Ubinited have once again defended their ESWC crown by defeating ALTERNATE in a truly remarkable fashion, coming back from a 7-16 defeat on de_nuke_ve and a big deficit in both maps that followed, to win 22-19 on de_dust2_se and 19-17 on de_inferno_se.

ALTERNATE started out on the Terrorist side on de_nuke_ve and came out very strongly on this map, taking an impressive 12-3 lead, with Zainab "zAAz" Turkie racking up kills and rounds for her side.

In the second half, the Germany-based team was able to take the score to 14-4, and thought Ubinited managed to win three rounds in a row, their quick recovery did little to trouble ALTERNATE, who ended up winning the map 16-7.

zAAz carried her team to a first map victory

It looked like their dream was about to come true and that they would take down Ubinited after an impressive 11-4 first half on de_dust2_se. But, even a 15-9 advantage wasn't enough for ALTERNATE to close the match, as reigning champions Ubinited fought their way to overtime.

The North American squad took control in the extra rounds, and although they needed a second overtime, they used their psychological advantage after the big comeback to clinch the second map 22-19.

Everything came down to de_inferno_se, where ALTERNATE were expected to be on the backfoot after dropping six match points in the previous map, but they defended admirably and once again seemed to be on the brink of victory following a 13-2 lead.

With even the next pistol round in the bag for ALTERNATE, a Ubinited comeback seemed impossible, but the huge crowd in front of the main stage witnessed just that. Round after round passed and ALTERNATE were unable to close the match, even after getting to match point at 15-10.

Ubinited never gave up in the ESWC 2012 grand final

Ubinited once again showed remarkable mental strength to even out the score and bring the match into another overtime, this time settling things quicker with a 19-17 victory.

That brought the fifth ESWC trophy in a row to the core of this team, as they won the previous four championships (three as SK Gaming, one as Ubinited). In addition to the trophy, they also received a cheque for $5,000, while ALTERNATE had to settle for $3,000.

A few hours earlier the female squad of Reason Gaming defeated local team Imaginary Gaming 2-1 in maps to clinch third place and $2,000.

ESWC 2012 female final standings:

1. Ubinited - $5,000
2. ALTERNATE - $3,000
3. Reason Gaming - $2,000
4. Imaginary Gaming