Cloud9 earn a surprise victory in ESL Pro League grand final

Cloud9 defeated SK Gaming in the ESL Pro League Season 4 grand finals on October 30, finally winning an international LAN after reaching three without a win in 2015.

They were unconvincing in their ELEAGUE group a couple of weeks ago and lost to FaZe and mousesports. Their group contained Dignitas, Ninjas in Pyjamas and fellow finalists SK Gaming too, so there wasn't the best of hope for them, with some even thinking they may have an early exit.

After clearing the group stages comfortably, though, they beat OpTic Gaming and mousesports to get to the grand final against SK Gaming, a Brazilian team playing in their home territory and the only team that beat them in the group stages. Despite a shaky start, losing Overpass in overtime, Cloud9 won Dust2 and Mirage convincingly, giving them the victory.

The victory is the first time a North American team has won a large international tournament for CS:GO, and the first since 2006 on any Counter-Strike game. Was SK Gaming's loss a shock to you?