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter.