Cloud9 Defeated FaZe Clan in the Grand Finals of ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
Cloud9 Defeated FaZe Clan in the Grand Finals of ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
With a home-turf advantage and support of the entire 7,200-seat Agganis Arena the North American squad Cloud9 managed to defeat the favorites of the tournament from FaZe Clan in a tough best-of-three series, receiving the major’s champions title and $500,000 in prize pool.
Cloud9 started their way to the top from the New Challengers stage, in which they finished at the first place with the 3-0 score by defeating Team EnVyUs, Sprout and mousesports. In the New Challengers the North American team had a rough start – they lost their first two matches against G2 Esports and Space Soldiers, but managed to bounce back and win three following series in a row – they defeated Virtus.pro, Astralis and Vega Squadron, advancing to the final stage of the tournament. In the single-elimination playoffs bracket of the New Champions stage Cloud9 outplayed G2 Esports (2-0) and SK Gaming (2-1). In the deciding match they faced FaZe Clan, who were considered to be the favorites of the tournament, and made it to the Grand Finals without a single lost map – they outplayed both mousesports and Natus Vincere 2-0. With the support of the cheering Agganis Arena Cloud9 managed to do what no one expected from them. The series ended on the second over-time of the third map, making it one of the most spectacular grand finals in the history of competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 was held on January 12-28 and featured 23 participating teams. The event was divided into three stages. The first two stages (New Challengers and New Legends) featured a swiss format and were held at ELEAGUE Arena in Atlanta. The final stage of the event (New Champions) took place at Agganis Arena in Boston and was held as a single-elimination playoffs bracket with best-of-three matches. The prize pool was set at $1,000,000. The results of the tournament are presented below.
Tournament Results
The New Challengers
| # | Team | Matches | Rounds | RD |
| 1. | Cloud9 | 3-0 | 48-21 | +27 |
| 2. | G2 Esports | 3-0 | 51-32 | +19 |
| 3. | FaZe Clan | 3-1 | 54-40 | +14 |
| 3. | Vega Squadron | 3-1 | 64-53 | +11 |
| 3. | Space Soldiers | 3-1 | 62-55 | +7 |
| 6. | mousesports | 3-2 | 70-53 | +17 |
| 6. | Natus Vincere | 3-2 | 54-48 | +6 |
| 6. | Quantum Bellator Fire | 3-2 | 62-63 | -1 |
| 9. | Team Liquid | 2-3 | 65-72 | -7 |
| 9. | Renegades | 2-3 | 64-64 | 0 |
| 9. | AVANGAR | 2-3 | 59-68 | -9 |
| 12. | Sprout | 1-3 | 34-59 | -25 |
| 12. | Team EnVyUs | 1-3 | 45-61 | -16 |
| 12. | Misfits | 1-3 | 47-52 | -5 |
| 15. | Flash Gaming | 0-3 | 37-48 | -11 |
| 15. | FlipSid3 Tactics | 0-3 | 21-48 | -27 |
The New Legends
| # | Team | Matches | Rounds | RD |
| 1. | G2 Esports | 3-0 | 48-20 | +28 |
| 1. | FaZe Clan | 3-0 | 48-23 | +25 |
| 3. | Natus Vincere | 3-1 | 53-33 | +20 |
| 3. | SK Gaming | 3-1 | 60-51 | +9 |
| 3. | Quantum Bellator Fire | 3-1 | 55-49 | +6 |
| 6. | mousesports | 3-2 | 70-53 | +17 |
| 6. | Cloud9 | 3-2 | 69-49 | +20 |
| 6. | Fnatic | 3-2 | 63-48 | +15 |
| 9. | Space Soldiers | 2-3 | 71-69 | +2 |
| 9. | Gambit Esports | 2-3 | 60-69 | -9 |
| 9. | Vega Squadron | 2-3 | 42-70 | -28 |
| 12. | Team Liquid | 1-3 | 45-53 | -8 |
| 12. | Astralis | 1-3 | 32-62 | -30 |
| 12. | BIG | 1-3 | 30-60 | -30 |
| 15. | North | 0-3 | 36-48 | -12 |
| 15. | Virtus.pro | 0-3 | 16-48 | -32 |
The New Champions Bracket
Overall Results
| Place | $ USD | Team |
| 1st | $500,000 | Cloud9 |
| 2nd | $150,000 | FaZe Clan |
| 3rd-4th | $70,000 | Na`Vi, SK |
| 5th-8th | $35,000 | mouz, QBF, G2, Fnatic |
| 9th-11th | $8,750 | Gambit, Vega, Space Soldiers |
| 12th-14th | $8,750 | BIG, Astralis, Liquid |
| 15th-16th | $8,750 | North, Virtus.pro |
| 17th | - | AVANGAR |
| 18th | - | Renegades |
| 19th-21st | - | Sprout, EnVyUs, Misfits |
| 22nd-23rd | - | Flash Gaming, FlipSid3 Tactics |