"eFuture began the ECL 2011 grand finals against UMX.US by taking the knife round on their map of choice, de_dust2, after winning the coin toss.  From there both teams went back and forth until UMX.US closed the first Terrorist half 10-5 in their favor.  However the fire inside eFuture seemed to be lit as they rallied a comeback and eventually forced overtime.  Afterwards the local Chinese crowd, growing by the minute, would go on to be entertained with a show as the match ended up in double overtime and UMX.US squeaking by with the close 22-20 victory.  It certainly did not come easy as eFuture showed impressive aim, patience, execution and overall team work.

With the map switchover of de_inferno, eFuture's choice (loser of map 1 chooses map 2), it seemed UMX.US had the momentum.  However eFuture was far from quitting as they simply had immaculate CT defense against UMX.US to open up the first half.  Looking at a 4-11 deficit much like their 2-13 gaping hole against mTw at IEM New York the Americans made their attempt at rallying back as well.  Unfortunately losing the pistol round and next 2 rounds didn't help their cause.  Down but not out they won one round after another on their CT side with excellent communication and overall team play.  Eventually, however, eFuture found the crack in UMX.US' defense and capitalized to finally finish it 16-11.

The final map was set on de_train as selected by the Americans.  Ricky "sLip" Cohen getting 4 knife frags to secure starting as CT opened up the match in style and to begin UMX.US' tempo early on.  Winning the pistol round and the roar from the Americans became answered by an absolutely incredible Desert Eagle save round by eFuture.  Despite the huge setback UMX.US recovered and earned themselves a respectable 9-6 first half score as CT on de_train.  From there it became apparent UMX.US wanted the match more as they built a solid lead as Terrorist.  However, much like de_dust2, the passionate local hometown Chinese heroes summoned something from within yet again and, against all odds, eventually tied the match to force overtime although it did not come without incident.

During two of the late 2nd half rounds, however, eFuture threw illegal flashbangs (aka flashbugs) at the ivy / alley area where one of their members tossed the flashbang underneath the front triple boxes which is not possible in the fixed version of de_train.  The first flashbang was thrown with no UMX.US members in sight (therefore no objection was called) while the second time the UMX.US team were rushing ivy / alley and an objection was then called.  The admins and both teams decided to play the match out on mutual terms with the demo to be reviewed by both team leaders and the head admin afterwards.  After careful consideration the ECL administration decided to abide by their rules and give the match to UMX.US who needed less than 3 rounds to secure the win regardless (assuming ECL would have abided by the 3 round penalty rule followed by numerous other tournaments). 

Simply put UMX.US understood the version of Counter-Strike 1.6 (regardless of it running the latest protocol) and the outdated versions of de_nuke and de_train which are susceptible to the flashbug being used by ECL could have easily led to one of their very own players making the same exact mistake of throwing an illegal flashbang regardless if it was intentional or not.  UMX.US would like to say, on the same note, that ECL and the entire Chinese e-sports community have been incredibly professional and this tournament has been managed and administered extremely well despite it being ECL's first ever to be ran.  Please understand that the venue included a TV studio, their offices and even a makeshift practice room for all CS 1.6, Warcraft 3, DotA and PES 2012 players. 

We apologize once more to the entire Chinese e-sports community for any appearance that UMX.US wanted to harm a league or a team in their own home country.  UMX.US has a deeply rooted respect for all of China and the incredible legacy left by teams such as wNv, legendary players like Jungle & Alex and of course past tournaments to the tune of World e-Sports Masters.

There was absolutely no millisecond of joy or cheerfulness upon hearing that UMX.US was awarded the win based on the flashbug rule by the ECL administration.  It was a bittersweet ending and UMX.US, again, wishes to thank ECL, the hard working staff who have busted their tails day in and day out and eFuture for their incredible sportsmanship and passion for the game.  We hope this does not tarnish any relationship between the American and Asian e-sports scenes as that was the absolute last thing UMX.US ever wished to do with our brothers in UMX.TW as a hopeful sign to show our passion for all of Asian Counter-Strike 1.6 and e-sports." --- UMX-Gaming.com/usa