MIBR successfully defend their ECL crown
The North American ESL Challenger League Season 45 came down to a BO5 final between defending Champions MIBR and the resurgent EG Black squad who have posted impressive results after bringing in AWPer Paytyn "junior" Johnson and rifler Jadan "HexT" Postma. The American side was out for revenge after they lost the Season 43 final to MIBR, whilst the Brazilians were looking to put themselves in the history books with a third consecutive ECL title.
The match started with an evenly contested Ancient, with the Brazilian side running into an 8-1 lead on their T side. EG Black brought the game all the way back to a 13-13 score and took a one-round lead late in the game at 14-13. However, MIBR managed to get over the line as their defense held strong to take the last three rounds of the match and even up the series 1-1.
EG Black bounced straight back with a dominant Inferno performance, dropping just three rounds after a 13-2 half on their T side. junior was key to the victory as the AWPer dominated the server with a 1.65 rating, with the win on Inferno leaving EG Black just needing to win one of the remaining two maps to take the title from MIBR. MIBR would once again even up the series though as they took their map pick of Nuke 16-10, in large part due to a ridiculous performance by their emerging superstar Felipe "insani" Yuji who posted a 2.05 rating on the map.
With Nuke in their pocket, MIBR had forced the series to a fifth and final map, Overpass. The map was as evenly contested as possible as both teams would keep pace with each other throughout the regulation 30 rounds, it was the Canadian duo of HexT and Colby "Walco" Walsh that was leading the line for the EG Black squad. On the other side of the server it was once again insani topping the scoreboard but on Overpass Henrique "HEN1" Teles was also showing that the former Major Finalist still has the ability to take over the server on his day, posting a 1.37 rating. EG Black once again held a 14-13 lead and just like Ancient, the team let it slip through their fingers, although this time they did secure the last round of the 30 to force overtime.
In overtime, the Brazilian squad dominated in the first half, locking in all three rounds to leave them just needing one round to take victory in the series. It came to a do-or-die round after EG Black managed to win the opening two rounds of the second half of Overtime, however, MIBR managed to get over the line locking in a 19-17 victory and a 3-2 win in the series.
The win for MIBR means they have won the ECL title three times in a row, and for EG Black it means it is the second time they have lost to MIBR in the Final of the tournament albeit being incredibly close to completing their revenge in this Final. It was still an impressive showing for the North American squad as they showed they can compete against a Pro League caliber team. Speaking of ESL Pro League, the usual prize that accompanies winning ECL is an invitation to the prestigious league however due to MIBR winning ECL Season 44 they had already secured a spot and EG Black is unable to qualify for the league since EG's main team occupy a partner slot. Therefore, the ESL Pro League spot that would have been on offer in this Final instead went to third-place finishers ATK.
EG BlackMIBR| EG Black |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
77 - 76 | +1 | 75.9 | 66.7% | 1.08 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
74 - 74 | +0 | 80.2 | 68.5% | 1.08 |
 Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
71 - 67 | +4 | 69.0 | 71.2% | 1.00 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
63 - 77 | -14 | 64.9 | 69.4% | 0.91 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
59 - 78 | -19 | 59.8 | 65.8% | 0.82 |
| MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Felipe 'insani' Yuji |
103 - 77 | +26 | 102.4 | 76.6% | 1.43 |
| Henrique 'HEN1' Teles |
83 - 62 | +21 | 76.4 | 73.0% | 1.17 |
| Matheus 'Tuurtle' Anhaia |
63 - 70 | -7 | 64.5 | 68.5% | 0.95 |
| Breno 'brnz4n' Poletto |
60 - 76 | -16 | 66.6 | 64.9% | 0.93 |
| Raphael 'exit' Lacerda |
58 - 66 | -8 | 60.8 | 74.8% | 0.91 |
