The greatest run in CS:GO history

The line between disappointment and pride, between pure joy and sadness, was never that thin: Our boys delivered a Cinderella story, something everyone can relate to. Our Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team fought themselves into the final of the last CS:GO Major in Paris, where we lost to the Vitality.

On the brink of elimination

The start of the tournament could have looked better. At Challenger Stage, a first round loss to Apeks followed by a devastating defeat against The Mongolz. With being 0-2, we needed to win the next 3 matches. After deleting MOUZ 2-0, we fought down OG 2-1 and had a final shot against FORZE. Against the russians, our team demonstrated that they can deliver under high pressure moments easily. Two strong performances on Overpass and Inferno resulted in a 2-0 – and a spot at the legend stage.

Facing the GOAT of CS:GO

Reaching the legend stage alone was a great success for our team. Everything else was more or less the cherry on the cake. In the next stage also, the opponents got way harder. The first match was immediately against NAVI and s1mple. Even though the Ukrainian AWP’er was under control most of the time, we struggled and lost on Mirage 10-16. The last map we lost for a long time. After beating the best Polish team, 9ine and fnatic, we had two chances of qualifying for the Champions Stage in the Accor arena in Paris. After losing the first match of the Major against Apeks, we got the opportunity for revenge – and our boys were thirsty. 16-6 on Ancient, 16-9 on Overpass, a 2-0 demonstration of power and ticket for playing on stage in the Accor arena.

Playing in front of 20.000 people

For us as org, players, fans, and everyone involved, a dream came true – and our boys wanted to live in that moment as long as they could. In the quarterfinals, we played against Monte, a Ukrainian team, which also was a big surprise in the tournament. While Monte showed nerves, our players flourished. There was an obvious class difference this day (Mirage 16-10, Overpass 16-3), resulting in the most dominant win of our tournament run. In the semifinals, however, the Danish powerhouse Heroic was waiting for us. After coming second in the Rio Major 22, the Danes were one of the biggest favorites of winning it all. On our map pick Ancient, we were on the same level. Small mistakes lead to a 13-16. On inferno, it looked like Heroic would win it quickly. But after being down 1-5, it clicked. iM’s delivered 28 (!) frags. isak clutched against jabbi and sjuush in 1 vs. 2 to secure the map and bring it to the decider Mirage. The momentum was on our side and when it mattered the most, our boys delivered again. 16-6 on Mirage, one of Heroics best maps, pure domination and pure joy in the end.

Grand Final against the whole crowd

There was only one team, where all the experts thought they could beat Heroic. The local heroes of Paris, Vitality, were waiting for us. As the underdogs, our boys were fighting like crazy to finalize the biggest upset in Esport history, but in the end, the French team was just better. After an apparent defeat on Overpass (6-16), Nuke (13-16) was quite competitive, as we were in front most of the time. What was lasting was the greatest Major run in CS:GO history – and a huge GL stamp. We will come back.