ESL One Cologne 2018: The Finals Recap

It’s a miracle, it happened, it’s real! Na’Vi won the third tournament in a row. This time in Cologne where all the top teams gathered to fight for the trophy. Hard to say it’s a coincidence, don’t you think?

Grand-final started on Overpass picked by Natus Vincere. BiG didn’t plan to give the map to the opponent that easily – even game at the start of the battle and minimal loss in defense. However, after switching sides the Ukrainian squad seized the advantage, won the map with 16:10 score and went to Dust 2.

Second map saw even more heated battles. Right from the start “Born to win” flexed the muscle showing they’re not gonna give the victory without a fight but BiG (who picked the map) managed to equalize the game and take first half with a minimal score. At CT side, the German team started the march to victory and, despite the fact that Na’Vi almost evened out the score at some point, won Dust 2 (16:11) - 1:1.

Next one was Train, picked by Natus Vincere. This is also one of the BiG’s strongest maps (perfectly demonstrated by the win over FaZe Clan yesterday). BiG started in defense, got the first half with minimal score and planned to show good game in attack. But Na’Vi had another plan in their pocket. Excellent play at CT side didn’t allow the German team to win the map. At this point overall score was 2:1, Na’Vi went ahead and teams switched to Inferno.

This map welcomed BiG with the same issues: first half ended with 8:7 on scoreboard. But after side switch the German team seemed stressed out and upset, it almost looked like they accepted the loss 4-5 round before it happened. As a result, 16:8 score and fourth map won by the Ukrainian team. 

While the series were fun and intriguing, it was no secret who’s going to get MVP of the match. We congratulate Alexander “s1mple” Kostylev and wish him to get more trophies this year.

Image courtesy of HLTV.org

Now let’s take a look at best moments of the match!

electronic 3k on the offense (Train)

s1mple 3k to close out the map (Overpass)

Edward 1v2 clutch (Train)

s1mple quad kill to close out the half (Inferno)

electronic 1v4 clutch (Dust2)