FaZe Clan downs Cloud9 to win Pro League 17, Intel Grand Slam

FaZe Clan rolled past Cloud9 3-1 on Sunday in the grand final of the ESL Pro League Season 17 in Saint Julian's, Malta.

The victory secured the Intel Grand Slam for FaZe Clan, just the fourth esports club to achieve the feat. Their Pro League Season 17 title follows IEM Katowice, Pro League Season 15 and IEM Cologne titles in 2022.

Winning the Grand Slam earned FaZe Clan a $1 million bonus on top of the $200,000 prize awarded to the tournament champion. FaZe also solidified berths in IEM Cologne this summer and the BLAST Premier World Final in December. Cloud9 settled for the $90,000 second-place prize.

"The team is incredibly proud to finally close out the Intel Grand Slam, especially in Malta at EPL Season 17," FaZe Clan director of esports operations Edward Han said in a statement. "The team worked extremely hard to prepare for this game because they knew how important it was. We want to thank all the fans and the organization for supporting us."

The $850,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began on Feb. 22 with 32 teams divided into four groups for the triple-elimination opening round.

The group-stage winners moved into the quarterfinals, with the group runners-up landing in the Round of 12 as high seeds. The four third-place teams entered the Round of 16 as high seeds, and the four fourth-place teams went to the Round of 16 as low seeds.

FaZe was the runner-up in Group C and began the playoffs in the Round of 12. They beat FURIA Esports 2-0, forZe 2-1 and Natus Vincere 2-1 to reach Sunday's grand final against Cloud9, the champions of Group A.

FaZe eked out a 16-13 win on Overpass and made it a two-map lead by taking Inferno 16-9. Cloud9 pushed back by winning 16-11 on Mirage, but FaZe wrapped up the title by winning 16-11 on Ancient.

Helvijs "broky" Saukants of Latvia led FaZe with 85 kills and a plus-23 kills-to-deaths differential. Similarly, Robin "ropz" Kool of Estonia had 83 kills and a plus-21, and Norway's Havard "rain" Nygaard added 81 kills and a plus-8.

Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken of Canada, who had 78 kills for FaZe, became the first player to participate in two Grand Slam-winning teams.

Abay "HObbit" Khassenov of Kazakhstan led Cloud9 with 82 kills and a plus-6 K-D.

ESL Pro League Season 17 prize pool and points distribution:

1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, qualification for Intel Extreme Masters Cologne and BLAST Premier World Final -- FaZe Clan

2. $90,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points -- Cloud9

3-4. $50,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points -- Natus Vincere, ENCE

5-8. $35,000, 500 BLAST Premier points -- Heroic, forZe, MOUZ, Team Vitality

9-12. $25,000 -- Outsiders, FURIA Esports, paiN gaming, G2 Esports

13-16. $20,000 -- 00 Nation, Fnatic, Team Liquid, Movistar Riders

17-20. $15,000 -- Eternal Fire, BIG, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis

21-28. $8,000 -- MIBR, IHC Esports, SAW, Complexity Gaming, OG, Grayhound Gaming, Rare Atom, Team Spirit

29-32. $4,000 -- Evil Geniuses, Imperial Esports, Rooster, ATK