EPICENTER 2017: SK Gaming Defeat Virtus.pro in Grand Finals
EPICENTER 2017: SK Gaming Defeat Virtus.pro in Grand Finals
The Brazilian team SK Gaming defeats Virtus.pro in the Grand Finals of EPICENTER 2017 and becomes the champion of one of the biggest CS:GO tournaments, taking home $250,000.
EPICENTER 2017 was held on October 24-29 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Eight participating teams have fought for a share of $490,000 prize pool at Yubileyny Sports Palace. The tournament was held in a standard format – GSL groups were followed by single-elimination playoffs bracket. The only difference is that there was a match for the 3rd place.
Group Stage
| Group A | Group B | ||||||
| 1. | SK Gaming | 2-0 | 71-38 | 1. | G2 Esports | 2-0 | 64-22 |
| 2. | Virtus.pro | 2-1 | 91-107 | 2. | Astralis | 2-1 | 81-74 |
| 3. | FaZe Clan | 1-2 | 120-121 | 3. | North | 1-2 | 70-102 |
| 4. | Gambit Esports | 0-2 | 83-99 | 4. | Team Liquid | 0-2 | 61-78 |
| Group A Matches | Group B Matches | ||||||
| SK | 2 | 0 | VP | Astralis | 0 | 2 | G2 |
| Gambit | 1 | 2 | FaZe | North | 2 | 1 | Liquid |
| VP | 2 | 1 | Gambit | Astralis | 2 | 0 | Liquid |
| SK | 2 | 1 | FaZe | G2 | 2 | 0 | North |
| VP | 2 | 1 | FaZe | Astralis | 2 | 0 | North |
Based on the results of the group stage, two top teams from each group advanced to the playoffs: SK Gaming and Virtus.pro from Group A and G2 Esports and Astralis from Group B. In the semifinals VP defeated G2 Esports with the 2-1 score (16:9 at Cache; 14:16 at Nuke; 16:10 at Inferno), while SK Gaming outplayed Astralis 2-0 (16:11 at Train; 19:17 at Mirage).
The Grand Final was held in the best-of-five format, and the teams played on all 5 maps. The series ended in favor of Brazilians from SK Gaming, but both teams showed impressive performance – almost every game was very close, with two maps ending in overtime.
Grand Finals
| SK | vs | VP |
| 10 | Mirage | 16 |
| 16 | Inferno | 6 |
| 19 | Train | 16 |
| 12 | Cache | 16 |
| 22 | Cobblestone | 18 |
This victory was especially important for SK Gaming, who played in the tournament with a stand-in – boltz replaced felps. It should also be noted, that 2nd place at EPICENTER is the biggest accomplishment for Virtus.pro since their victory at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017, where they defeated SK Gaming with the 2-1 score in the early 2017. Since then the team suffered from bad results, resulting in dropping from Top 10 teams according to hltv rating.
Prize pool distribution:
- 1st place: SK Gaming ($250,000)
- 2nd place: Virtus.pro ($100,000)
- 3rd place: G2 Esports ($60,000)
- 4rd place: Astralis ($30,000)
- 5th-6th place: FaZe Clan, North ($15,000 each)
- 7th-8th place: Gambit Esports, Team Liquid ($10,000 each)