Verdant finally secured a UKIC title at the fourth attempt after reaching victory over Dreams to Legends (DTL) in the Season 3 final, held on LAN at Eastside Rooms in Birmingham as part of Logitech G’s LogiPLAY expo.
Verdant went unbeaten in the regular season, and a 2-0 over Chetz Esports in the semi-finals meant they made it to the LAN portion of the tournament without dropping a map. By contrast, Dreams to Legends finished 3rd with five wins and three defeats, then completed two reverse sweeps to beat Belfast Storm and The Boys in play-offs. Despite the fact they had Zy “yz0” Esponilla playing for fun, after retiring earlier this year, the DTL side entered as huge underdogs, with a quick 2-0 expected in favour of Verdant.
Dreams to Legends defied the odds and tore through those expectations on map one, their pick of Ancient. Despite an early clutch from in-game leader Tom “arTisT” Clarke to make it seem like it would be a close match, DTL took advantage of Verdant’s weak economy and lead 7-5 at the half. Verdant could not make headway on the T side, and back-to-back clutches from Zaid “Vonex” Almayali and yz0 helped DTL close out the map 13-7.
Verdant picked into Nuke, perhaps hoping that the more tactical map would suit their strengths, but it was Dreams to Legends who started out with another pistol win and an early 3-0 lead. Once the rifles were out however it was a different story. Verdant repeatedly caught DTL off guard on the A site, which seemed to be a weak point, and a failed retake by the CTs at 3-3 would be the closest the defenders would get to another round. Verdant ultimately took 11 on the trot with the addition of the defensive pistol and an anti-eco, and despite a brief fightback, cruised to a 13-6 victory to set up the Dust2 decider.
Dust2 started how Nuke finished, as Dreams to Legends struggled to get on the board. Verdant raced into a 7-1 lead, with Dreams to Legends restoring some parity with four rounds before the break. The momentum stalled, however, with another pistol win for the favourites, and a Mason “Vacancy” Haines 1v2 clutch despite yz0 and Neo’s efforts to turn around a 2v4 put Verdant into double digits.
Dreams to Legends attempted to hit back by winning the resulting eco, but a blunder in putting Vonex alone against Glocks in the next round meant the young AWPer went down to the pistols. Diviiii was not forgiving, using the recovered sniper rifle to hit 4 kills. DTL continued to try stave off the defeat, but it wouldn’t take long for Verdant to eventually seal the third map.
It was a deserved win for Verdant, who were grand finalists in Season 0 and fell to eventual champions The Neighbours and EXO Clan in the online stages of Seasons 1 and 2. arTisT’s decision to step back from the AWP in favour of Diviiii is looking increasingly shrewd, while Vacancy is maturing into their second star under the tutelage of the ever-present duo: Matas “Extinct” Strumila and Callum “Girafffe” Jones..
Diviiii was chosen by casters TIMMO and index as the season 3 Division 1 MVP. After a 2.04 rating on Dust2, it was hard to give it to anyone else and means the Frenchman takes his second successive MVP award. Verdant are next in action in European Pro League Season 19 and the closed qualifier for CCT Season 13.
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