Cloud9 take down FaZe in close games, claim Major title
The ELEAGUE Major: Boston Grand Final saw the European heavyweights of FaZe face off against home favorites Cloud9. Three weeks of action and intense game play all came down to three maps; Mirage, Overpass and Inferno.
Mirage began with Cloud9 pandering to their home crowd with an astonishingly good pistol round, followed up with the two anti-ecos on their T-side. The first buy round went the way of the Europeans, but Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham showed up with three kills on his AWP to instantly reset and get back in the game. From there the American side secured the next four rounds to start mounting a lead in the first half.
But FaZe weren't letting their favorite credentials be ignored just yet. Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer turned up to show why he is such a star, securing four kills for himself as they started to mount their comeback. Managing five rounds, Cloud9 then came back in to strengthen their lead, before Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács took four kills in the final round.
With Cloud9 9-6 up at the half, it was FaZe who secured the pistol round when they swapped on to the T-side. But Cloud9 weren't letting FaZe get into the game at all, taking a force buy to raise their lead a bit more. With Timothy "autimatic" Ta turning up in a big way, the American side secured 12 rounds.
But FaZe showed they were the favorites. The European side took the first buy round and then went on an eight round winning streak, going from behind to securing match point. This was facilitated by Håvard "rain" Nygaard securing key multi-kill rounds, and being on the right side of timings. Although Cloud9 took two rounds at the end of the game to take the match to a one round shootout, FaZe secured the final round thanks to GuardiaN and olofmeister's fantastic play, as the only two players on the server who had previously played in a Major final kept calm to take the game 16-14.
Overpass began in a similar vein to Mirage, securing the pistol round and anti-ecos on their CT-side. Jake "Stewie2K" Yip started to come alive as the Americans won the first buy round, and then continued to push on ahead. Tarik "tarik" Celik started to perform highly as well, securing frag after frag, round after round. In a 2v4 position, autimatic and Will "RUSH" Wierzba linked up to secure a defuse after some reckless FaZe play.
FaZe finally picked up a round in the game, through a B-site hit that saw them equal the initial lead Cloud9 had on Mirage. They push on for another round, but the Americans came out with another round to keep an immense lead. FaZe did manage to secure another round, but Cloud9 closed the half out with a 12-3 score.
With FaZe having it all to do, they secured the pistol round on their CT-side but Cloud9 forced up to win the round immediately following it. From there Cloud9 secured the next two round to claim map point, partially thanks to a Skadoodle 4k. But FaZe weren't letting them take the game just yet, as they started to mount a comeback.
rain began the charge, before olofmeister and Nikola "NiKo" Kovač got involved to push them along. Round after round went their way in what looked like a repeat of the first map, stringing six rounds together. But that was all they could secure as Cloud9 took the series to a third map with a 16-10 win.
Inferno began with FaZe securing the pistol round on their CT-side, but could only look on as Cloud9 opened up with the forcebuy on the second round. The Americans pushed on for five rounds before the European side got back into the game to even the match up.
Finn "karrigan" Andersen was the one who helped lead the charge for his team as FaZe returned to the match for an eighth round. Cloud9, helped by Skadoodle, then secured the final two rounds of the half, but were still narrowly down 8-7.
The second half began with FaZe taking the pistol round and two anti-ecos on their T-side. Cloud9 took the first buy round but FaZe immediately answered back and started a run to go further ahead in the game, reaching fourteen rounds.
But Cloud9 weren't letting them leave with the Major trophy just yet. Stewie2K continued his return to form by pushing his team closer to the line. FaZe managed to reach map point, but in a small vein of form similar to the first map Cloud9 were not looking to lose out just yet. This time, a Stewie2K 4k secured the final round to tie the game 15-15, and send the final map to an overtime.
Cloud9 kicked the overtime off with a win on their CT-portion, following that up by securing every single round of that half. With three map points, everyone was expecting Cloud9 to take it. But Guardian pulled out two fantastic rounds in the second half to use their CT-side to even the game out at 18-18, and go for a second overtime.
This time FaZe began with the first round, but Cloud9 instantly answered back thanks to IGL tarik taking an ace. From there Cloud9 pushed on to take the remaining rounds and secure Inferno with a 22-19 scoreline, and the Major Championship.
FaZeCloud9| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács |
75 - 66 | +9 | 75.6 | 64.9% | 1.05 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
63 - 72 | -9 | 75.8 | 64.9% | 1.02 |
 Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer |
64 - 70 | -6 | 74.4 | 68.0% | 0.98 |
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
56 - 71 | -15 | 68.0 | 64.9% | 0.88 |
 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
47 - 70 | -23 | 58.4 | 59.8% | 0.74 |
| Cloud9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham |
79 - 55 | +24 | 80.9 | 73.2% | 1.29 |
| Tarik 'tarik' Celik |
77 - 64 | +13 | 87.2 | 72.2% | 1.22 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
75 - 60 | +15 | 79.7 | 73.2% | 1.19 |
| Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip |
65 - 67 | -2 | 76.6 | 67.0% | 1.05 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
53 - 59 | -6 | 61.5 | 73.2% | 0.96 |
This result sees Cloud9 claim the Major trophy, and the $500,000 first prize. The prize winning places of the ELEAGUE Major was as follows:
1st: Cloud9 - $500,000 + Legend Status
2nd: 
FaZe - $150,000 + Legend Status
3rd-4th: 
Natus Vincere - $70,000 + Legend Status
3rd-4th: 
SK - $70,000 + Legend Status
5th-8th: mousesports - $35,000 + Legend Status
5th-8th: 
Quantum Bellator Fire - $35,000 + Legend Status
5th-8th: 
G2 - $35,000 + Legend Status
5th-8th: fnatic - $35,000 + Legend Status
9th-11th: 
Gambit - $8,750
9th-11th: Vega Squadron - $8,750
9th-11th: 
Space Soldiers - $8,750
12th-14th: 
BIG - $8,750
12th-14th: Astralis - $8,750
12th-14th: Liquid - $8,750
15th-16th: North - $8,750
15th-16th: 
Virtus.pro - $8,750
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