Global Challenge Los Angeles a complete success
The second Global Challenge in season three of the Intel Extreme Masters has taken place in Los Angeles. The Counter-Strike professionals got their first opportunity to show what they could do, while it was the second time around for World of Warcraft players.
Counter-Strike 1.6
It looked like every one of the world’s Counter-Strike elite had shown up to try to take home some of that $50,000 prize money. People from all around the world lined up to follow the action live via the live streams, and everyone who did seemed happy that they had done the right thing.
Upsets, insanely close matches and awesome performances were seen, as SK-Gaming took an early lead. What no one really counted on was the American teams’ exceptional performance. Paragon of Virtue knocked out mTw in the group stage and Evil Geniuses threw down both fnatic and MYM in the lower bracket playoffs.
Nevertheless, no North American teams made it through to the grand final. That instead pitted a South American team against a European one. Even though Made in Brazil had a pretty clear win against SK-Gaming in the quarter final, SK-Gaming came back in the grand final guns blazing and took the win in two superbly well played maps.
1st: SK-Gaming ($25,000)
2nd: Made in Brazil ($10,000)
3rd: EG.usa ($6,000)
4th: Meet Your Makers ($4,000)
5th-6th: Paragon of Virtue ($2,500)
5th-6th: Team GamePlay ($2,500)
See the official ESL coverage in replays, video interviews and pictures
World of Warcraft
On the second day, World of Warcraft kicked off. On the starting line were three of the four top teams from the last Global Challenge. Clearly, no one was going to be taking any prisoners.
The line-up for World of Warcraft was not as big as the one for Counter-Strike, but the competition was still incredibly close! Last GC’s winners, Nihilum Plasma, were at one point on the brink of elimination but they fought back to earn themselves a place in the grand final.
Unsurprisingly, x6tence, who are considered the best WoW team in the world, had no trouble whatsoever making their way to the grand final. In the last GC they finished fourth, after Nihilum, SK and fnatic, but this time no one could stop them. In the grand final they beat Nihilum 3:2.
1st: x6tence ($15,000)
2nd: Nihilum Plasma ($6,000)
3rd: Got Game East ($3,600)
4th: Pandemic Blue ($2,400)
5th-6th: Evil Geniuses ($1,500)
5th-6th: SK-Gaming ($1,500)
See the official ESL coverage in replays, video interviews and pictures
