Our team has done it again! We are the official ESL One Cologne 2017 champions. We have successfully defended the title in our organization’s hometown and made the first step in the one million dollars ESL Intel Grand Slam. Despite the shaky start to the tournament, our players have solidified their performance and won every single one of their last seven maps. In the semi-final versus FaZe we swept our opponents 2-0 and the grand final against Cloud 9 was no different as we closed out the competition in a clean and convincing manner. The one-sided score of 3-0 cemented the sixth trophy within the last three and a half months and reflects our excellent current form.

Thanks to a great terrorist side and an insane performance by Marcelo 'coldzera' David, the first map Cobblestone was a one sided affair. The second map Train provided a larger challenge for our Counter Strike division. Our opponent was able to exploit several holes in our ct-defense and the halftime score was 5-10. Our squad made up for the bad start and turned the tables in the second half. Once again our terrorist-side was our showpiece and Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo, the MVP of the event, could not be stopped on his way to 34 frags. The opposing side had no answer to our offense and the final scoreline was 16-12. The first matchpoint for the Brazilians went down to the wire. On Inferno it went back and forth but just like many times before during the course of this tournament, our men showed great moral, finished the match in the final round and lifted the ESL One Cologne 2017 trophy high in the air.

Cloud9 < SK Gaming 0:3
9:16 (5:10; 4:6) on Cobblestone
12:16 (10:5; 2:11) on Train
14:16 (10:5; 4:11) on Inferno

RESPEITA A NOSSA HISTÓRIA!
3 out of 4!#ESLONECOLOGNE BACK TO BACK CHAMPIONS!#RUNSKG #VAMOSSK pic.twitter.com/SxoHbOgNhE

— SK Gaming (@SKGaming) 9. Juli 2017

The final standings of ESL One Cologne 2017 are the following:

1st: SK Gaming - $100,000
2nd: Cloud 9 - $40,000
3rd-4th: Natus Vincere - $20,000
3rd-4th: FaZe - $20,000
5th-8th: Ninjas in Pyjamas - $10,000
5th-8th: Team Liquid - $10,000
5th-8th: G2 Esports - $10,000
5th-8th: OpTic Gaming - $10,000
9th-11th: mousesports - $6,000
9th-11th: Fnatic - $6,000
9th-11th: North - $6,000
12th-14th: Immortals - $3,000
12th-14th: Heroic - $3,000
12th-14th: Space Soldiers - $3,000
15th-16th: Virtus.pro - $1,500
15th-16th: TyLoo - $1,500

Our lads have competed in three consecutive tournaments within the last three weeks and won their third trophy in a row. On Monday, the 10th of July, they will compete in a football match against Virtus.pro in the Rhein Energie Stadium in Cologne. In the following days they will prepare for the upcoming PGL Major Krakow 2017 to which they can look ahead confidently after their recent triumphs.