Natus Vincere toppled Aurora Gaming 3-1 in the best-of-five grand final to claim the ESL Pro League Season 23 title on Sunday in Stockholm.
NaVi took home the $100,000 grand prize, while Aurora had to settle for $55,000 in second.
The third-place match was also contested Sunday, with Astralis edging FUT Esports 2-1 to take home $37,500.
The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offense event featured a $275,000 prize pool. The single-elimination bracket consisted of best-of-three matches until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final.
Natus Vincere opened with a 13-7 victory on Mirage, but Aurora countered with a 13-11 result on Anubis. NaVi pulled ahead for good by prevailing 13-8 on Nuke and sewed up the title with a 13-9 win on Dust II.
Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov of Ukraine paced Natus Vincere with a team-high 82 kills, a team-low 46 deaths and a 1.56 match rating.
In the third-place match, FUT Esports took the lead with a 13-8 win on Dust II before Astralis rallied, taking Ancient 13-4 and Overpass 16-12 in overtime.
Denmark’s Victor “Staehr” Staehr led all players with 57 kills for Astralis, while Swedish teammate Love “phzy” Smidebrant added 56 kills and a match-best 1.68 rating.
ESL Pro League Season 23 prize pool
1. $100,000 — Natus Vincere
2. $55,000 — Aurora Gaming
3. $37,500 — Astralis
4. $22,500 — FUT Esports
5-8. $15,000 — Team Spirit, Legacy, The MongolZ, MOUZ
–Field Level Media
