The Danish superteam in Astralis has won yet another Counter-Strike: Global Offensive championship at the Esports Championship Series Season 8. Astralis is often regarded as one of the best, if not the best, esports teams ever assembled, and they continued to validate that narrative here. Team Liquid made a valiant effort to dethrone the kings of CSGO, but they fell a little short.
The overall map count was Vertigo 15:19 Liquid, Nuke 16:11 Astralis, and Dust 2 16:8 Astralis. The championship trophy is still in customs, unfortunately, but at least Astralis won’t be able to break this one tonight.
THEY DO IT AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN AND AGAIN 🏆🏆🏆🏆
🇩🇰 @ASTRALISGG ARE THE ECS SEASON 8 CHAMPIONS #ToTheStars
Congratulations @dev1ce // @dupreeh // @Xyp9x // @gla1ve_csgo // @MagiskCS // @zonic 🙌 #ECS8 pic.twitter.com/TT5LYEiRxl
— Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) December 2, 2019
Map one
Vertigo was Team Liquid’s pick at ECS Season 8, but Astralis gave them a run for their money by taking it into overtime. Liquid still emerged victorious, however, with a 19:15 win. Jonathan “ELiGE” Jablonowski and Keith “NAF” Markovic really showed up for Liquid in this match. While his stats may not show his impact, ELiGE played consistently across the map and helped push Team Liquid over the edge. NAF’s stats say it all in terms of his contribution. He dropped 36 kills, gained a 117.7 ADR, and had a clean triple kill hold.
Map two
Astralis bounced back on Nuke, though not without resistance from Team Liquid. This was a comfort pick for Astralis, so they were definitely favored to win, but 16:11 is not the blowout many expected. Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander dropped 26 kills on the map and fashioned a 108.5 ADR with a clutch 3k.
Map three
The final map came down to a classic Dust 2 match, where Astralis would go on to smash Liquid 16:8. Nikolai “device” Reedtz made his presence known here, sporting the highest ADR from any player in the entire series with a 122. While he had many great plays, one of the most noteworthy was a double entry to open up the mid lane for his team. Device would go on to be crowned the MVP of ECS Season 8.
