CSGO: Evil Geniuses outclass Astralis to win big in New York

Evil Geniuses are the first American team to win ESL One New York.

Today we saw the grand-finals of ESL One New York. The titans of CS:GO Astralis faced off against the newly formed EG roster. EG had previously beaten Astralis 2-0 in the group stages and continued their dominance with a 3-1 victory in the Best Of 5 finals. The map veto decided an interesting set of maps for the series, leaving us with: Inferno (Astralis), Dust2 (EG), Train (Astralis), Nuke (EG) and Vertigo as the decider. EG would need a strong start to be competitive and that’s exactly what happened.

🏆 CHAMPIONS 🏆 #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/85uGL1Grvp

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 29, 2019

A dominant opener on Inferno

Inferno has been a key component to Astralis’ success for a long time, so naturally, they were touted to take the early lead here. However, Evil Geniuses came out swinging on the first map. Incredible use of tactical aggression on the CT-side allowed EG to completely take control of the first half. An immediate mid-rush allowed the Americans to take the pistol and more rounds would soon follow and the score would be 5-0.

Astralis would reply with two quick victories of their own but the American annihilation would soon continue and EG managed to lock out the first half 14-2. From then it was an impossible task for Astralis to fight back and after EG took the second pistol Astralis could not recover. A huge team effort on the scoreboard allowed EG to take Inferno 16-3 and set their sights on Dust 2

The lead extends

Next up would be EG’s pick of Dust 2, and the map would be more competitive than the last. Astralis took the opening pistol with a clinical B-site hold, but EG would immediately reply with 3 rounds of their own. Emil “Magisk” Reif would play a pivotal role in Astralis’ CT-side and his anchorage of the B bombsite allowed them a much more competitive 8-7 lead at the end of the first half. Astralis looked set to reclaim the map as a strong T-start gave them a 12-7 score advantage.

However, suddenly the Americans re-entered the server and the combined fragging power of In-Game-Leader Peter “Stanislaw” Jarguz and Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte began to destroy the Danish defense. Momentum then picked up for EG and they forced victory 16-12. Astralis would then have just one map to stay in the series.

The contentious Train

Train has been a signature battlefield between these two sides in the past. At the Major, they had a 1-1 record on the map and these finals would be an opportunity to show who had the mastery of the railyards. The first half was competitive once again but EG seemed comfortable on the CT-side. They won the opening pistol and converted both subsequent rounds. It looked like the Geniuses might even be able to close things out early when they earned a 7-2 lead, but the Major champions would keep them in check with another 8-7 half.

Despite losing the first pistol, Astralis began to recover and secured the next three rounds but they weren’t out of the woods yet. EG proved their determination to win the series and had some incredibly explosive rounds and soon enough; Astralis would be staring down the barrel of series point. Thankfully for Danish CS fans, Astralis’ grit and mental resilience would keep them in the game and we would be sent to overtime. Both sides gave their all in the battle but Astralis held on in the second overtime, despite a monstrous 35 kill performance from Tsvetlin “CeRq” Dimitrov.

The final battleground

Map 4 of the series would be Nuke and EG’s map pick. Once again, EG would claim the opening pistol and kick off the map with some serious momentum. They kicked things off with an 8-1 lead on the T-side and looked so confident doing it. Astralis still would not give up though and fought hard in the half earning themselves 6 more rounds and finishing the half 8-7.

A magnificent performance from @Brehze on that final map of Nuke. This man has been on fire all tournament! 🙌#ESLOne pic.twitter.com/uYTZQCCgEc

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 29, 2019

The second half would see America find glory though. For the last time in the series, the Dynamic duo of Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte and Peter “Stanislaw” Jarguz that lead the way statistically and Astralis would have no match for EG’s CT-side.

EG won Nuke 16-8 and subsequently won the series 3-1. They only lost one map across the entire tournament and became the first Americans in history to win ESL One New York.

Images VIA:ESL