Virtus.Pro Victorious at Adrenaline Cyber League

This year’s Adrenaline Cyber League, located in Moscow at the VTB Ice Palace, was an event to look out for and didn’t disappoint. 4 teams made up the competition at the major event, all of which were invited; Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere, FlipSid3 Tactics and Hell Raisers. With such a small pool of teams, and a total prize money of $100,000, each game was literally a few thousand dollars worth of CS:GO.

Without any double-elimination, HellRaisers and FlipSid3 Tactics were quickly beaten and left with a bottom two finish. Thus, Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro immediately landed into the final to battle it out for $40,000 dollars. VP got off to a promising start in the best of three, seizing Nuke in style with a 16-2 scoreline. The second map, Train, was incredibly back and forth with no clear winner until the very end resulting in a 20-22 scoreline for Natus Vincere. Game three would decide the winner, and if you’ve read the title, wha comes up next it no surprise. Virtus.pro take home the $65,000 prize money after a 16-8 score. Playing just a couple of games has allowed VP to leave that much richer; with a roster consisting of ‘TaZ, ‘NEO’, ‘pasha’, ‘Snax’, ‘byali’ and coach ‘kuben’.

Short tournaments with a mere 4 teams are a refreshing experience for many. Although, some may prefer longer events based on longer life-spans and a few more games. Yet, tiny tournaments like this drastically increase pressure, with no space for error since one loss sends you home. It would be preferred if teams can qualify instead of being invited, but it’s nothing we can change. Nonetheless, it was a tight tournament consisting of uncomfortable amounts of tension which was a delight for all viewers, who probably barely had any fingernails left to bite by the end of it all.