ESL UK Premiership Finals roundup

This weekend past saw the winners of three of the four ESL UK Premiership competitions crowned as champions. These were in CS:GO, League of Legends and Overwatch. We previewed the event here, touching on potential story lines of the event for each game. The final event, Hearthstone, will be finished up later this year.

CS:GO

The first game of the weekend was the Best of Seven showdown between the two mix sides; Reason Gaming and MnM Gaming. MnM managed to take the first two maps, Cobblestone and Mirage,  without much fuss, as was expected from them. The third map was a much closer affair however as Reason managed to take Overpass off of MnM after a triple overtime, which they followed up with a comprehensive win on Train. After that MnM showed the composure they had at the start, rounding up Cache and Dust 2 in quick fashion.

ESL UK Premiership, CSGO, MnM Gaming
MnM Gaming holding their ESL UK Premiership trophy for CS:GO (Source: ESL UK)

This ensured MnM took the £5,000 prize home with them, as well as the ESL UK Premiership trophy. This would be the first paving stone on MnM’s run for the triple crown at the Premiership finals.

League of Legends

The Saturday was easily the busiest day at MCM. The championship didn’t just include a cash prize for the teams with a spot for the League of Legends Challenger Series qualifiers was also up for grabs.

The first semi-final saw Epiphany Bolt face up against exceL eSports. The match itself was a close one, as all three games went down to the wire. The third and final game for them was also a contentious one, as a player on exceL, Lukezy, had a computer freeze. At that point the game was close to ending so the decision from the admins to give the game, and match, to Epiphany Bolt was a decision that came easily, and they took the match 2-1.

The second semi-final was another close one, as MnM Gaming took on TCA eSports. In a surprising turn of events, MnM lost the first game. They were in a dominant position, but what appeared to be complacency on their side meant they lost out. The following two games re-established their position that meant they were the second best side in the UK last season, as they took the game 2-1 for a slot in the finals.

ESL UK Premiership, MnM Gaming, League of Legends
MnM Gaming holding their ESL UK Premiership Trophy for League of Legends (source: ESL UK)

A short break followed for MnM after their three-hour match before the final. Epiphany Bolt took the first game in a dominant fashion, capitalising on MnM’s fatigue. However MnM didn’t let themselves down in the next game as they returned to being the dominant side to even out the series, after tactically banning champions that caused them so much trouble in the previous game. The final game was a lot less close, as MnM players were able to pick favoured champions and ended up ripping EB to shreds, with the match finishing up 2-1. This also meant that MnM broke a ESL UK Premership record in being the first to take two titles in one season.

Overwatch

The Overwatch finals appeared to be a repeat of Friday’s CS:GO Final as MnM took on Reason once more.

MnM were on the path to taking the triple crown of the weekend; taking on Reason’s side which featured two of the players were part of the side that won the title at Insomnia 58. MnM appeared to be the team that would secure the organisation’s triple crown after a strong first map against Reason. The next three however weren’t as secure. As it played out, Reason became the dominant force to take the trophy off of MnM and deny them the triple crown.

ESL UK Premiership, Reason Gaming, Overwatch
Reason Gaming holding their ESL UK Premiership trophies. (Source: ESL UK)

Overall the ESL UK Premiership Finals at MCM was an exceptional event, having the esports huddled away into a corner of the South hall which just added to its atmosphere with everyone being exceptionally close.

A magnificent event was rounded out by quality games throughout the weekend. It is an event to pencil in on the calendar when it rocks up again at the end of next season.

Esports Insider says: Congratulations to MnM Gaming and Reason Gaming for their titles and a good showing of the UK Esports Scenes. Keep an eye out for interviews with James Dean (MD of ESL UK) and another featuring Kalvin Chung (Director of MnM Gaming) and Adam Heath (MD of RNR-eSports, parent company of Reason Gaming).