Defending ESL African Championship Season 1 champions Bravado were unable to retain the title in the best-of-five grand final played today.

Four African teams met this weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa, to take part in the ~$46,096 ESL African Championship Season 2 Finals. Two of the teams, Viboras and Limitless, hailed from North Africa—Morocco and Algeria, respectively, although the latter's Tunisian player, 20-year-old Adel "⁠Remind⁠" Guermassi, is worth mentioning as he had the event's highest rating in his four maps played—, and were joined by two South African teams, Energy and Bravado.

The semifinals started with both South African teams, Bravado and Energy quickly disposing of their North African opponents, Viboras and Limitless respectively, with 2-0 matches. The final, a best-of-five, was a replay of the first season's final, which was won by Bravado, 3-1.

This time around, however, it was Energy who imposed their will over their local South African rivals and longtime dominating force in South Africa, winning three maps in a row while giving up only 20 rounds in doing so.

bLackpoisoN won the ESL African Championship under the eNergy banner

The first map, Cache, saw longtime ex-Bravado player Roberto "⁠blackpoisoN⁠" Dall'Occo, now donning the Energy colors, come out in full force and help his team get a 13-2 lead after starting on the CT side. After winning the terrorist side pistol round, Energy closed it out without giving Bravado a chance, 16-2.

The second map played was Mirage, Bravado's pick, but only able to score eight rounds, it didn't go much better for Dimitri "⁠Detrony⁠" Hadjipaschali's side as Energy's Rieghardt "⁠flexeeee⁠" Romatzki, with a 30 bomb in 24 rounds and a 1.92 rating on the map, got himself and his team one map away from winning.

Finally, Energy was able to close it out in the third map, Cobblestone. Winning the terrorist side 9-6 and taking a 13-6 lead after the switch, Bravado could do nothing to stop Energy as they crossed the finish line only giving up four more rounds until the end, for a 16-10 third map.

ESL African Championship Season 2 FinalsBest of 5 BravadoMatchpage 0 3 7th October 2017 Energy 2Cache 16 8Mirage 16 10Cobblestone 16

Bravado	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouJT	52 - 55	-3	84.0	0.99
Dimitri 'Detrony' HadjipaschaliDetrony	35 - 52	-17	58.1	0.75
Ruan 'ELUSIVE' van WykELUSIVE	33 - 58	-25	68.1	0.73
Aran 'Sonic' GroesbeekSonic	33 - 56	-23	64.9	0.70
Rhys 'Fadey' ArmstrongFadey	36 - 56	-20	56.4	0.68

Energy	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Rieghardt 'flexeeee' Romatzkiflexeeee	70 - 40	+30	105.8	1.55
Trevor 'kanii' Morleykanii	59 - 35	+24	87.1	1.40
Roberto 'blackpoisoN' Dall'OccoblackpoisoN	53 - 44	+9	87.5	1.32
Jan 'takbok' Therontakbok	47 - 34	+13	78.3	1.26
Dominic 'Domsterr' SampaioDomsterr	48 - 36	+12	72.2	1.17

The final standings of the ESL African Championship Season 2 Finals are:

1. Energy - ~$22,833
2. Bravado - ~$11,441
3. Limitless - ~$7,627
4. Viboras - ~$4,195

Bravado #155 Dimitri 'Detrony' HadjipaschaliRuan 'ELUSIVE' van WykAran 'Sonic' GroesbeekRhys 'Fadey' ArmstrongJohnny 'JT' Theodosiou Energy #201 Roberto 'blackpoisoN' Dall'OccoDominic 'Domsterr' SampaioJan 'takbok' TheronTrevor 'kanii' MorleyRieghardt 'flexeeee' Romatzki Limitless #357 Naim 'Jada' ChikhiTaibi 'Lyhn' YoussefAdel 'Remind' GuermassiMokrani 'Kheops' AnisRamzi 'RobbeN' Khider Roberto 'blackpoisoN' Dall'Occo Age: 24 Team: Energy Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 115 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.69 Viboras Salah 'Salah' MoujebMouhamed 'johnqt' Amine OuaridMoundir 'kRSTL' ChoukriTarik 'saAtan' NaciriAhmed 'NAIMI' Naimi Dimitri 'Detrony' Hadjipaschali Age: 26 Team: Bravado Rating 1.0: 1.21 Maps played: 130 KPR: 0.82 DPR: 0.63 Rieghardt 'flexeeee' Romatzki Age: 17 Team: Energy Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 87 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.65 Adel 'Remind' Guermassi Age: 20 Team: Limitless Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 39 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.75