The 17th season of the ESL Pro League reached the finish line. After the semifinals, NAVI and ENCE left the tournament, while FaZe and Cloud9 made it to the grand final. The last time these clubs played against each other was at the major in Rio. We will analyze who will lift the cup over their heads today.

Form

Cloud9 also simultaneously played the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown qualification, where they did not lose a single map. The team prepared thoroughly for the EPL after the spectacular failure at IEM Katowice, where the same loss from IHC happened. On its way into the group, the team also coped with G2 without much trouble.

FaZe, who took 7-8th place at IEM Katowice, also did not sit idly by. Only Vitality could cope with them during the league, playing with surprisingly well-matched JACKZ as a stand-in.

Ultimately, it all comes down to whether FaZe's indomitable morale will win over the charged and athletically aggressive Cloud9.

Related: FaZe win over NAVI in ESL Pro League S17 semi-finals

Map veto

Teams have two clearly defined strong cards – Inferno and Ancient for FaZe and Mirage plus Overpass for Cloud9. With such a gap, we may well reach the fifth card, which could be Anubis. The fact that Cloud9 played only one official game on Anubis will be a plus for FaZe, but the difference in the number of games is slight - one against three. So the victory of karrigan and company only thanks to the map pool is not guaranteed here.

In fact, we see the most suitable candidates in the final. The teams are in great shape, as the tournament showed. At the same time, both teams are not in their peak condition and can quickly lose this or that map. For FaZe Clan, this tournament is a double motivation, which they have already shown us. Grand Slam is at stake! At the expense of Cloud9 - they are also motivated: not to give a Grand Slam. This is a great motivation.

Vladyslav bondik Nechyporchuk

It is unlikely that one team will wipe the legs of the other tomorrow, especially considering that Cloud9 and FaZe are teams of approximately the same level. With a high chance, a full bo5 final awaits us.

There will be a cutting tomorrow. I would give my preference to FaZe. Overmotivation and a small flaw in the map pool Cloud9 and they still needed more time to fully integrate buster into the team.

Vladyslav bondik Nechyporchuk

We remind you that the grand final of ESL Pro League Season 17 will start at 5:00 PM, but before that, there will also be a Counter-Strike 2 show match between random athletes.

EPL S17 takes place from February 22 to March 26 in Malta. The teams are raffling off a prize pool of $850,000. You can follow the schedule and results of the tournament here.