The final of Intel Extreme Masters Sydney in Qudos Bank Arena was a fan favorite one:
Astralis, who came fresh of a win at Dreamhack Masters Marseilles had run through the competition in Australia and were matched up with the all-star line-up of the Faze Clan. The two world-class teams had an incredibly tightly contested match that ended after the third map.
Faze would win all three, but it as a nailbiting affair that had the passionate Australian crowd nearly blow the doors off the Qudos Bank Arena.
The first two maps, Cache and Train, saw overtimes, Cache (19-17), Train (22-20), before it all ended in the last round on Train (16-14) with Faze taking the tournament. Ladislav “Guardian” Kovac put up a whopping +25 ratio and was by far the highest rated player of the final.
-When people don’t expect us to win, we win, said in-game leader Finn “Karrigan” Andersen when interviewed on the stage after the rain of confetti had died down.
The victoriy netted Faze 100 000 USD for their efforts. IEM Sydney is their second notch in the Intel Grand Slam. The team is now in the lead of the race to the 1 million dollar prize.
