Russian Outsiders defeated ENCE in the grand final with a score of 2 – 0 and thus became the winner of the $50,000 grand prize, as well as a guaranteed spot in the Conference stage of ESL Pro League Season 17.
Interestingly, Outsiders had previously lost to ENCE in the group stage of the tournament, after which they had to beat Brazilian Fluxo twice to make the playoffs. In the elimination matches, the team looked much more convincing: they took down MOUZ and then ENCE, winning their second ESL Challenger trophy of the year.
The first map of the grand finals was Dust2, chosen by Outsiders. Although their opponents were able to gain the upper hand early on, the Outsiders quickly evened the score and achieved a 9 – 6 advantage by the time the sides changed sides. The Russian team dominated the second half of the card unchallenged, losing only two rounds. At Vertigo Outsiders were successful in the first half and the score gap seemed insurmountable (11 – 4). However, ENCE then regained a significant part of the advantage, so that the final score was 16 – 14 in favor of Outsiders.
This was the third defeat for ENCE in the grand finals of a major tournament in a year. The team will now have to focus on preparing for the majors, where it will begin racing with the Legends stage on Nov. 5.