This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
After earning dominating wins over their opposition in the semifinals, Astralis and OpTic Gaming entered the Grand Finals of ELEAGUE Season 2 looking to score a major win for their respective team. Despite a back-and-forth battle, it was OpTic Gaming who would walk away with the championship, earning their place in CS:GO history. Let's take a look at how the action unfolded.
The first map of the best-of-three series started on Train, and immediately Astralis jumped out to a torrid 11-4 lead at the half. Although OpTic managed to make up some of the difference in the second half, Astralis was able to put the North American team away, scoring a 16-9 win to open up the series.
Astralis should have entered Map 2 with all the confidence in the world, however it was OpTic Gaming who jumped out to a blazing start of their own on Cobblestone. Thanks to superb performances by Tarik 'tarik' Celik and Will 'RUSH' Wierzba, who had a combined 44/21 KD and 208.1 ADR in the second game, the Green Wall was able to parlay a 11-4 lead at the break into a convincing 16-6 win, pushing the series to a deciding third game.
With the intensity at a near fever pitch, Astralis and OpTic Gaming took to Overpass to decide who would become the ELEAGUE Season 2 champions. Both teams have benefited from Overpass, as Astralis took the map away from SK Gaming in their semifinal match to advance, while OpTic Gaming were 3-0 on the map in previous matches. OpTic started off well on the offensive side holding a firm 7-1 score but Astralis wasn't done just yet. The Danes then came back to win six straight to tie late in the first half, with OpTic winning the final round of the first half to take a 8-7 lead. OpTic took over on the favored defensive side in the second half and it showed. The Green Wall stood strong, working their way to map point before Astralis capitalized on a few errors, winning four consecutive rounds to pull close. However, Astralis wasn't able to hold the momentum as OpTic's Keith 'NAF' Markovic had a huge second half to close out the third map 16-11, earning a massive 113.3 ADR.
With the 2-1 series win, OpTic Gaming will walk away with $400,000 and will head into January's ELEAGUE Major the defending Season 2 champions.
