The ????????? ??????squad 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.
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
GamerLegion
Matchpage 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.
2.
3-4.iNation - $5,000
3-4.
5-8.
5-8.
5-8.
5-8.Falcons - $2,000
9-16.
9-16.
9-16.BLUEJAYS
9-16.BIG
9-16.Coalesce
9-16.HAVU
9-16.
9-16.
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' Styk
Joakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadTim 'nawwk' Jonasson
Justinas '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' Jackson
Kristian '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