Team Empire bested OpTic Gaming in an incredible series for the championship title in The ROG Masters 2017 LAN Grand Finals.
The road to the LAN Grand Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was already long, but Team Empire and OpTic Gaming pushed it to the limits with a thrilling five game series.
After a short and sweet group stage to start things off, All six teams headed on to the single elimination playoff stage. Team Empire and OpTic Gaming both had gone undefeated through their respective groups and were handsomely rewarded with a seeding directly into the semi finals.
It was there that both teams then continued to dominate, wiping out their opponents with relative ease and flawlessly executing their strategies and drafts. The Grand Finals were expected to be exciting as the two teams had already proven to be bona fide championship title hopefuls.
Not many had expected what laid in store, as the first game was a hair-raising comeback against mega creeps in a thrilling and unexpected ending.
The next two matches OpTic Gaming struck back hard, firing on all cylinders with a reputation and title at stake. It all seemed to be in the bag for the NA team but Team Empire still had more gas in their tank and pushed back on OpTic to tie up the series and force the final, deciding fifth game.
The final game turned out to be just as long and just as thrilling as the first in the series. For 18 minutes, the last match was neck and neck, but OpTic Gaming found their timing and started to hit it in stride and surge forward. Until Empire struck back. Approximately 49 minutes in, the CIS team started to hit hard and create their openings as the lead and gap between the two teams narrowed as the late game approached. Turning the tides, Team Empire snatched the victory in just over 60 minutes in a stunning performance.
ROG Masters 2017 LAN Grand Finals Prize Distribution:
Six teams fought for the lion's share of the $235,000 prize pool.
1st place: $117,500 - Team Empire
2nd place: $58,800 - OpTic Gaming
3rd/4th place: $21,350 - WarriorsGaming.Unity/Penta
5th/6th place: $8,000 - Execration/Team Max
