SK take an exciting win against FaZe, win ESL Pro League S6
The final fixture of the ESL Pro League's sixth season saw two of the most exciting sides face up against each other once again. The Brazilians of SK Gaming faced off against the European all-stars of FaZe. It was to be a best-of-five for the ages.
Up on Inferno, FaZe kicked the match off on their T-side with the pistol round and the following anti-ecos. SK managed to secure the first buy round but FaZe instantly fired back for another three rounds. From there Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga helped his teammates along to go five rounds in a row, before rounds were traded in strange fasion as FaZe went inton the half narrowly ahead on 8:7.
FaZe then repeated the start of the map on the second half, but SK also managed to claim the first buy round and the round following. After that, the two sides traded maps individually, with both teams unexpectedly winning multiple ecos. With Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács on top form, FaZe take the map over the line with a 16:13 score.
Moving on to Overpass, FaZe kicked off their CT-side by taking the pistol round, but were knocked down by the Brazilians, being prevented from defusing. SK then push onto take the next two rounds as well, but FaZe secured that first full-buy round. FaZe then dropped SK onto the eco when Finn "karrigan" Andersen defended the A-site with an exceptional 4k. SK then started to pick themselves back up, with the Brazilians moving themselves up to taking another three rounds.
FaZe then returned with a strong B-hold, with Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer showing form of old to keep his side strong. From there FaZe looked like they wouldn't relent, even when SK took it close to the Europeans, Håvard "rain" Nygaard engineered an exceptional clutch to prevent an immediate fall. SK secured the final round of the first half, with Epitacio "TACO" de Melo and Marcelo "coldzera" David linking up to keep them in it. FaZe took a narrow 8-7 lead into the half.
SK then started the second half off strongly, taking a clean pistol round followed by a clean anti-eco. The Brazilians then kept going with Ricardo "boltz" Prass picking up a triple kill to continue their lead into the half. So far FaZe were unable to get into this T-side, and that continued until the 21st round. With FaZe finally on the board, they were then smacked with a hard reset, edging the Brazilians closer to match point. A force buy from FaZe appeared to show promise at the start, but it was teamwork from Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and Epitacio "TACO" de Melo to touch match point.
With the Brazilians only needing one round to equal the series out, FaZe start throwing everything at preventing such a result. With two strong rounds FaZe were keeping themselves in it, the CT defense from SK proved too much, with Fernando "fer" Alvarenga ending the game for the Brazilians 16-11 up.
Mirage was up next, which Ricardo "boltz" Prass began with a big triple kill which Marcelo "coldzera" David helped to convert into the normal 3-0 lead. FaZe decided to save an additional round to get the maximum amount of utility and FalleN decimated the FaZe members to secure round four. FaZe managed to get some composure in the fifth round, but SK kept rolling throughout the half. A four-round string, followed by a set of five rounds saw the Brazilians seemingly out of reach with a 13:2 lead at the half thanks to a monster performance from Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo.
The second half appeared to flip the half on it's head, with FaZe taking the pistol round. But SK then cracked on with the round afterwards, before FaZe instantly forced back into the game. From there they made a run taking them close to double figures and preventing SK from claiming their final few rounds. But with many of their star players underperforming throughout, FaZe weren't able to capitalise. SK took their second map 16-9 and went 2-1 up in this best-of-five.
Train was next, and it was all on FaZe to make sure this game didn't end prematurely. With SK on their T-side, they were the ones to claim first blood, securing the pistol and the following two rounds. FaZe looked like they were set to make a mark in the fifth round, but SK kept rolling on the Europeans. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and Marcelo "coldzera" David made sure their team secured their grip on the game. Round 9 was where FaZe finally picked up a round, with Håvard "rain" Nygaard being a pivotal presence with three-kills.
From there the Europeans weren't being stopped just yet, even after being taken close multiple times. Their sixth round was secured by an ace from Håvard "rain" Nygaard, kicked off with a triple spray down. The seventh was a fantastic retake onto the B-site which made sure FaZe were still in this game, narrowly behind on a 8:7 half.
After a poor couple of maps, Nikola "NiKo" Kovač finally seems to find his feet and claims three kills on the pistol round to kick it off for his team. FaZe follow it up with the next two rounds, making it ten without reply for the Europeans. It wasn't until SK forced up with a random assortment of weapons, did they stop the run of FaZe after eleven rounds. From there SK regained their lead, with Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo help lead his team back into the lead, with six straight rounds of their own.
With SK now close to match point, it was FaZe to halt their run to claim another round in the match, but SK then hit on to tournament point with FaZe now on an eco. In a throwback to Inferno, FaZe pick that round up to keep their hopes alive, helped along by Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács plunging a knife into Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo's back whilst he was defusing, after running out of ammo. With FaZe making sure SK didn't return the favour on their own eco, the Europeans unbelieveably managed to pull it to overtime, defying belief with a 15:15 scoreline.
With FaZe carrying on the T-side during overtime, the Europeans narrowly hold on to secure the first overtime round. SK then answered back with a round of their own, with the final round coming to a near-clutch from Finn "karrigan" Andersen, but Ricardo "boltz" Prass holds a defuse in a risky situation to give his team the advantage in the overtime. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo then secures his team back to tournament point once again, where FaZe fell to SK in the following round, with the Brazilians securing a 19:16 win in the final half, to secure the third and final map.
FaZeSK| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
84 - 79 | +5 | 82.5 | 71.6% | 1.17 |
 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács |
82 - 70 | +12 | 79.8 | 75.9% | 1.16 |
 Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer |
75 - 78 | -3 | 70.0 | 65.5% | 1.00 |
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
76 - 82 | -6 | 77.4 | 66.4% | 0.97 |
 Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
62 - 76 | -14 | 56.3 | 70.7% | 0.89 |
| SK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Marcelo 'coldzera' David |
78 - 67 | +11 | 73.4 | 70.7% | 1.10 |
| Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga |
88 - 85 | +3 | 78.9 | 66.4% | 1.08 |
| Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo |
79 - 74 | +5 | 75.2 | 70.7% | 1.08 |
| Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo |
70 - 79 | -9 | 64.1 | 63.8% | 0.96 |
| Ricardo 'boltz' Prass |
70 - 75 | -5 | 67.7 | 63.8% | 0.92 |
With this result SK Gaming secured the $225,000 first prize at the ESL Pro League S6 Finals, and become the first team to claim two titles on the Intel Grand Slam, meaning they're halfway to claiming the $1,000,000 prize. This was also their eighth LAN event trophy in 2017.
The final standings of the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals are:
1. SK - $225,000
2. 
FaZe - $100,000
3-4. fnatic - $60,000
3-4. 
Misfits - $60,000
5-6. HellRaisers - $45,000
5-6. OpTic - $45,000
7-8. 
NRG - $40,000
7-8. Luminosity - $40,000
9-10. NiP - $35,000
9-10. Astralis - $35,000
11-12. North - $32,500
11-12. Liquid - $32,500
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