Astralis rallied for a reverse sweep over Virtus.pro to win the ELEAGUE Major at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Sunday.
The Danish squad takes home the $500,000 grand prize for their efforts in their first major final. VP earns $150,000 of the $1.4 million prize pool for finishing in second.
WE DID IT!!!! Making history feels damn good. Thank you so much for all your amazing support. Atlanta, US, the world. ✨@EL #ELEAGUEMajor pic.twitter.com/ZjWP4ryuI4
— Astralis (@astralisgg) January 29, 2017
VP came into the final with five straight wins and a perfect record. They got first choice of map and rolled to a 9-6 advantage at halftime on Nuke. Astralis responded in the second half, starting off with a successful pistol round, but couldn’t make up enough ground and VP took the opening map 16-12.
Astralis had a better start in the second map on Overpass and held on for a 9-6 score at the half. VP turned the tide over the next 13 rounds and evened the score at 14-14 with the championship within their grasp. Despite an economy disadvantage, Astralis squeezed out two rounds to even the series and force a decisive third map.
VP started the final round with a chip on their shoulder and stormed out to a 7-0 lead before Astralis got on the board. The Danes recovered to trail 9-6 at the half.
The second half was much like the first as VP took four of the first five rounds to close within the championship at 13-7, but it was not to be for the Polish squad.
Astralis clawed all the way back to within two rounds at 14-12 and reeled off four straight from that point to capture their first major championship.
