The 20th ESL Pro League final went long into the Maltese evening as ultimate surprise package Eternal Fire refused to go gently into the good night. Ultimately though, it was NAVI who proved superior in the topsy-turvy marathon that saw Aleksib finally won a best-of-five Counter-Strike final.
With this being their fourth consecutive grand final appearance at big event, Major winners NAVI were the runaway favorites of this matchup. They would have likely been the expected winners against most sides considering their recent showings, but this was especially the case against world number ten Eternal Fire, the Turkish outfit that has been revitalized recently in a far cry from the 21-28th finish from the last Pro League season back in spring.
Eternal Fire’s incredible underdog run was the main story of ESL Pro League Season 20, taking down Team Vitality to earn their spot in the final, but Aleksib—who also knows a thing or two about such Cinderella stories—found a way to snuff out the fairytale amid another S-Tier title for NAVI.
The grand final was a rematch from the Group A upper bracket final almost two weeks ago, which saw a 22–20 opening map on Anubis that highlighted how close these two teams can be under the right circumstances. This time, the margins were close throughout, with twists and turnarounds pushing the series all the way to map five. The thrills took off as soon as the map veto started, with the Turks surprising their opponents with a sneaky Mirage ban.
After Eternal Fire secured NAVI’s first map pick on Nuke with a comfortable 13–8 scoreline, you’d have been forgiven for thinking the impossible was right around the corner. Another extremely close Anubis affair followed, with the yellow-and-black outfit closing out a 13–11 win, then doing so yet again on Ancient to turn around the series. However, the Turks struck back swiftly on Inferno with a 13–4 scoreline, and with the momentum behind their backs heading into an aim-heavy map to decide the series, the impossible once again seemed quite likely.
It wasn’t to be, however, as Aleksib finally broke the curse that saw him lose all eight best-of-five CS finals in his storied career to date; he had no map wins whatsoever until 2024. After a 7–5 half on the T side, an important pistol round win and the successful conversions kicked off the second half in the best possible fashion for NAVI, and despite Eternal Fire’s impressive fightback, the b1t-w0nderful duo ultimately pushed them over the line with a 13-10 scoreline, with jL chipping in at a crucial moment to set up championship point.
“It didn’t feel like the same NAVI this final. We’ve lost two best-of-fives, now it was starting to slip away against a team we had a clean record against. But here we are, winners,” said Aleksib after the victory, per HLTV. “I would say we are [the best team in the world] but I’d credit Vitality too. We’ve showed consistency this year, four finals in a row, two wins, this time BO5. No other team can match that this year.”
It’s pretty tough to argue with his assessment, but credit to Eternal Fire: It was a Counter-Strike tournament run their fans and the whole esports world will never forget.
