It has been three weeks since ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 started and things only got better and better. First week we saw a clash between teams trying to make their way to the top at the New Challengers stage, one week later we saw those teams playing at the Legends Stage, with the clear objective to take a spot between the top 8 to claim the desired "Legends" status. Now we are watching the final part of it, which is known as the Champions Stage, and it is being epic.
QUARTER-FINALS:
FaZe x mousesports (2-0)
The quarter-finals started with FaZe facing mousesports; it was revenge time for mousesports as they wanted this match to make up for their loss in Esports Championship Series (ECS) Finals. Things didn't go as planned for mousesports since they lost on Nuke, which was their map pick. Mousesports was really close to take Nuke but NiKo performance helped FaZe get the first map by 19-16 after one overtime. When it came to FaZe's map pick, in the likes of Cache, they started out strong by opening a huge lead which they could sustain to defeat mousesports by 16-9 and secure a spot on the semi-finals.
Natus Vincere x Quantum Bellator Fire (2-0)
This was a very unexpected match up for a major quater-finals, one team who has been recently improving in the likes on Natus Vincere and a complete surprise named Quantum Bellator Fire. It is true the expected result happened on this match as Natus Vincere dominated QB Fire during both Mirage and Inferno by 16-4 and 16-7 but that didn't matter that much. It was great to see Flamie monstrous performance, he played such an amazing match it is even hard to explain, and to experience QB Fire at the stage was something unique. The mix of excitement with the feeling "we want to achieve even more" from QB Fire gave this match something special for those who like to see new teams getting to the top.
Cloud9 x G2 (2-0)
Nobody could see this coming, at least not like this. In one of the most interesting confrotations, Cloud9 picked Mirage to play against G2, and after a very back and forth first half Cloud9 decided it was time to show what they had prepared and ended any hopes for G2 with a 16-8 scoreline. G2 picked Overpass as their map and they were clear favorites to take it but Cloud9 didn't take that into consideration and opened a very big lead on the first half. G2 tried to fight back just to fall short as Cloud9 won by 16-7 to make the crowd, who supported them all along the match, explode into excitement from seeing the home team perform in such a high level.
SK x Fnatic (2-1)
The obvious results has happened here right? Well that quite doesn't tell the entire story. First of all kudos to both SK and Fnatic for delivering the best match from the entire tournament so far. Fnatic picked Inferno and what a battle it was, if you are a fan of CS:GO this is a must watch, it ended with Fnatic winning by 19-22 after two overtimes. It is also hard to explain how close Fnatic was to take the series by almost taking SK's map pick Overpass, but SK doesn't give up, and they ended up winning by 16-14. The decider map was Mirage and once again both of these teams gave it all, it was like the old times, this series was something else and this time SK took it by 16-12 to secure the last spot on the semi-finals.
SEMI-FINALS
FaZe x Natus Vincere (2-0)
To start out the semi-finals Natus Vincere picked Inferno to try to stop FaZe, they played with their hearts and made a very equal first half, but things didn't work well for NaVi on the second half. Despite having opportunities to come out on top they ended up losing the map by 16-9. On FaZe's map pick of Mirage, it was a complete show to see how FaZe deserves to be one of the teams on the final, and how GuardiaN ended any hope Natus Vincere had to reach the finals on this major by delivering a convincing 16-7 scoreline. Overall Natus Vincere is becoming stronger and stronger but FaZe clearly is better at this moment.
Cloud9 x SK (2-1)
SK is usually the favorite in the match up between these two teams, but after the performance Cloud9 had against G2 on the previous day, it was hard to predict what was going to happen on Cloud9's map pick of Mirage. The only thing that can be said is that nobody expected to see Cloud9 defeat SK by a demolishing 16-3 to take the lead and make the crowd go insane. SK had to change something and they did exactly that on their map pick of Cobblestone, to some extend they did what Cloud9 did to them in the previous map and closed it with a 8-16 scoreline. The decider map was Inferno, which was played earlier by SK against Fnatic, but this time they had a very bad first half and lost to Cloud9 by 16-9 which made the home team the second finalist.
The finalists will be Cloud9 and FaZe, this is a clash between two huge organizations who are trying to put their name in CS:GO history. Cloud9 has been investing in USA talents for a while now and FaZe does the same but they are looking for talented players from all around the world. It is hard to predict what is going to happen in this final, both of the teams have been on the scene for a while and this is their moment to shine, but only one of them will take it all. This final will be a war and we can only sit back and wait for what the players will show us. Thanks ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 and Valve for giving us such an entertaining tournament for all those who enjoy CS:GO.
HF and GL to all of players, organizations and fans who took part of this event!
