ECS Season 5 Finals viewer's guide

6-6-2018 17:15

With the ECS Season 5 Finals set to start on Friday, we have put together a viewer's guide with all the information you need regarding the $660,000 tournament.

The Esports Championship Series (ECS) returns to the SSE Arena, in Wembley, London, for its season 5 finals, where eight teams, determined by the online portion of the league, will square off for the grand prize of $250,000.

The tournament will begin with a double-elimination group stage, which will lead to a single-elimination bracket with the top two teams from both groups.

Group A sees Astralis, currently the No.1 team in the ranking, paired with another top five team, Liquid, and with two teams ranked between sixth and tenth, fnatic and Cloud9.

Reigning ECS champions FaZe will field cromen as a stand-in

Group B features just one top five team, FaZe, with StarSeries runners-up NRG, the new G2 line-up and Brazilian side Luminosity making up the rest of the group.

Here are the groups for the event:

Group A		Group B
Astralis		NRG
Cloud9		FaZe
fnatic		G2
Liquid		Luminosity

Below you can find the full schedule for the competition:

Friday, June 8
14:15	Astralis	vs. Cloud9	BO1
15:30	fnatic	vs. Liquid	BO1
16:45	Group A winners' match		BO1
18:00	NRG	vs. G2	BO1
19:15	FaZe	vs. Luminosity	BO1
20:30	Group B winners' match		BO1

Saturday, June 9
10:15	Group A elimination match		BO3
13:15	Group B elimination match		BO3
16:15	Group A decider match		BO3
19:15	Group B decider match		BO3

Sunday, June 10
13:15	Semi-final #1		BO3
16:15	Semi-final #2		BO3
19:30	Grand final		BO3

The on-air talent team for the event is predominantly from the United Kingdom, with Alex "⁠Machine⁠" Richardson hired to host the show. Pala "⁠Pala⁠" Gilroy Sen will be one of the on-duty reporters, while Jason "⁠moses⁠" O'Toole, Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert and Tomi "⁠lurppis⁠" Kovanen will be breaking down the action at the analyst desk.

There will also be three pairs of casters, including the popular combo Henry "⁠HenryG⁠" Greer-Matthew "⁠Sadokist⁠" Trivett, with the full broadcast team looking as follows:

Alex "Machine" Richardson - Host
Freya Spiers - Host

Pala "Mantrousse" Gilroy Sen - Reporter
Jake "Boaster" Howlett - Reporter

Jason "moses" O'Toole - Analyst
Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert - Analyst
Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen - Analyst

James Bardolph - Commentator
Daniel "ddk" Kapadia - Commentator
Henry "HenryG" Greer - Commentator
Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett - Commentator

Adam "Dinko" Hawthorne - Community Caster winner
Alexander "Hawka" Hawkins - Community Caster winner

Jamie "keita" Hall - Observer
Connor "Sliggy" Blomfield - Observer

Lastly, here is how the $660,000 prize pool will be distributed among the eight participants:

1. $250,000
2. $120,000
3-4. $65,000
5-6. $45,000
7-8. $35,000

2018-06-06 17:18

16 replies

expected

2018-06-06 17:19

15 replies

2018-06-06 17:23

14 replies

Expected

13 replies

250k easy for faze

2018-06-06 17:29

12 replies

More like Astralis or liquid will take first

2018-06-06 17:33

9 replies

astralis [90% chance]

2018-06-06 17:37

2 replies

Astralis most likely.

2018-06-06 18:51

1 reply

No Thorin on UK event? xdxd

2018-06-07 12:04

Liquid? Yea right

2018-06-06 19:42

4 replies

if astralis gonna choke, liquid can win)

2018-06-06 20:30

3 replies

NRG beat Liquid at StarSeries dumbass

2018-06-06 21:44

2018-06-06 22:05

Liquid also beat nrg

2018-06-07 03:02

And it’s astralis vs liquid final :)

2018-06-10 19:44

-1 FaZe fag

2018-06-07 01:43

you're probably regret now saying that shitty phrase :))

2018-06-09 04:48

ez4cerq

ez for mouz

Cool

Freya "" Spiers

2018-06-07 09:32

ez for astralis

Astralis + Fnatic Faze+G2 shame these events waste 4 slots on NA CS

2018-06-06 17:20

7 replies

C9 shit Liqued not bad Luminosity are bad And NRG r an upset team Cut 2 spots from Na and ad 1 to eu and 1 to asia

2018-06-06 17:28

g2 is just as iffy as nrg c9 or liquid

2018-06-06 17:35

It could be even worse... Did you ever imagine spots for CIS region? I think they’re desperately needing some of them, cause CIS teams are not even managing to qualify through EU slots.

2018-06-06 17:48

Liquid is the third best team in this tourney

2018-06-06 21:47

Liquid couldnt beat NRG in a bo3 kappa

2018-06-06 21:57

But still 3 best team in this tournament

2018-06-06 23:32

Liquid actually did beat nrg in a BO3 in this tournament though.

2018-06-07 00:23

Olof :(

2018-06-06 17:21

:( :( so sad

2018-06-06 17:56

Izi to Luminosity. Go guys

ez 4 smithzz Kappa

2018-06-06 17:22

2018-06-06 23:04

RIP C9 [*]

RIP how did they even qualify [*]

2018-06-07 07:55

Those lineups, lol. Ez for Astralis.

2018-06-06 17:25

This format sucks for event like this. Bo1 still *facepalm* in group stage

2018-06-06 17:26

+1 Starseries bo3 swiss is the GOAT among the events.

2018-06-07 12:16

Gogo G2! Ex6TenZ_RedemptioN activate!

These groups...

ez for moses

2018-06-06 17:31

ez for LG

2018-06-06 17:32

So easy for astralis lmao

2018-06-06 18:14

ast era they will win london major

2018-06-07 07:56

ez4pala

2018-06-06 17:34

Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett - Commentator use the n-word as you like, we'll still hire you...

2018-06-06 17:39

5 replies

hes back now

2018-06-06 17:40

12 btw

2018-06-06 17:50

they don't care about sensitive snowflakes like you tbh

2018-06-06 17:55

go back to r*ddit

2018-06-06 18:19

Good, about time people stop caring so much about that word. Sorry snowflake :(

2018-06-06 20:39

660.000$ tournament and it's not the G2 roster that qualified that plays it. Ocelote is such a 2faced hypocrite.

2018-06-06 17:42

dats true

2018-06-06 18:22

awesome to see Hawka and Dinko there :)

2018-06-06 17:43

Astralis is going to win this one.

BO1 helping weaker teams like C9, (even Fnatic) or G2 to go through, because in BO3 it's clear qualification for Liquid and NRG.

2018-06-06 17:45

Fnatic is the third strongest team there..

2018-06-06 17:47

Fnatic is slumping lately. And they lost lekr0 who was a good player. (xizt is fine but lekr0 probably was a better pick overall)

Jahahhahhahahhahahahahahahaahhahaha no

2018-06-06 18:57

Faze is so unlucky, feels bad Expecting an upset from them.

2018-06-06 17:46

typical br

2018-06-07 11:28

Ikr

The classic American FaZe fan, lmao.

2018-06-07 13:45

16-1

2018-06-08 20:36

"Expecting an upset from them" FaZe fan is FaZe fan.

2018-06-08 21:21

win 2 bo1 and qualify to wemis, OMEGALUL

semis*

It's the easiest format for a 3 day long tournament.

2018-06-06 18:13

G2 hyyyyyype!! The comeback of verygames

ez for NBK and Apex

2018-06-06 17:54

James Bardolph <3 btw, what's c9 lineup this time since fns benched.

2018-06-06 18:01

fns is going to ecs

2018-06-06 18:20

Luminosity out in group stage once again :)

2018-06-06 18:02

liquid vs c9

2018-06-06 18:06

Let's Go G2!💪

2018-06-06 18:08

Why can't ECS have 16 teams in their finals??? WHY???

2018-06-06 18:16

FaZe UP!

2018-06-06 18:23

Astralis bout to bite into that sweet ass 250k$. Hate them danes but damn me to eternity if they don't play good

2018-06-06 18:26

EZ Astralis

2018-06-06 18:31

EZ for my Astralis!

2018-06-06 18:34

ez 4 astralis faze will go fazedown in the groups

easy for Astralis :))))

2018-06-06 19:03

Ezzz for DDK BARDOLPH and NOTHING Welcome back!

2018-06-06 19:08

can anyone tell me why the fuck they hired 2 reporters? LOL get the stage host to do interviews before or after matches (if u want, not necessary), get the desk to host more in depth interviews after games if u get the chance, and kaboom.. u dont need to fucking hire pala and this nonamer anymore. especially not pala tho.

2018-06-06 19:16

Hater much?

2018-06-07 08:53

much? im no1 pala hater in the universe. hate that bitch with his slimy demeanor, his stupid ass questions, his silly man bun and pedo beard and his classic "what is going on everybody!!!!" save the money on those two fucks, offer thorin twice as much, and maybe we'll have actual entertainment between games.

2018-06-07 23:04

G2 Hype

2018-06-06 19:22

Group A is way more stacked than B. Astralis will probably win the tournament. Liquid is in good form, as is fnatic. I wish I can say C9 will do well, but not in this group. As for group B you have FaZe with cromen, NRG who I can't imagine having a repeat performance, a newly formed G2 and new-ish Luminosity with a bunch of players who've never really performed at tier1 tournaments (excluding steel).

2018-06-06 19:35

2018-06-07 09:28

Bo1? Astralis don't stand a chance, they always suck in bo1's.

2018-06-06 19:40

They destroy anyone at the moment.

2018-06-06 19:45

gtfo with youtube gaming OMEGALUL under 1 K viewers confirmed

2018-06-06 19:46

Better than facebook LUL

2018-06-06 19:49

true ma friend

2018-06-06 19:54

indeed. twitch is preferred, but i'll take yt over fb any day

2018-06-06 19:55

+ 3

2018-06-06 19:58

I like youtube transmissions cause it's easier to watch in my TV

2018-06-06 19:59

RIP LG

2018-06-06 19:56

t2 tournament

2018-06-06 20:17

8 replies

T2 tournament with the two best teams in the world in it? OMEGALUL, what a dumb baguette.

2018-06-06 20:37

t2 because there is only astralis, failze playing with stand in, g2 are dead, liquid changing their 5th on monthly basis, fnatic just benched their 1-2nd best player, clown9 nothing else to be said, nrg is just cerq so yeah, nothing to expect from this "big" lan

2018-06-06 20:49

6 replies

Wrong in every way, by your definition it's impossible to have a tier 1 event currently since you make an excuse about every team. I reaaaaaaally hope you're not just saying that because ShitKay aren't in the tourney.

2018-06-06 20:52

who?

2018-06-06 20:54

no i am saying that, because every single team is not in their best shape, only one exception are astralis, which are playing even better than the used to before.

2018-06-06 20:56

When SK were top 1 in mid 2017, every other team sucked as well. Then FaZe had their LAN streak and SK started to suck. Now Astralis is doing the same. That's how CSGO is now. The two top 2 teams in the world in an event = automatic tier 1, everything else is irrelevant.

2018-06-06 20:58

faze arent 2nd... Just because there is no official ranking so teams couldnt be dropped into groups by their performance/ranking, but they are randomly throwed into same basket, so you can have three teams from top5 in one group and on the other hand there are four top30 teams in same group and has easier playoff. Once it will be stopped, so if you want to be the best you have to defeat the best, which now is not working. Because you can get to the final not meeting any single good team - pure example is NRG in finals, while unofficial finals was navi vs mouz. This is also reason why no one is hyped for finals and csgo for viewers is dying.

2018-06-06 21:11