ESC dethrone Na`Vi as IEM champs

ESC Gaming have defeated Natus Vincere in the grand final of IEM6 World Championship, dethroning the Ukrainians who were unable to win the trophy for the third time in a row. Two close maps were needed for the Poles, 16-11 on de_train and 16-14 on de_mirage.

In a repeat of last season's last match, Natus Vincere met with ESC Gaming to decide who will get the Intel Extreme Masters season 6 World Championship trophy.

Player introduction before the match

The grand final started on de_train, which was ESC's selection. They lost the knife round making them start on the harder side, as attackers. An interesting pistol-round tactic by ESC followed, and although it was unsuccessful they still decided to buy in the second round. Na`Vi was caught off guard and ESC soon took the lead 2-1. However, the Ukrainians came right back into it and won a bunch of close rounds to take an 8-2 lead. At that point ESC finally stopped the streak, and the close rounds took its toll on Natus Vincere who were immediately forced to have an eco round. The Poles used the money advantage to get close to 8-6 before the Ukrainians finally recovered and added another round before the end of the half, 9-6 in favor of Na`Vi.

As the sides changed, Player of the Year for 2011, Filip "Neo" Kubski, took matters into his own hands and with 4 headshots secured the pistol-round for ESC Gaming. They used the good start to equalize the score at 9-9 and after that upped the streak to six rounds in a row and got themselves in a 12-9 lead. Natus Vincere finally found a way to take a round on their T-side, but the response by the Poles was perfect as they forced their opponents on a save round after that. As the score stood at 14-10, the Ukrainian team won another round that came down to the wire, but ESC was ready to respond once again. Facing match point at 15-11, Natus Vincere were very low on money going into the round with five desert eagles, which ESC dealt with successfully to win the map 16-11.

Natus Vincere's map-pick was de_mirage and they once again won the knife round, starting on the slightly favored CT-side. They won the pistol round and fended off the semi-buy from ESC, thanks to Arseny "ceh9" Trynozhenko winning a 1vs3 situation. ESC was stubborn to get a round and they bought rifles again, this time succeeding and eventually taking a 3-2 lead.

From that point, Na`Vi got back into the game and won six straight rounds before ESC decided to call a timeout. Apparently the Poles worked out a way to break through the barrier and they brought the deficit to 8-5. Natus Vincere replied with two of their own rounds and ended the half with a 10-5 advantage.

The solid lead for the Ukrainians started melting as the second half started, with ESC winning four rounds in a row to get close at 10-9. Natus Vincere's response was timely, not allowing the Poles to take over, as the lead increased to 12-9.

However, ESC did get to even the score soon after at 12-12 which brought the match into an exciting finish. First it was Na`Vi to gain the advantage, but then probably the deciding moment happened in the next round, when Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski clutched a very intense 1vs2 situation to once again put the score even at 13-13.

That propelled ESC onto winning two more rounds and climbing onto match point at 15-13. Natus Vincere didn't give up yet, taking the match into its 30th round, where the Poles were once again, similarly to yesterday against SK, the ones with more composure. The map ended 16-14 for ESC, and the celebration began.

ESC celebrating the victory with their new trophy

A lot was at stake here at CeBIT, as ESC earned a much heftier cheque for $50,000, while Natus Vincere get $20,000 for being second best. The Poles also dethroned the Ukrainian giants who held on to the IEM title for two years in a row.

IEM6 World ChampionshipBest of 0 ESC GamingMatchpage 2 0 10th March 2012 Natus Vincere 16Train 11 16Mirage 14

Match statistics:

ESC Gaming	K - D	+/-	ADR	-

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	-

IEM6 World Championship final standings:

1. ESC Gaming - $50,000
2. Natus Vincere - $20,000
3. Lions - $8,000
4. SK Gaming - $3,800
5-6. fnatic - $2,800
5-6. Moscow Five - $2,800
7-8. TyLoo - $2,200
7-8. WinFakt - $2,200
9-10. mousesports - $2,100
9-10. semXorah - $2,100
11-12. Anexis - $2,000
11-12. eSahara - $2,000

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