After more than a week of competition, the grand final of IEM Summer 2021 recently took place featuring OG and Gambit Esports, two teams that have shown extraordinary performance throughout the tournament. On OG’s side, after a swift elimination from Flashpoint 3, they had a bootcamp and the results were immediately evident; they claimed victory at Spring Sweet Spring 2 with a 2-1 win against BIG in the grand final and entered IEM Summer 2021 maintaining this form, reaching the grand final with four consecutive wins. As for Gambit, although they surprisingly lost to Vitality 0-2 in the group stage, the top team on HLTV showcased their resilience by systematically defeating names like Astralis, Complexity, EG, and finally G2 Esports to secure their spot in the final.
Entering the first map, Mirage, both teams exchanged blows fiercely, and the first half ended with a balanced score of 8-7. In the second half, OG had the upper hand with the shining moments of mantuu and valde; however, Gambit Esports delivered outstanding rounds to maintain a stable economy and concluded the map with a nail-biting score of 16-14.
On map 2, Dust2, OG once again dominated their opponents at one point leading 8-2; however, with the exceptional performance of Ax1le and sh1ro, Gambit made an impressive comeback, completely overwhelming their opponents in the second half with a final score of 16-11. Moving to map 3, the decisive Overpass, the scenario repeated itself with the first half ending 9-6 in favor of Gambit. However, in the second half, OG could not breach the incredibly solid defense led by Hobbit and Ax1le; they only managed to win the pistol round before allowing their opponents to win 7 consecutive rounds, concluding the map with a score of 16-7. Ultimately, Gambit Esports secured a convincing 3-0 victory and crowned the champions of IEM Summer 2021.
This championship continues the impressive performance streak of Gambit members; this is their third title and the fifth time this year they have reached a grand final in major tournaments. The IEM Summer 2021 title also adds another point to their race towards the Intel Grand Slam Season 3 title, leveling their accomplishments with two other giants, Astralis and Na`vi.
After the grand finals concluded, the MVP of the tournament was awarded to star player Ax1le for his impressive and consistent performance throughout the event. This 19-year-old player topped most of the key statistics and had a rating of 1.40 or higher in 9 out of 12 maps won by Gambit. This marks Ax1le’s second MVP title of his career and nearly guarantees him a spot in the top 20 players of the year 2021 for this young talent.
The Gambit members will have only one day of rest before continuing to compete in the BLAST Premier Spring Final, which will begin tomorrow, June 15, featuring 8 of the world’s top teams and a total prize pool of $425,000. Their first match will be against Evil Geniuses, a team they defeated 2-0 just 2 days ago.