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Cloud9 Wins ELEAGUE Major: Boston, Becomes First NA Team to Win CS:GO Major

Cloud9 has won a thriller at the ELEAGUE Major in Boston and has made some history in the process.

Ozzie Mejia

January 28, 2018 3:48 PM

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History was made at the ELEAGUE Major in Boston. Nobody expected the last remaining North American team to get much farther, but Cloud9 took the entire thing. In doing so, Cloud9 becomes the first North American team to ever win a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major, beating out FaZe Clan in an incredible Grand Finals.

There was no huge comeback, but rather the Grand Finals was closely contested from start to finish. FaZe Clan kicked things off by winning a game of inches on Mirage, taking Cloud9's pick 16-14. A closer-than-it-looked 16-10 set followed, with Cloud9 winning on Overpass, the FaZe Clan map selection. That set the stage for Inferno, the final map.

The two teams went back and forth throughout Inferno, ultimately going to double overtime behind some miraculous play from Jacky "Stewie2k" Yip.

.@stewie saves @Cloud9 and puts the game into overtime! pic.twitter.com/CrvCvsd39C

— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) January 28, 2018

With Cloud9's back against the wall in the Overtime session, it was Tarik Celik doing some serious work with the AWP to keep his team in the series.

.@tarik comes in HUGE when @Cloud9 need it the most in double overtime! pic.twitter.com/xtCQPT1RYc

— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) January 28, 2018

Cloud9 came into the weekend as one of the heavy underdogs. They faced off against a streaking G2Esports squad, who had not dropped a single map in the entire tournament. But Cloud9 went on to beat them 2-0 and then proceeded to knock off another tournament favorite, SK Gaming, in the semifinals.

.@Cloud9's game-winning moment to move on to the Grand Final! pic.twitter.com/GopguUzDRO

— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) January 28, 2018

Cloud9 takes home the lion's share of the $1 million prize pool, while FaZe Clan finishes the runner-up. SK Gaming and Natus Vincere share a third place finish.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?