Roared on by the American crowd, Cloud9 swept ENCE 3-0 to claim their first title in their new colours at IEM Dallas.
The former core of Gambit brushed aside any doubts about on-stage jitters with dominant performances on all three maps, thanks in large part to their unbreakable defensive holds.
Ax1Le leads the way to success
The MVP award went to Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov, the third of his career, after posting a 1.32 rating across the tournament. He also completed the tournament with 100 per cent of maps with a 1+ rating.
Despite defeat, ENCE can take heart from their Grand Final run, having played the entire tournament without star player Lotan "Spinx" Giladi, who was unable to travel to Dallas due to visa issues.
That fact did not hinder them for most of the tournament, however, as veteran Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski stepped in and produced some magical performances, including a strong Grand Final showing.
Related Esports News
Copenhagen Flames vow to build new roster
Natus Vincere confirm "sdy" role
00NATION targets six GODSENT members
SAW announces restructuring of roster
The Grand Final kicked off on Mirage and ENCE looked to be continuing their fine form, racing into a 10-5 lead on their defensive half. They were unable to build any momentum when the sides switched, however, and Cloud9 all but shut them out to win 16-12.
Cloud9 dominant in victory
That theme of strong defensive shutouts from Cloud9 did not need to continue on Overpass as they posted 10 rounds on their attacking half, quickly closing out their first map pick 16-11.
ENCE looked to be keeping pace with Cloud9 initially on Ancient, but Cloud9 ultimately ran away with what would be the final map of the series, as they closed out Ancient 16-3 to lift the trophy.
