The CPL Championship Finals match for Counter-Strike came down to Sweden versus Norway. Swedish powerhouse team Fnatic and Meet Your Makers, a rising star from Norway, faced off this afternoon in Dallas, with Fnatic scoring a decisive victory for the championship title. Both teams stormed through semifinal competition on Tuesday, beating other contenders such as France's Against All Authority and Pentagram G-Shock from Poland. But Fnatic, which had emerged as an early favorite for the Counter-Strike title with superior play throughout the tournament, swept MYM in two rounds, led by Patrik "F0rest" Lindberg in the first half and Harley "dsn" ﾖrwall in the second half.
The match didn't quite live up to early contests, such as the classic duel between Complexity and 3D, and didn't appear to draw as big a crowd at the CPL event. However, I'm pretty sure Fnatic didn't care; they won the title and walked away with $30,000. Plus, Fnatic team member Kristoffer "Tentpole" Nordlund announced he was retiring after the CPL Championship, so he gets to go out on top.
In other CPL Championship news, Paul "CZM" Nelson won the Quake 3 tournament and the $15,000 prize, defeating Fan "Jibo" Zhibo. But the best game of the Quake 3 tournament came earlier when Nelson faced off against top-ranked Quake player Anton "Cooller" Singov of Russia. Singov had beaten Nelson at an international Quake competition at the Electronic Sports World Cup last year. Nelson was trailing 13-2 in the third map of the contest but staged an improbable comeback, winning the map and the title. There's been some controversy at the CPL over the "group play" double-elimination tournament format, which has apparently favored upsets and put certain teams such as Complexity at a disadvantage.
To me, the group play tournament style is much like the NCAA college basketball tournament, which I have no problem with because it encourages upsets and unpredictable matches. Some teams will have an easier road than others, just like March Madness, but almost always the two best teams will rise to the top. To me, that's what has happened with the Counter-Strike finals. Fnatic and MyM are two of the best teams around, and they played at a superior level during this tournament. It was disappointing to see both 3D and Complexity go out early after such a memorable match on Monday, but those are the breaks of the game. All in all, the Counter-Strike competition featured some great competition and plenty of thrills. I supposed I couldn't ask for anything more for my first pro gaming experience.
For more on the CPL Finals, check out GotFrag.com's coverage, including video replays of the matches.
