All information to the ECS-Series 8 Finals 2019
The Esports Championship Series was the successor of the FACEIT League, which ended in 2015. The last edition of the ECS took place at the end of 2019 and was the eighth. While the tournament is held in Europe and North America, the finals take place in the USA, more precisely in Texas.
In total, eight teams were qualified for the finals of the eighth edition. Alongside the four top teams Astralis, Evil Geniuses, fnatic and Liquid, NiP, AVANGER, MIBR and Sharks were qualified. The group stage took place in a Swiss system and with two wins the teams were through to the playoffs. The tournament was divided into two groups.
European Qualification Tournament
At the European Qualifier eight teams fought for one remaining slot for the ECS Finals. With mousesports, FaZe, BIG, fnatic and Virtus.Pro some great teams competed in this tournament, which would have liked to participate in the big final event.
The tournament was played in a single elimination bo3. The opening round held two small surprises. Alongside a clear defeat of mousesports against Virtus.Pro, North lost 1:2 against Tricked. In the semifinals VP qualified against FaZe with a 2:1 and fnatic with a clear 2:0 against Tricked Esports.
The final victory and thus the last remaining spot for the ECS World Series was secured by fnatic in a clear match against Virtus.Pro. They won 2:0 on Overpass and Mirage, mainly due to an incredible performance by Brollan.
American Qualifying Tournament
Just like in the European edition, there were eight teams playing for one remaining spot. MIBR was the only really noteworthy team in this qualifier, challenged by some tier-2 teams.
Apart from the Brazilian favorites MIBR, only INTZ was really worth mentioning, finishing disappointingly on 5th place. Unsurprisingly, it was the team around IGL FalleN that won the tournament and secured their place in the next round.
Winner and tournament MVP
The winners and MVP were once again Astralis and device. While the stars were able to win both ECS Series in 2018, they secured their fourth success overall and nearly $2.5 million in prize money at the Faceit ECS Series in 2019 - unbelievable. For Nicolai "device" Reedtz, it's another MVP title in the 25-year-old's vast collection.
Group stage
The group stage went without any big surprises, the four favorites to win the tournament secured the advancement. With Liquid, Evil Geniuses, Astralis and fnatic, the top four at the time were represented in the playoffs. While Liquid and Astralis won their groups 2-0, Evil Geniuses and fnatic won the last two playoff spots against NiP and MIBR.
Playoffs
The playoffs were played in a single elimination mode and the two group winners Astralis and Liquid prevailed and secured their appearance in the final. With a 2:1 on Vertigo, Nuke and Dust2 the Danes secured their next title. After falling behind in overtime on the first map Vertigo, the Major Champions proved their class and defeated Liquid 16:11 and 16:8 on the remaining maps.
Surprises and disappointments
There were no real surprises in this tournament. The four top teams secured their places in the playoffs and thus none of the favorites was eliminated in the group stage. It was a bit disappointing that AVANGAR had to bow out of group A without a chance after a 0:2.
Performance of the individual teams
- Astralis: Dominant and confident victory in the tournament.
- Evil Geniuses: Lost in the group against Liquid, clearly eliminated in the game against Astralis
- fnatic: Solid group stage, in the end too weak against Liquid
- Liquid: Appearance in the final a great success, Astralis just too strong
- NiP: Did not manage to surprise in the duel with Evil Geniuses - a pity
- AVANGAR: Weak performance, eliminated after the group with 0:2
- MIBR: Decisive duel with fnatic for promotion lost, performance okay
- Sharks: Without a chance
