CSGO: Astralis Win ECS Season 8 Finals

CS:GO powerhouse Astralis have taken the victory at the ECS Season 8 Finals in Arlington, Texas. The Danish squad took down North American side Team Liquid in the Grand Final, securing the series with a 2-1 scoreline. The two teams met in the Grand Final after beating Evil Geniuses and Fnatic in the semi-finals.

THEY DO IT AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN AND AGAIN 🏆🏆🏆🏆

🇩🇰 @ASTRALISGG ARE THE ECS SEASON 8 CHAMPIONS #ToTheStars

Congratulations @dev1ce // @dupreeh // @Xyp9x // @gla1ve_csgo // @MagiskCS // @zonic 🙌 #ECS8 pic.twitter.com/TT5LYEiRxl

— Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) December 2, 2019

Map One

Team Liquid’s map choice of Vertigo kicked off the series. Here, the North American team took a quick 3-0 lead after a pistol round victory. Astralis answered back on the first full-buy round, though Liquid stole back the reins with a force-buy win. Rounds were traded and in-game leader Lukas “Gla1ve” Rossander put up great numbers as Astralis trailed 3-6. Liquid then strung four rounds together, securing a 10-3 lead before the Danes could get another round on the board. Astralis looked poised to take the final two rounds of the half, though a clean 1v2 from Jake “Stewie2K” Yip earned Liquid an 11-4 lead going into their offensive side.

Astralis claimed the second half pistol as they held off a clutch from Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski. EliGE and teammate Keith “NAF” Markovic secured an eco-round victory in the following round as Astralis were left with no time to defuse the bomb. Unfazed, Astralis found four consecutive rounds. Liquid managed only one more before Astralis took back the momentum, putting up another four rounds to even the score 13-13. Liquid found themselves on pistols once again, though a three-piece from NAF allowed his team to take back the lead and eventually find map point. The Danish side sent Vertigo to overtime as they found the two rounds they needed to even the score at 15. Liquid immediately found their footing, stringing together four straight rounds to take the map one victory 19-15.

Map Two

The series next went to Nuke, the map pick of Astralis. The North Americans kicked off their defensive side with a pistol round win, picking up the following two rounds for a 3-0 lead. Astralis put up two of their own to keep the map close, preventing Liquid from racing to a steep CT-side lead. Rounds were traded back-and-forth, neither side gaining any momentum as Liquid ended the half up 8-7.

Team Liquid appeared poised to take the series in a 2-0 sweep as they started off their offensive half with another 3-0 lead. Not ready to back down, the Danish side rallied back on the defense. Nicolai “device” Reedtz took control of the map, securing stunning AWP kills in multiple rounds to afford Astralis some momentum. Coupled with efforts from Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth, Astralis put up eleven consecutive rounds to take a 16-11 victory on Nuke.

Map Three

Dust2 stood as the deciding map, where Astralis jumping to a 3-0 lead on their offensive side. Liquid managed their first round after strong retake efforts from Stewie2K, though the Danish squad answered back by racing to a 9-1 lead. The North Americans eventually found their second round, only to be followed by three more from Astralis. Team Liquid closed out the first half down 3-12.

Astralis continued forward on the defense, securing the second pistol round before efforts from Stewie2K stole the subsequent round for Team Liquid. The rounds kept going the way of the North Americans as Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken clutched a 1v3 to earn the squad their seventh round. Liquid’s momentum stalled as Astralis reached fourteen rounds. The Danish side then found match point, and three kills from device saw Astralis close out the map 16-8.

Astralis take home the ECS Season 8 Finals championship title and the $225,000 grand prize. Both Astralis and Team Liquid will next appear at the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals in Odense, Denmark, on December 3rd.