The Set Up

On July 9th 2016 Counter Strike Global Offensive enthusiasts sat down and witnessed four teams battle it out in the Semifinals of ESL Cologne 2016. On one side of the bracket the brazilians at SK ultimately prevailed over Virtus Pro in a three map slugfest while on the other side the North American’s over at Team Liquid followed the path led by their Ukrainian superstar in a two map upset over one of the most storied teams in Counter Strike history.

The outcome of these two semifinals has set the tone of the final in a way that the community is already familiar with, after all both SK and Team Liquid reside in the same region and have extensive experience playing versus each other. An important note in terms of those previous results is the mind boggling stat that is the fact that SK has won the last thirteen times these teams have faced off.

Be that as it may when these two teams face off in the grand finals tomorrow all that history between them goes out the window, as SK now find themselves facing off versus a Team Liquid side that has sprung anew. This new look Team Liquid provides a far deadlier opponent when compared to previous iterations of the lineup.

Both of these two teams have had great runs through the tournament up until this point, SK overcoming G2 and Virtus Pro and Liquid overcoming Natus Vincere and Fnatic. Though both may deserve the championship, at the end of the day only one of these teams can emerge as the victor.

The North American Dream

Team Liquid’s run to the finals has taken on the hopes and dreams of all of North America, a region that had become utterly sick of its inability to compete at the highest level. However in order to reach the finals those hopes and dreams had to come face to face with some of the best teams in the world.

The roster that Team Liquid have built for this major is one of the most skilled lineups to represent not only the North American region but also any organization itself. WIth a mixture of the best North American talent at each role and a European superstar Team Liquid have trail blazed a path to the finals, where they look to take on the best team in the world and try to prevent history from taking place.

En route to the finals Team Liquid had to face off versus Natus Vincere and Fnatic, two of the deadliest teams in the world, and somehow Team Liquid managed to overcome both of these opponents in thrilling series. Despite having a difficult road to the finals the road itself does not get any easier upon reaching the finals. Ahead of Team Liquid lies the defending major champions and consensus best team in the world, a task that many believe is too steep for even a red hot Team Liquid lineup.

Team Liquid now come face to face with the demons of their past, face to face with the team who ended their cinderella story run at MLG Columbus earlier in the year.

The Brazilian Era

In the case of the Brazilians the only thing that currently is preventing them from putting the stamp on this era as their own is their American counterparts. Simply by  overcoming Team Liquid, a task that historically SK are more than up to, they will be able to claim this time period as their own and cement themselves as one of the main challengers to Fnatic’s claim as the greatest team of all time. That is not all however, after all not only are the Brazilians looking to cement this period as their era but they are also looking to become the second five man unit in Counter Strike Global Offensive history to win two majors after Fnatic.

Without a doubt going into this grand final the Brazilians are the favorites, after all they possess an incomprehensibly deep map pool in conjunction with one of the hottest star duos in the world. It seems that the world itself is molding itself in a way to ensure a SK win, after all they have been blessed with an opponent in the finals who has not overcome them in the past year.

The task ahead is not easy, but it is a road that must be traversed if SK are truly committed towards the goal of becoming legends. At the finals of ESL Cologne 2016 either a legend will fully cement itself or will be shattered right before it could form.

Aftermath

Regardless of what team ends up winning the finals of ESL One Cologne the storylines that will come to fruition are extremely exciting.

In the case of a SK victory the narrative would be written and the stage would be set for not only Coldzera to establish himself as the best player in the world but also for SK to establish themselves as a contender to the throne that Fnatic holds as greatest CS GO team of all time.

Contrarily if Team Liquid manages to pull through in the finals then the stage is set for further questions, the question of whether the Ukrainian superstar S1mple will remain with the team, the question of how far will Team Liquid ride this wave of momentum.

To the dismay of many outside spectators can not do anything to affect the actual outcome of the game, the well wishes of fans can not carry Liquid or SK over the line. At this point all spectators can do for their teams is simply watch, watch as both these teams bare their hearts and souls on the grandest stage of them all in an attempt to be immortalized.

Images courtesy of HLTV