Astralis Wins the CS:GO ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals
The most important Counter Strike Global Offensive tournament of December has just ended, with Astralis winning the competition. This was the team that was credited with the first chance at the beginning of last week and it cruised through the tournament. After losing a single match in the opening round, they had no problem in eliminating opponents in the upper bracket and then the playoffs. For their performance, Astralis team members have split a first prize worth $250,000.
Team Liquid fought the good fight and didn’t lose a single match, except for the back-to-back defeats suffered at the hands of Astralis. They walked away with a not so negligible prize worth $110,000 after winning the first match in the grand final. MIBR and mousesport have won $55,000 each after being eliminated in the semi finals without winning a single game. There was no series to decide the teams finishing in the third and fourth place, so instead, the aforementioned squads have shared the podium.
Counter Strike Global Offensive is Now Free
The fans have watched the live stream and rooted for their favorites throughout the CS:GO ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. Valve gave them another reason to celebrate well ahead of Christmas, as the first-person shooter is now free to play. There are of course a couple of disappointed people, mainly those who have just purchased the game a few weeks ago. Having said this, the overwhelming majority of the Counter Strike Global Offensive community welcomes the news and new players have tagged along.
Those who have played the game before the update will receive a consolation prize in the form of a commemorative Loyalty Badge. This only has visual and sentimental value, since it highlights their commitment for the most popular FPS ever created. Furthermore, they will have their accounts upgraded to Prime Status which comes with certain benefits in addition to competing players against their peers of similar status. Those who belong to this exclusive group gain access to the Souvenir MP5-SD | Lab Rats, which would otherwise require them to accumulate XP while playing Danger Zone matches.
Speaking of which, the fast-paced battle royale game mode was recently added to take advantage of the surging popularity of this game mode. Players are supposed to use their skill, intelligence as well as sheer CS:GO’s abilities to be the last standing to win the match. This new game mode isn’t exactly innovative, but it is nevertheless a breath of fresh air for the Counter Strike Global Offensive fans. It comes with 17 weapon finishes, the coveted Horizon knives and just like the game itself, it is free to play.
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