If this was posted last week then it's doubtful that anyone would be surprised, however after an extremely tough first few days the odds were stacked against Fragmasters in the grand final.

The team came into the event as the number one seed and on entering the tournament would have been more than confident of winning the event. The only team with a realistic chance of stopping them was Rasta Xd, who had also been in good form in the build up to the tournament. After the group stage though it was clear that the Fragmasters team were plagued with problems, with very little cohesion, plenty of in-fighting and a less than confident attitude. Having lost to VYE and drawn with Hyphen they finished second in their group, sticking them in the much more difficult side of the elimination bracket.

Joining them there would be the number two and number four seed, the later of which they overcame in the first round despite a lot of resistance. This set up a semi final clash with Rasta Xd and it was the second seed who looked dominant, winning both maps pretty convincingly to banish Toxic to the lower bracket. Now with the support of their manager and a different attitude after their humbling the team looked resolute and the spark seemed to be back. Their first match in the lower bracket saw them paired once more with Hyphen but this time they made light work of the underdogs, setting up another grudge match with their group stage defeaters VYE.

Once more the team looked completely different, seeing off the third seed with ease to guarantee a spot in the grand final where they could have another pop at the rampant Rasta Xd. For most, including myself, the final seemed like a foregone conclusion given the performance of Rasta in comparison to that of Toxic during the event, however after just a few rounds it became clear that Rasta were in for a tough morning. Starting on the T side of de_dust2 they struggled to really gain any footing in the match and a defensive masterclass from Toxic meant entering and keeping hold of the bombsites was almost impossible for the team.

As the noise levels grew on Toxic's side of the room - a new spot they had moved to this morning - it began to drop in the Rasta camp and before long the first map had gone to the lower bracket side. Map number two was de_tuscan and after a quick break and team-talk the Rasta Xd guys looked to be back in the room and back in the game. Unlike the first map they were matching Toxic round for round and with the score at 8-7 in the first half it really was anyone's game for the taking. Once more the team struggled on the T side and looked lost when it came to executing their strategies.

The experienced Toxic could sense this and began to pull away, round by round, edging ever closer to the finish line. In the end there was little Rasta could do and Toxic eventually took the 16th round, an ecstatic Luke 'KritkaL' Green showed his disdain towards the team with a brash celebration and it was clear how much the victory meant to the entire team who were just yesterday written off. They have earned themselves £750 and the title of Epic 8 champions, Rasta must now pick themselves up in time for the big events this spring.