The dit ba gia lon tosquad ranked No. 94 in the world has secured an unexpected title in the CCT circuit.

Spirit Academy defeated GamerLegion in the final of CCT West Europe Series 1 with a 2-1 reverse sweep, winning Nuke 16-13 and Mirage 16-13 after losing the opening map of Inferno 3-16.

Spirit Academy already defied expectations by making it to the final, especially considering they were matched up against BIG in the first round of the playoffs. The German team came into the event as the highest-ranked team (16th) and the main favorites for the title but were beaten by Spirit Academy with a 0-2 scoreline. The academy squad continued their crusade by getting the better of Falcons and iNation ahead of their grand final affair.

S0tF1k lead his team of youngsters to a title

Spirit Academy's star duo of Artem "?ArtFr0st?" Kharitonov and Danil "?donk?" Kryshkovets both had wonderful tournaments and put up respective 1.33 and 1.32 ratings across the event, which propelled the team to an unlikely title and the $22,000 grand prize.

The second finalists GamerLegion didn't lose a single map on their way to the grand final, making light work of Tricked, GODSENT, and Apeks with respective 2-0 victories. The team has had a successful 2023, winning Thunderpick Bitcoin Series 2 and traversing the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR Closed Qualifier B with a 3-0 record but fell at the final hurdle in CCT West Europe Series 1.

The first map of the grand final was very one-sided, GamerLegion dominating their map pick of Inferno with a 16-3 victory made possible by a 13-2 terrorist half. Next up was Nuke, and GamerLegion once again looked a cut above their opponents as they raced to a 9-1 lead on their CT side. Their dominant start faded, and Spirit Academy won an incredible thirteen rounds in a row to win the map 16-13 and push the series to a third map.

Mirage was the decider, and Spirit Academy got off to a hot 7-4 start before GamerLegion brought back the deficit to just one round as they moved into their offense. The scoreline remained close, but it was the Russian squad that reached match point first and eventually closed it out with a 16-13 victory to secure their biggest title to date.

CCT West Europe Series 1Best of 3 GamerLegionMatchpage 1 2 23rd February 2023 Spirit Academy 16Inferno 3 13Nuke 16 13Mirage 16

?GamerLegion	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mihai 'iM' IvaniM	57 - 50	+7	80.6	1.18
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradeksiuhy	50 - 47	+3	81.9	1.14
Isak 'isak' Fahlénisak	51 - 48	+3	67.3	1.06
Nicolas 'Keoz' DgusKeoz	55 - 60	-5	79.9	1.03
Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandacoR	44 - 47	-3	57.9	0.93

?Spirit Academy	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovetsdonk	62 - 53	+9	90.2	1.26
Oleg 'baz' Kulynychbaz	49 - 51	-2	71.9	1.01
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotiazont1x	46 - 53	-7	78.7	0.99
Artem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovArtFr0st	46 - 45	+1	52.9	0.95
Dmitry 'S0tF1k' ForostyankoS0tF1k	45 - 58	-13	57.9	0.81

CCT West Europe Series 1 bracket stage final standings:

1. Spirit Academy - $22,000
2. GamerLegion - $10,000
3-4.iNation - $5,000
3-4. Apeks - $5,000
5-8. FORZE - $2,000
5-8. GODSENT - $2,000
5-8. Illuminar - $2,000
5-8. Falcons - $2,000
9-16. Young Ninjas
9-16. Sprout
9-16. BLUEJAYS
9-16. BIG
9-16. Coalesce
9-16. HAVU
9-16. Tricked
9-16. EYEBALLERS

Sprout #29 Danny 'BERRY' KrügerAdrian 'XELLOW' Gu??Ismail 'refrezh' AliVictor 'Staehr' StaehrLauren?iu 'lauNX' ?arlea Artem 'ArtFr0st' Kharitonov Age: 21 Team: Spirit Academy Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 150 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.56 BIG #17 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzKarim 'Krimbo' MoussaJosef 'faveN' BaumannNils 'k1to' GruhneMarcel 'hyped' K?hn Apeks #36 Martin 'STYKO' StykJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadTim 'nawwk' JonassonJustinas 'jL' LekaviciusDamjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski GamerLegion #28 Nicolas 'Keoz' DgusMihai 'iM' IvanFrederik 'acoR' GyldstrandKamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekIsak 'isak' Fahlén EYEBALLERS #45 Robin 'flusha' R?nnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellAnton 'Sapec' PalmgrenPeppe 'Peppzor' BorakCasper 'SHiNE' Wennerberg HAVU #50 Jani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenOtto 'ottoNd' SihvoMatias 'Banjo' Kivist? Spirit Academy #94 Dmitry 'S0tF1k' ForostyankoDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaOleg 'baz' Kulynych Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets Age: 16 Team: Spirit Academy Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 148 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.67 iNation #34 Filip 'DEPRESHN' Jarki?Vladan 'Kind0' MandicNikola 'Dragon' BoskovicIvan 'choiv7' ZivkovicVladan 'VLDN' Radevi? FORZE #27 Vladislav 'Krad' KravchenkoAndrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovAleksandr 'zorte' ZagodyrenkoAleksandr 'shalfey' MarenovEvgeny 'r3salt' Frolov Tricked #51 Magnus 'Nodios' OlsenOliver 'kwezz' RasmussenPhilip 'Lucky' EwaldOliver 'IceBerg' BergMathias 'PR1mE' Carlsen Falcons #33 Kenny 'kennyS' SchrubNathan 'NBK-' SchmittAlexandre 'bodyy' PianaroKévin 'misutaaa' RabierJordan 'Python' Munck-Foehrle BLUEJAYS #66 Anel 'NENO' Cekovi?Daniel 'dan1' GligorovAleksandar 'CacaNito' KjulukoskiJane 'aidKiT' ApostoloskiZoran 'xicoz' Markovski Young Ninjas #81 Sean 'eraa' KnutssonLinus 'LNZ' Holt?ngLinus 'nilo' BergmanAdam 'adamb' ?ngstr?mMax 'maxster' Jansson GODSENT #80 William 'draken' SundinAlfred 'RuStY' KarlssonNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraErik 'ztr' GustafssonJoel 'joel' Holmlund Coalesce #92 Tobias 'shyyne' S?therOliver 'leaf' JacksonKristian 'Krs7N' MladenovRyan 'dox' YoungOscar 'AZUWU' Bell GamerLegion #28 Nicolas 'Keoz' DgusMihai 'iM' IvanFrederik 'acoR' GyldstrandKamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekIsak 'isak' Fahlén Illuminar #53 Piotr 'morelz' TaterkaMateusz 'TOAO' ZawistowskiBartosz 'bnox' NiebiszB?a?ej 'zaNNN' B?czkowskiBartek 'mASKED' Trybu?a BIG #17 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzKarim 'Krimbo' MoussaJosef 'faveN' BaumannNils 'k1to' GruhneMarcel 'hyped' K?hn Spirit Academy #94 Dmitry 'S0tF1k' ForostyankoDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaOleg 'baz' Kulynych