This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
After six days of competition, the StarSeries Season 3 Final champion has finally been crowned. FaZe Clan overcame Danish juggernauts Astralis to take home its first premier tournament win since the acquisition of Nikola "NiKo" Kovač. Let's take a look at how the final day unfolded.
Business as Usual in the Semifinals
The first semifinal series was between FaZe Clan and HellRaisers, a team that not many thought could even make it to this point. Despite the fact that FaZe secured the 2-0 sweep, it was by no means easy. FaZe jumped ahead to an early lead in Game 1 on Mirage before HellRaisers fought back to take a 9-6 lead at the half. That second half was all FaZe, with in-game leader Finn "karrigan" Andersen dominating the map, leading his team with a 30/16 KD (kills/deaths) to pick up the 16-13 win.
Moving over to Train in Game 2, things were once again hotly contested as FaZe Clan dominated in the first half, gaining a 12-3 lead and preparing to march right into the grand finals. HellRaisers had other plans, though, coming out of the break with renewed energy and taking seven of the first eight rounds to get within striking distance. FaZe started to stabilize before HellRaisers fought back to make it 15-14, needing one more round to force overtime. FaZe's Fabien "kioShiMa" was having none of it, picking up a double kill to lock up the final round and move to the grand finals.
This left Astralis and Natus Vincere to battle it out in the next semifinal, which was much more one-sided than the earlier series. While things looked fairly competitive early in Game 1 on Overpass, with Na'Vi playing Astralis pretty close to at a 4-4 tie after eight. Then, Astralis flipped the switch and ran away with the game, going 12-4 the rest of the way to pick up the 16-8 win. Astralis' Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen led Astralis with a strong 21/14 KD and 96.6 ADR (average damage per round), both game-highs.
Game 2 switched over to Nuke, and Astralis meant business. After 10 rounds, it had put up a 9-1 lead that turned into another 11-4 lead at the half with a dominating CT-side performance. Despite winning the pistol round, Astralis faltered in the second half, losing six straight rounds to let Na'Vi bring the score to 13-10. In Round 24, Astralis' Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye came up with a triple kill to shut Na'Vi down and move his team to the grand finals with two more round wins for a 16-10 win.
A Rivalry Is Born
In a grand finals rematch of Intel Extreme Masters Katowice just last month, FaZe took on Astralis in a much-hyped crowd pleaser. The first game, played on Mirage, went back and forth the entire time, leaving the ultimate outcome in doubt until the final round of regulation. FaZe shot out the gate with a 4-1 lead before Astralis battled back to take a 7-5 lead after 12 rounds. At that point, FaZe put together six dominating rounds, including the 13th straight pistol round win, to put it up 13-7. Astralis never wavered in its faith, putting together a masterful T-side from there on out. Astralis AWPer Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz led the way with many ridiculous snipes to post a 28/17 KD, that included 16 kills with his signature sniper rifle.
For as close as Game 1 was, Game 2 on Nuke was anything but. While Astralis kept it a bit close early on, being down just 3-4 after seven rounds, FaZe then kicked it into gear and never looked back. It took an 11-4 lead into the half, won its 15th straight pistol round, and easily finished up Astralis with a 16-6 win to force a Game 3. Astralis' Dev1ce was uncharacteristically off with his suboptimal 10/19 KD, while kioShiMa went off for FaZe to the tune of a 24/11 KD and 102.5 ADR.
With everything coming down to Inferno in Game 3, it was only fitting that the teams went the distance. After the first half ended at a 10-5 scoreline in favor of Astralis, though, it seemed like the Danes were going to waltzed right into a grand finals victory. The teams fought tooth and nail during the second half, and eventually came to a standstill. While Astralis took a 15-13 lead, FaZe's NiKo willed his team to two straight wins to force overtime. Despite an impressive showing from Kjaerbye, finishing with a 32/20 KD, FaZe overcame the Danes to take the map 19-17 and claim the StarSeries Season 3 Final crown.
More important than the $125,000 prize it just won, FaZe got revenge from its IEM Katowice grand finals loss to Astralis, possibly giving birth to an epic rivalry. With these teams playing at such a high level of late, there is no doubt that this will be a matchup we see for months to come.
