SK Gaming had their hearts set on their first major title of 2010 and they felt like Natus Vincere was the right opponent for them to play, having beaten them at DreamHack Summer and knowing they matched up better than against mTw or fnatic. It was not to be though as Na`Vi rallied from one map down to crush SK's hopes in a superlative performance on train and inferno back-to-back.

SK Gaming 16:11 Natus Vincere (dust2 8:7, 8:4)

The story of the first map was SK seemingly giving up too many rounds to Na`Vi's CT side but then using good communication and solid teamplay to pull through and win. Na`Vi's terrorist side seemed to crumble and they were left hesitant and ineffective in their catwalk attacks. Overall the men making their impact known for SK were walle, who seemed a re-energised player, and RobbaN. The latter's AWP turning a couple of rounds SK's way which could have seen the Ukrainians mounting a terrorist comeback.

SK Gaming 5:16 Natus Vincere (train 3:12, 2:4)

Map two was a whole different story as Na`Vi turned their game up a number of notches, as they did at Arbalet Cup Europe one map down, and controlled the CT side to go into the half with a huge 12:3 lead. ceh9 continued to do this thing at alley, exploiting the LCD smoke trick wherever possible, and starix and zeus really played their game at the inner bombsite. One very memorable round saw Na`Vi saying but starix pulling off two USP headshots up close at the bombspot to help turn the round to the Ukrainians favour.

The second half was relatively clean and painless and on the 6th round Na`Vi reached 16 round wins and leveled up the series.

SK Gaming 4:16 Natus Vincere (inferno 2:13, 3:3)

Map three gave Na`Vi a chance to either fall to the same failings of the past or elevate their games to another level. Against mouz at IEM European Finals and IEM IV World Championship they had gone up big as CT only to crumble and fall apart trying to execute as terrorists. This time they went up huge as CT, winning by an incredible 13:2. The A bombsite was strictly off limits for SK as Na`Vi had the lamppost right side in total lockdown, counter-flashing and stepping out together with flawless communication.

Going into the second half SK knew they faced a truly huge mountain and within 5 rounds Na`Vi had won the map and ESWC to break the Swede's hearts.

ESWC 2010 final standings:
1st Natus Vincere $36,000
2nd SK Gaming $18,000
3rd mTw $9,000
4th Frag eXecutors $4,100
5th-8th compLexity $1,600
5th-8th Burning $1,600
5th-8th fnatic $1,600
5th-8th FireGamers $1,600

Na`Vi have had their doubters on some websites around the community but with amazing elimination map wins over fnatic, mTw and SK in three consecutive series they truly proved themselves to be the best team in the world and now they can add ESWC champion to their list of accomplishments where IEM IV World Champion already rests.

For SK Gaming it was a mixed bag as they accomplished their best placing of the year but fell short of the ultimate goal on one of the biggest stages. For their efforts they take home $18,000.