Astralis retain ECS title in close two-map thriller
The Grand Final of ECS Season 6 concluded last night at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The final would see familiar foes and two continents face off, with Astralis defending their crown against MIBR. The two teams vetoed down to Inferno, Overpass and Mirage.
Inferno commenced with Astralis securing the first two rounds of the map, before MIBR picked up a third. The two traded rounds, before the Danes picked up three to push forward in their lead. MIBR also then secured three rounds, kicked off by Marcelo "coldzera" David and Jake "Stewie2K" Yip, before going on to even the half out at 7-7. It was to be the Danish team who went in at the break ahead, securing the final round of the first half for an 8-7 lead.
The second half began, once again, with Astralis taking the first five rounds to truly push on with their lead. It was a close fought battle to the end, with MIBR taking a stronger position on the half. Although Astralis reached map point first, at 15-13, MIBR reset Astralis immediately afterwards in a move that looked to take them into overtime. This didn't happen, however, as Emil "Magisk" Reif pulled out four kills with his CZ to take the map 16-14. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo was the strongest player on the server this time around, securing a 1.55 rating that was miles ahead of the rest.
Overpass followed, and once again Astralis secured the pistol round with the following two anti-eco rounds. This time it wouldn't be plain sailing for the Danish team, as MIBR answered back in the third round to go on a seven round streak to take the lead. The end of the half was a scrappy affair, but MIBR would retain the lead at the break with a narrow 8-7 scoreline.
The second half began yet again with Astralis taking the pistol round and immediate anti-eco, completing a 100% sweep of such rounds in this grand final. Similarly to the first half MIBR regained the lead with a set of six rounds, before eventually securing map point with a 15-11 lead. Astralis weren't looking to lose this map, as they edged out the final four rounds of the half for a 15-15 scoreline to secure overtime.
Astralis opened the overtime with a win, before Stewie2K secured three kills of a 2v3 to even the match once again. From there the two teams battled for control of the lead, with Astralis eventually picking up championship point for the first time, before a forcebuy round secured by MIBR sent them all into another overtime.
The second overtime was one favored to the Danes, with them taking the lead again in the first portion to go up 20-19. It was in the second portion where Tarik "tarik" Celik secured a magnificent 1v4 ace that put them in prime position to secure the map, but it would be Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and co. who'd push on to secure the final two rounds they needed for a 22-20 win.
AstralisMIBR| Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander |
56 - 51 | +5 | 80.5 | 77.8% | 1.19 |
| Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen |
55 - 54 | +1 | 87.8 | 70.8% | 1.14 |
| Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth |
49 - 45 | +4 | 80.4 | 75.0% | 1.12 |
| Nicolai 'device' Reedtz |
49 - 48 | +1 | 69.3 | 70.8% | 1.04 |
| Emil 'Magisk' Reif |
44 - 52 | -8 | 71.0 | 70.8% | 0.92 |
| MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo |
55 - 45 | +10 | 78.0 | 73.6% | 1.22 |
| Marcelo 'coldzera' David |
57 - 53 | +4 | 86.1 | 76.4% | 1.17 |
 Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip |
56 - 54 | +2 | 81.9 | 75.0% | 1.07 |
| Tarik 'tarik' Celik |
48 - 48 | +0 | 71.8 | 63.9% | 1.02 |
| Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga |
34 - 54 | -20 | 57.8 | 80.6% | 0.88 |
This marathon result means Astralis lifted the ECS Season 6 trophy, their second in a row and third overall championship win. This left the standings for the tournament as follows:
1. Astralis - $250,000
2. MIBR - $120,000
3-4. North - $65,000
3-4. 
NiP - $65,000
5-6. 
mousesports - $45,000
5-6. NRG - $45,000
7-8. Cloud9 - $35,000
7-8. 
Liquid - $35,000
Season 7 of ECS is yet to be announced. The next LAN events on the CS:GO calendar will be the SuperNova CS:GO Malta tournament, featuring Liquid and NRG, and DreamHack Open Winter, featuring compLexity and regional residents Bravado.
