Astralis are champions once again after winning the $250,000 ESL Pro League Season Eight-Finals in Odense, Denmark earlier today.
The Danish stars defeated Team Liquid in the best-of-five grand final of the week-long event, winning three maps out of four. Liquid chose Dust II and Mirage as their map picks, while Astralis selected Inferno and Train. Overpass was the leftover decider map from the veto phase.
Grand Final
Astralis vs Team Liquid
- Liquid won Train 16-8
- Astralis won Mirage 16-11
- Astralis won Inferno 16-11
- Astralis won Dust II 16-10
Liquid dominated Astralis on map one, Train, by securing an early series lead with a 16-8 map win behind a stand-out 23 kill performance from Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski.
From there, the series headed to Mirage – a map that has become a staple for clashes between the two teams. Astralis were able to level the best-of-five series at 1-1 with a 16-11 win. In-game leader Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander led the way with 31 kills, helping his team clutch out some incredibly-tight rounds.
For the third map of the series, the two teams loaded into Inferno. The map has held some iconic matches between Liquid and Astralis over the last year – including a 16-12 back and forth brawl in the event’s group stages. Like they did earlier in the tournament, the Danes picked up victory by a scoreline of 16-11.
Despite taking another tough loss, Team Liquid’s future looks bright. They’re the only team to consistently battle against Astralis and put up a good fight in playoff games and best-of-five grand final matches. Going into 2019, the North Americans will likely work on perfecting their brand of Counter-Strike, much like the Danes.
Astralis’ championship win at EPL Season Eight undoubtedly solidifies them as the best CS:GO team in the world in 2018.
ESL Pro League S8 Final Standings and Placements:
| Place | Team | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Astralis | $250,000 |
| 2nd | Team Liquid | $110,000 |
| 3-4 | Mousesports | $55,000 |
| 3-4 | MIBR | $55,000 |
| 5-6 | Nav`VI | $32,000 |
| 5-6 | Renegades | $32,000 |
| 7-8 | Ghost Gaming | $24,000 |
| 7-8 | G2 | $24,000 |
| 9-12 | NRG | $22,000 |
| 9-12 | BIG | $22,000 |
| 9-12 | Hellraisers | $22,000 |
| 9-12 | Sharks | $22,000 |
| 13-16 | North | $20,000 |
| 13-16 | ViCi | $20,000 |
| 13-16 | INTZ | $20,000 |
| 13-16 | ORDER | $20,000 |
