StarSeries Season 3 in photos

To close out the coverage of the SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 Finals, here are some of the best photographs of the tournament in Kiev.

After the Winners and Losers of StarSeries have been untangled, it is time to relive the events that transcurred at the Palace "Ukraine" in Kiev one last time through some of the best photographs taken during the six days of Counter-Strike from the opening matches of the Swiss group stage to FaZe lifting the trophy.

Snax warming up ahead of Virtus.pro's first match of the StarSeries Season 3 Finals, which his team won 16-4, against MVP. That was the one and only match VP won at the event.

Anders and Semmler, photographed during the group stages, were one of the casting duos at the event. The rest of the talent lineup included the other premier casting duo, HenryG and Sadokist, as well as TomBizz, Moses, Thorin, YNk, and the desk host, Machine.

FalleN's SK have had trouble adapting to their new lineup since felps joined the team replacing fnx after the Atlanta Major, and failed to make it out of the group stage in Kiev, where they lost to G2, Astralis, and FaZe.

TyLoo's somebody scratches his head during the Chinese team's opening match against SK, which they lost 16-12. TyLoo came to the event with zhoKing standing-in due to BnTeT being unable to acquire a visa, and were unable to get a single win.

flusha & co. went out in quarterfinals after losing 2-1 to the home team, Natus Vincere. Despite not living up to the team that dominated the scene one year ago, following two group stage exits at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas and IEM Katowice, fnatic showed in Kiev they still have potential to become a contender.

bondik's player badge during the first day of play during the HellRaisers and FaZe match, in which two European teams with at least three nationalities and who communicate in English faced-off. HellRaisers took the match and became one of only two teams in the tournament to beat FaZe.

rain, photographed after FaZe lost to HellRaisers in their opening match at StarSeries Season 3. The mood quickly changed in the European combine's camp, though, as they went on to take the trophy after losing only one more best of one to North.

draken's first event proved to be a challenging one, as NIP were eliminated from play in the group stages after losing in the elimination match against fnatic, thus ending with a 2-3 record in the Swiss stage.

AdreN looks down the line on the second day of play, in which Gambit won their only match of the event, 16-13, against TyLoo.

koosta celebrates after CLG's win against UYA. The North American underdogs beat expectations by winning matches against teams like Gambit and Immortals for a spot in the playoffs.

A group of volunteers watch a stream of FaZe facing off against Immortals on a smartphone as the action unfolds in front of them. FaZe went on to win 16-10 for a 1-1 record after two matches.

MSL photographed during North and Astralis's Danish derby, which took place on the second day of matches at the StarSeries Season 3 Finals. North took the match in overtime, only giving up a single round after regulation to close it 19-16.

G2 were one of the key storylines going into the StarSeries Season 3 Finals, as the French team had been garnering mediocre results online. In Ukraine, however, apEX & co. made it through the Swiss stage undefeated losing only to the eventual champions, FaZe, in the quarterfinal.

s1mple's white ZOWIE ZA13 during Natus Vincere's match against North. It was also their third win in a row during the Swiss stage, making the CIS side the first qualified team for the playoffs alongside G2.

pashaBiceps's Virtus.pro went out in the group stage after losing three maps to SK, NIP, and fnatic. In those three matches combined, VP were unable to muster 10 rounds won.

fnx's custom ZOWIE mouse and mousepad during Immortals' win against MVP, which the Brazilians took on Inferno, 16-9.

SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 was the first event in which SmithZz (right) stood behind G2 after moving to the coaching position following the French shuffle.

dennis worries after gla1ve got three kills with a p250 in fnatic and Astralis' group stage match, helping Astralis win an eco round that turned the match around for the Danes.

karrigan, NiKo, and kioShiMa react after a quad kill clutch in the B site of Cache by North's MSL with 13-13 on the scoreboard. North went on to close the match out 16-13.

Na`Vi are welcomed on stage at Palace "Ukraine" ahead of their opening playoff match against fnatic, which they won in three maps.

STYKO and Zero hug as HellRaisers make it to the playoffs by beating NIP, 16-13. The Slovakian duo and the rest of HR then went on to upset North, 2-1, in the quarterfinals.

G2's bodyy during his team's quarterfinal match against FaZe. The French side looked incredibly strong during the group stage in Kiev, but was eventually beaten by FaZe, 2-1, in the quarterfinals.

HellRaisers started their semifinal comeback against North in the second map of the series by taking Cache, 16-14. bondik was the first player of the team to react after winning the thirtieth round.

Natus Vincere huddle on stage after their victory against fnatic. The CIS team took two maps, Overpass and Mirage, while the Swedes were only able to win on Inferno.

Young fans watch the screen at the Palace "Ukraine" during the second map of HellRaisers's 2-0 defeat against FaZe in the semifinals.

Zero poses with fans for selfies after their breakout semifinal run at StarSeries Season 3, where he and his team shook off their reputation of onliners.

s1mple gets killed by gla1ve in bathrooms on CT side of Overpass during the tournament's semifinals which his team lost 2-0 against Astralis.

Kjaerbye, device, and gla1ve look out into the crowd ahead of the final, their fourth final out of the last six events.

device and NiKo shake hands before the StarSeries Season 3 grand finals. Both players were in the running for the tournament's MVP award ahead of the match, which ultimately the latter ended up winning.

karrigan hypes the crowd up before the final match of the tournament, which pitted him and the European combine, FaZe, against his Danish ex-team, Astralis.

rain, karrigan, NiKo, and kioShiMa celebrate after taking the fourth round of overtime on the third map of the final, Inferno, and thus winning the event.

The SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 trophy was the first lifted by FaZe, and the first one in CS:GO raised by a team with players with five different nationalities.

NiKo was named MVP of a tournament for the first time in Kiev; in large part thanks to his consistency, as he had most good maps and was only bad in the Mirage loss, and had the most impact in the rounds his team lost. On top of that, he ended the tournament with a 1.15 rating 2.0, and 87.5 ADR across 13 maps.

All of the photographs from the event can be found in our six galleries, which can be viewed here.