ESL One Cologne Grand Final Set As BIG and Natus Vincere Win Out In Semi’s
BIG and Natus Vincere will face off in the ESL One Cologne grand final, with $125,000 up for grabs for the winner, as well as the coveted ESL trophy.
Na’Vi caused an upset to eliminate the world’s top team and tournament favorites Astralis in a nail biting match in the first semi-final of Saturday.
Na’Vi, led by Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Denis “electronic” Sharipov on map one took a 16-13 victory, but unsurprisingly Astralis battled back to take map two comfortably.
But what was surprising was Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko being the star of the show for Na’Vi on map three, as the resisted an Astralis comeback on Inferno to secure the grand final.
FaZe were expected winners up against BIG, but considering BIG’s impressive and unprecedented run in the tournament they would have been foolish to underestimate them.
Sure enough, Na’Vi was not the only squad to score a massive upset in the semi final. The crowd were well behind BIG, allowing them to play with some extra confidence and flair, and it was enough to shock the favorites of FaZe.
With two underdogs squaring off in the Grand Final, it will be tough to decide the favorite going in.
Na’Vi may have the slight edge due to s1mple’s performance, but after electronic’s and Zeus’ performances in the semi-final they are finally looking like much more than a one man show.
BIG will feel confident thanks in large part to the support from the crowd and the dominance displayed by nex against FaZe.