M5 win Kingston Trilogy Tour (original) (raw)
Kingston Trilogy Tour in Istanbul has concluded with Moscow Five on the very top, as the Russian squad defeated Natus Vincere 2-1 in the Grand Final to earn a $3,500 cheque.
Following qualifiers in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, Kingston Trilogy Tour was set to conclude this Saturday with three teams flying to Istanbul to compete for a $5,000 prize purse.
The three qualifier winners started with a group stage, playing each other once to determine who would make the Grand Final. Moscow Five took on the HWA in the opening match on de_dust2, where they secured the first victory, with a 16-7 victory. Na´Vi then faced the Turkish team on de_nuke, seeing the IEM6 Global Challenge Kiev winners secure a 16-12 win.
As the group stage match between M5 and Na´Vi served no purpose, the teams skipped the match and went straight for the final encounter, a best-of-three series for the $3,500 cheque.
The match started on de_tuscan, with M5 securing a 9-6 lead from the Terrorists side, a half affected by technical issues. Second half saw the Russians expand their lead, but could't quite finish it, seeing Na´Vi comeback and eventually bring the match to a 15-14 score line, in favor of the Russians. Last round of the map went in favor of M5, going up 1-0 in the series.
Second map de_mirage had Na´Vi written all over it, dominating the Russians 16-4 to tie the series 1-1 and force third and final map. Final map de_inferno saw M5 go up big on the Terrorists side, at the score 7-1 in their favor. Momentum then shifted, as Na´Vi took seven rounds straight, for a 8-7 lead at halftime. A sloppy finish to the first half pumped M5 back into it, having all the right answers to Na´Vi's attacks, allowing them just four rounds, while securing nine rounds for a 16-12 win, 2-1 overall for the $3,500 cheque.
Kingston Trilogy Tour 2012 final standings
1. Moscow Five - $3,500
2. Natus Vincere - $1,000
3. 
HWA - $500
On top of cash prizes, the team teams also won hardware from Kingston by winning their national qualifiers.