FORZE brush aside ECSTATIC to win CCT Online Finals

The Russian squad avenged an earlier loss to the Danes by comfortably dispatching them 2-0 in the grand final.

FORZE have claimed the CCT Online Finals title after beating ECSTATIC 2-0, taking Inferno 16-11 before sealing the deal 16-10 on Nuke.

ECSTATIC had already claimed several impressive wins in the tournament, taking down BIG, Movistar Riders and FORZE on their way to the grand final, but a rematch with the Russians proved a step too far.

Before taking on the Danes, FORZE had to deal with 9INE in the consolidation final. The Russian side won their pick of Ancient 19-16, needing a superlative performance from Vladislav "⁠Krad⁠" Kravchenko to haul them through a tightly-contested map. Things were more straightforward on Nuke as 9INE found themselves overwhelmed by an absolutely insane 2.15-rated, 38-kill performance from Aleksandr "⁠shalfey⁠" Marenov, the score ending 16-9 in FORZE’s favor.

The grand final itself kicked off on Inferno, the pick of FORZE, and the Russians took a fairly comfortable 16-11 victory. A tight first half went 8-7 in favor of FORZE’s T side, before they put up a strong defense where everyone contributed 78 ADR or better.

Nuke served as ECSTATIC’s pick, and they justified their confidence on the map by putting up seven offensive rounds in the first half, their tidy upper executes proving difficult for their opponents to deal with.

The second half began with a classic force-buy war, ECSTATIC taking their defensive pistol before the teams traded rounds back and forth. The fact FORZE were getting bomb plants during this period gave them the monetary advantage, and they eventually strung two rounds together to take the lead at 12-10 and break ECSTATIC’s economy. This allowed FORZE to take control of the game, and they ran with it all the way to a 16-10 win.

FORZE cemented their status as one of the best non-partner teams in the circuit with this tournament victory, something they had already shown with their ESL Pro League exploits and qualification to the BLAST Paris Major.

shalfey is one of the most impressive fraggers not on a top team, Krad has provided a stable presence since arriving late last year, and the whole squad is proving to be a dangerous prospect for any who play them.

Despite the loss in the grand final, ECSTATIC should be thrilled with their performance in this CCT event. They came into the tournament as one of the lower-ranked teams in attendance but outplaced big names like Ninjas in Pyjamas and BIG, as well as Major-attendees 9INE and Into the Breach.

In general the Danish squad have impressed in recent months, taking top-four at the ESL Challenger Melbourne LAN and posting a 9-game win-streak prior to losing to FORZE. The Danes will get a chance to show more of what they can do on LAN at ESL Challenger Katowice, which commences June 9.