As previously reported, ESL Pro League Season 11 is one of the CS:GO tournaments affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and had to transition to online play. With this change, ESL adapted the format into 4 groups, with 3 groups for the EU region and one group dedicated to the NA region.
Last night, after nearly a month of continuous play, the grand finals for these two regions took place, featuring a showdown between Mousesports vs Fnatic in the EU region and Team Liquid facing EG in the NA grand final.
In the EU region, Fnatic had the chance to repay their debt to Mousesports, as these two teams had also faced each other in the Season 10 finals, where Mousesports emerged as champions in Odense, Denmark. Entering this best-of-five final, both teams were in top form, having defeated some of the strongest names currently, such as FaZe Clan, Astralis, and even Na`vi – the champions of IEM Katowice 2020, who are also ranked number one in the HLTV rankings.
The best-of-five grand final was extremely intense and fierce, with Fnatic’s Brollan and Flusha continuing to showcase brilliant performance, while Mousesports displayed consistent individual performances and Karrigan’s excellent team calling. After the first three maps, Mousesports took the lead 2-1 after winning their pick, Dust 2, and the third map, Vertigo, Fnatic’s second pick, while Fnatic secured a victory on their map pick, Overpass.
Entering the fourth map, Nuke, where Mousesports is one of the top teams in the world, Fnatic surprised everyone by successfully leveraging their CT-side advantage and crushing every effort to breach the bombsite by Mousesports. The first half ended with a score of 14-1, and Fnatic quickly closed out the map 16-1, pushing the match to the decisive fifth map.
In the deciding map, Mirage, it was the duo of KRIMZ and Brollan who shone brightly, leading Fnatic in the second half with crucial entry frags. Mousesports’ efforts, led by Karrigan, only earned them 12 rounds before they succumbed to a 16-12 defeat, resulting in a final score of 3-2 in favor of Fnatic.
At the end of the match, young talent Brollan was awarded the MVP title of the tournament. This is the first MVP title for the 17-year-old talent in his career and promises a bright future for the player who ranked 19th among the top 20 players in the world in 2019.
In the NA region, once again we witnessed a showdown between Liquid and EG, the two strongest representatives of North American CS at the moment. In the group stage, these two teams faced each other twice, with both victories going to Stewie2k and his teammates, and in the grand final, with a 1-0 advantage from the upper bracket, Liquid easily defeated EG after just two maps, on a day when all members of Liquid performed well, with NAF delivering a particularly convincing performance. This marks the eighth consecutive time Liquid has defeated EG in a best-of-three match, and it is also Liquid’s first championship title of 2020, ending their title drought after nine months without a championship.
The MVP title for the NA region was awarded to EliGE, who, although not shining in the grand final, was a crucial factor in Liquid’s victories throughout the tournament. This is also his fourth MVP title in his career, following his accolades at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019, ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, and IEM Chicago.
You can watch both of these grand finals HERE.
Following this, the teams will have a week off before starting the matches of ESL One: Road to Rio, a tournament that will replace the Major ESL One Rio and serve as a “qualifier” for the only Major this year. Stay tuned for the latest and hottest CS:GO news in our upcoming updates!