Tricked beat ALTERNATE aTTaX to win Cross Border Esport 2018

Tricked have been crowned champions of the 2018 edition of Cross Border Esport after beating ALTERNATE aTTaX 2-1 in the grand final of the tournament.

The 32-team competition, featuring a $15,600 prize pool, came to an end with an end with a match with a rivalry of sorts as the home side of Tricked, last year's runner-up, locked horns with an ALTERNATE aTTaX squad featuring two Danes, one of them in-game leader Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen.

The Germany-based team, who had moved past SJ in the semi-finals after two extremely close maps, got off to a flying start on Inferno as they stormed to a 9-1 lead on the Terrorist side. Tricked, who had notably defeated warmup and Sharks along the way, tightened up their defence and won five rounds in a row, but a slow start to the second half on their part allowed ALTERNATE aTTaX to quickly hit map point, eventually locking down the map in the 27th round.

The next map, Mirage, went in a completely different direction. Apart from a brief period at the beginning, Tricked were in the lead for the entirety of the first half and went into the break up 8-7. After switching to the CT side, the Danish team were far too hot for their opponents to handle and lost just one round before securing the victory.

The final map, Train, was the most lopsided of the three: Tricked, who began on the T side, ran all over the German defence and took a whopping 13 rounds into the break. ALTERNATE aTTaX still tried to get back in the game, but Tricked put an end to the Germans' comeback hopes with a 3-0 run on the CT side to put the series to bed.

CBE 2018 final standings:

1. Tricked - $9,350
2. ALTERNATE aTTaX - $3,450
3-4. Sharks - $1,400
3-4. SJ - $1,400
5-8. PACT
5-8. EURONICS
5-8. Nexus
5-8. Ignite