Image: Ubisoft/Joao Ferreira
Rogue have finally ended Europe's top-flight title drought after beating FaZe Clan 3-2 in the grand-final of the Six Berlin Major.
"I'm fucking back, baby," yelled a triumphant Kantoraketti in the post-match interview on the stage.
He thus becomes the first two-time Six Major winner and has also tied Canadian by winning a tier-one title on three different teams.
The personal accolades are not limited to him; meepeY and LeonGids have won their first-ever tier-one LAN title after three semi-final appearances, Spoit has become the youngest-ever Major champion, and Deapek is the first Dutch champion in over six years.
The European region also ends a title-drought of 1,015 days and has overtaken North American in terms of Six Majors won.
Read on to find out how they made their 3-2 win over FaZe happen.
Map 1 - Border
Rogue's first map pick in the five map tournament was a must win, as it was theoretically their most favoured in the pool (minus the map FaZe banned).
FaZe started with a strong opening before Spoit won a 1v2 to get his team on the board, while Deapek won a 1v1 on the top floor the next round.
The half ended 3-3, though, as both teams found their groove.
At 5-4, a Rogue timeout was not enough, as another Kapkan trap kill and another failed 1v2 situation ended the round early, putting FaZe on map point.
With every round being key now, Rogue brought it back, as Spoit made the second half another 3-3 on opening.
11 kills to eight deaths from Kanto was just behind Astro on 13-8, as FaZe started overtime on the attack.
The slower attacks were benefiting both teams as a textbook attack got the opening kill and got the defuser down as each death was traded out. Another dominant attack put the game to a dreaded round 15, a scoreline both these teams had fit earlier during the playoffs.
With a recent offensive wins, this gave Rogue the advantage. But after finding himself in a 2v3 post-plant situation, Kantoraketti was then left in a 1v3 and was immediately cut down as FaZe won the map.
Map 2 - Villa
The attack-bias continued on Villa as FaZe made it two in a row and were looking unstoppable. Bullet1 achieved six kis here to zero deaths, while Astro was on four.
Round three, however, was when the momentum was brought to a halt as Deapek clutched out an unbelievable 1v4 that could well be the play of the tournament.
Deapek ignited a much needed fire on Villa as the game went from two dominant FaZe wins to two dominant Rogue wins. A complete 180 brought Europe back into the game.
This was the third time a half ended 3-3 as neither team would give an inch.
The high tempo game that many expected to favour the Brazilian side was unexpected and after LeonGids clutched to help Rogue lead 5-4, it forced FaZe to call a timeout. Unfortunately for the Brazilians, it was to no avail as Rogue went up onto match point.
Here Rogue took the site, but it was without the defuser and were forced to go hunting for kills. It looked to be an easy finish for FaZe before Deapek did it again with a second 1v3 to tie the series 1-1.
Map 3 - Skyscraper
On Skyscraper, three kills were all FaZe managed while attacking, as Rogue were the ones one step ahead on the defence. Almost every kill was traded and they got easy entry kills by catching FaZe off guard.
An eventual FaZe tactical timeout did its work initially, as not only did they get two opening kills running, but round four ended in a failed 1v3 attempt from Deapek. As they tried to get their second win, LeonGids' double kill ended this hope, while Rogue won the half 5-1 off of a Kantoraketti triple kill.
FaZe needed a herculean comeback effort which began with a flawless defence.
But, Rogue hit map point while up 6-3 as the crowd got excited. After another strong round from FaZe, a meepeY timeout did more harm than good as FaZe got another flawless round before securing overtime.
While LeonGids was playing like his life depended on it -- he had 18 kills to eight deaths, with today his birthday -- it was not enough. An early death on round 15 forced Rogue to be overly aggressive, but a flawless round put FaZe close to the title, 2-1.
Map 4 - Bank
Rogue may have felt hard done by their luck, as they had effectively been two rounds away from a 3-0 Major title. But they started off with a bang, nearly wiping out FaZe's basement defence on round one without taking any damage.
But this was far from a straightforward map.
Both teams were not letting the other run away, with the first half ending 3-3 -- the third time this series. FaZe looked strong, however, and the expectation was that they would run away with it on the attack of a map they were very familiar with.
However, FaZe could not create the two-round cushion they so greatly desired despite winning their first attacking round, as Spoit denied Cyber the ace.
The crowd were absolutely enjoying the show, with the Brazilian fans winding up the local fans and vice versa. But eventually it was Rogue who secured match point and converted it, sending us to the final map.
Map 5 - Clubhouse
FaZe kicked things off in style this time, winning two solid defenses after successfully starving Rogue of time. The first of the two was on the first-floor bomb site as well, where a last-minute defuser denial saved the round for the Brazilians.
However, despite being on the attack, it was Rogue who surged ahead with two impressive round wins to finish the half 4-2 and looked certain to close it out on their subequent defence.
Somehow, FaZe fought back in similar fashion to level the scores at 4-4, before Deapek broke the spell by getting a quad-kill to overturn a 3v5 man-count deficit. Still, it was not over, as the Brazilians hit back to level scores and ensure all 12 rounds.
Rogue secured series point first, but FaZe were not cowed and forced overtime after leaving Spoit in a 1v2 scenario.
The young wunderkind responded in kind the next round, securing a triple-kill to smash FaZe's attack and secure series point for his team again. Once again, FaZe pegged Rogue back, but the final round of the entire Major was a step too far for the Brazilians and Rogue won out 8-7 in incredible fashion.
Read more: SiegeGG's Berlin Major MVP: Spoit