The inaugural ELeague season finished with a classic grand final between Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams Fnatic (FNC) and Virtus.pro (VP). FNC came into the final day of the league with the most momentum. From top to bottom, the lineup was firing on all cylinders. On the other end, VP finally made it to a grand final after an extended slump. It was anyone's guess what kind of form they would be in.
FNC chose Cobblestone for their first map, which is a map they've routinely crushed due to their ability to isolate aim duels and execute great rushes on either bomb site. However, it was VP and not FNC that took advantage of the map's many angles. VP surprised many with an incredibly strong T-side and suffocated all FNC resistance.
VP in-game leader Filip "NEO" Kubski was the star of the show. His calls on when to rush a specific bomb site were impeccable and his call outs on positioning were on the mark. The best part for VP fans was his carrying ability. NEO looked unstoppable as the driving force behind VP's attack when Paweł "byali" Bieliński or Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski struggled. The Poles would close out the first map, thought of as their opponent's specialty, 16-10.
The next map was VP's home turf, Mirage. On paper, the grand final was a wrap. VP are monstrous on this map; in fact, they are arguably the best team in the world on it. But FNC's resilience and legendary bounce-back ability made it a match. It was a close affair when the first half ended, but Snax took over in the second. He carried the majority of the fights and led in kills, but his clutch rounds were the most impressive. Snax helped his team return in a big way and allowed VP to essentially cruise to a victory and end the downturn that has haunted them for much of 2016.
