After the fantastic group stages in Leicester G2, Luminosity Gaming proceeded to the Indigo O2 Arena in London for the ESL Pro League CSGO grand final.
The five-game series was a nail-biter with fairly equal sides on each map – and the crowd was in brilliant form too. Oscar Pelling picks his best eight moments from the event:
1. That ScreaM shot
G2’s ScreaM has a very strong showing in the tournament and in the finals proving himself to be one of the world’s strongest players. To top off his performance he hit this pretty insane shot:
https://twitter.com/ESLCS/status/731934349076008960
2. “Henry, Henry, Henry!”
The showmatch was undoubtedly one of the best parts of the finals. The UK crowd was fortunate enough to watch one of their own, HenryG, showcasing some of the UK Counter-Strike talent:
#UKESPORTS pic.twitter.com/3Zu06J1k5L
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 15, 2016
3. Feeding the snake
One of the hallmarks of sporting events where alcohol is provided (or any beverage as long as it’s in stackable cups) is the inevitable SNAKE. Since the dawn of disposable plastic cups, one of the most entertaining parts of being at a sporting event is the camaraderie of ‘FEEDING THE SNAKE’.
While the audio issues on the first day were leading to a restless crowd, the rowdy UK attendees kept themselves busy:
wtf roflz ! u english are crazy lol feed the snake ! https://t.co/bKm0bsrNS6
— Jerckysminion (@Jerckysminion) May 15, 2016
4. Crowd FTW
Another thing Brits can always pride themselves on is rooting for the underdog:
Amazingly passionate and somewhat drunk crowd here in London #ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/aqgIHXh4Lg
— Johannes Schiefer (@JoSchiefer) May 15, 2016
5. Holy AWP!
With G2’s surprise upset against Fnatic, a lot of people had written off the finals as a stomp for LG.
G2 put in a heroic effort, however, and really made LG sweat for their win. This AWP clip from Overpass shows some of the beautiful teamwork from G2:
HOLY AWP! @G2shox & @G2SmithZz Give @Luminosity a warm welcome on Overpass #ESLProLeague https://t.co/r0lLTM05mS pic.twitter.com/xjtAv6PZA1
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 15, 2016
6. Shox tactics
Another player from G2 who had an outstanding performance was shox, who pulled off two 3 v 1 clutches, the best of which was on Inferno in overtime:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME! @G2SHOX! #ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/ObE11hPt30
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 15, 2016
7. Luminosity lift the ESL Pro League trophy
Credit to LG, who played exceptionally well to beat a G2 that have never looked better. With an all around fantastic performance from the LG squad, they thoroughly deserved this moment:
Congratulations to the new #ESLProLeague Champions! @Luminosity @LG_FalleN @LG_fnx @LG_ferGOD @LG_coldzera @LG_TACO pic.twitter.com/SxCCe4DyU9
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 15, 2016
8. A caster’s paradise
And finally, my favourite highlight from the tournament was the spontaneous fire from Blu and Machine. Could they have a future career as a rap/beatbox duo?
When your casting is lit #ESLProLeague @blucsgo @mynameismachine pic.twitter.com/L0dVTRx6IP
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 15, 2016
You can read more about the actual result from the final here.
