Polish powerhouse Virtus.Pro completed a clean 2-0 sweep over the Swedish Fnatic side Saturday evening at the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Eleague finals in Atlanta. The grand finals victory earned Virtus.Pro a staggering $400,000 cash purse to take back home.
good game! well played! pic.twitter.com/ZzZtMdCSWD
— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) July 30, 2016
While the two teams are no strangers when it comes to playing each other, their routes to the grand finals were vastly different. VP needed to fight their way through the “last chance bracket” by playing Gambit Gaming and Renegades before placing themselves into the playoff bracket. Fnatic had a somewhat easier time reaching the playoffs after finishing second in the league standings.
Cobble was Fnatic’s chosen map and they took full advantage of their familiarity with it, taking a healthy lead of 9-6 at the half. However, VP seemed to turn things around after the break by winning seven straight rounds and only allowing Fnatic a single round win after the half, taking Cobble with a 16-10 victory.
The next map did not go well for Fnatic. Mirage map was the setting for a dominate VP display of tactics as they took a commanding 10-5 lead at the half. While Fnatic showed a bit of life after halftime, the VP squad took the map with a convincing 16-8 victory, taking home the inaugural ELEAGUE trophy and a healthy chunk of change.
This victory is much needed for Virtus.Pro whose struggles have been apparent since their last tournament in mid-May. We’ll see if they can carry this victory towards their next big tournament in November when they head to Oakland, California for Intel Extreme Masters Season XI.
As for Fnatic — this is the sixth straight tournament that they have not won since their victory at Intel Extreme Masters X – World Championship in March earlier this year. They’ll look to regroup and see if they can end their recent struggles in upcoming tournaments.
You can catch the entire grand finals match below.