We explore the past winners of previous CS:GO Majors as we approach Major Rio 2022.
PGL Major Antwerp has recently concluded, marking the end of the18th edition of CS:GO Majors played. While one Major was cancelled due to the pandemic, there has been on average two Majors played every year since 2016.
The first Major was DreamHack Winter 2013, held in the city of Jönköping in Sweden. Since then, Majors have been held mostly in Europe and the Americas, with the first South American Major set to go live at the end of the year in Rio de Janeiro.
12 teams have won Major titles, with several teams winning multiple times along the way. We will be looking at winners from 2016 until the most recent one in Antwerp.
Fun facts:
- Astralis won the greatest number of Majors at four (Atlanta 2017, London 2018, Katowice 2019, Berlin 2019), followed by Fnatic with three (Jönköping 2013, Katowice 2015, Cologne 2015)
- NAVI was runner up three times (Cluj-Napoca 2015, Columbus 2016, London 2018) before winning its first title at Stockholm 2021.
- As of Antwerp 2022, three players have participated in all the Majors since 2013. They are:
-
Richard “shox” Papillon -
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth - Peter “dupreeh” Rothmann Rasmussen.
MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016
Winner:
Luminosity GamingRoster:
- FalleN
- Fer
- Coldzera
- Fnx
- TACO
- Zews
Runner up:
Natus VincereThe finals of the MLG Major Championship saw Luminosity Gaming meeting up with Natus Vincere in a two-map matchup.
In this match, fer saw the most kills, with his 51-39 K/D ratio and an ADR of 99.4 – the highest among the players in that match. The team also easily clean the house of Natus Vincere with their 2-0 win which resulted in them hefting the trophy in the end.
ESL One: Cologne 2016
Winner:
SK GamingRoster:
- FalleN
- Fer
- Coldzera
- Fnx
- TACO
- Zews
Runner Up:
Team LiquidThe run of FaLLeN and gang continues, but now with a new team. Now with SK Gaming, the roster maintains their winning streak in a second major as they won against Team Liquid.
In this match, coldzera was the player of the match with his 44-20 K/D ratio and an ADR of 96.0. The team won 2-0 in Train and Cobblestone against Team Liquid and won the ESL One Cologne 2016 Major.
ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017
Winner:
AstralisRoster:
- Device
- Dupreeh
- Xyp9x
- Kjaerbye
- Gla1ve
- Zonic
Runner up:
Outsiders (a.k.a Virtus.pro)
The Danish team of Astralis rose to be the winner of the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017. One of the best teams in CS:GO started their winning streak right here, when they went up against Virtus.pro.
Kjaerbye was the clear MVP of the match with his 73-54 K/D ratio and ADR of 95.2. Astralis did face some competition with Virtus.pro, but in the end, the Russians were no match for the Danes as they eventually won the Major 2-1.
PGL Major Kraków 2017
Winner:
Gambit EsportsRoster:
- Dosia
- AdreN
- Mou
- Zeus
- HObbit
Runner up:
ImmortalsGambit Esports took their first Major win at Krakow, with their match against Immortals. They played the full three maps, with the team winning two out of three to win the Major title.
While mou scored the highest K/D ratio with 62-48 and an ADR of 86.3, HObbit was eventually crowned as the game’s MVP.
ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
Winner:
Cloud9Roster:
- Skadoodle
- Stewie2K
- Automatic
- RUSH
- Tarik
Runner up:
FaZe ClanThe first North American team to win a Major, Cloud9 made the win even sweeter as they won it in their home country, in the finals match against FaZe Clan.
The tournament saw Skadoodle emerge as the MVP as he recorded a 79-55 K/D ratio and an ADR of 80.9. Cloud9 faced FaZe Clan in three maps, where they eventually won with a 2-1 score over their fellow North American team.
FACEIT Major: London 2018
Winner:
Roster:
- Device
- Dupreeh
- Xyp9x
- Magisk
- Gla1ve
Runner up:
The boys from Astralis are back to win another Major title – this time Magisk replacing Kjaerbye in the lineup. Gla1ve was crowned the MVP of the match, thanks to his 39-26 K/D ratio and ADR of 81.9.
Astralis and Natus Vincere played two maps – Nuke and Overpass – where the Danes easily outperformed the Ukrainians in both maps, giving them the easy win of the Major title.
Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII - Katowice Major 2019
Winner:
Roster:
- Device
- Dupreeh
- Xyp9x
- Magisk
- Gla1ve
Runner up:
ENCEA Major CS:GO returns to Katowice for a second time after ESL Major Series One in 2014. This year, we saw a rerun of last year as Astralis again won the Major with the same crew, but now with ENCE as the runner up team.
Xyp9x is the MVP for this match with his 42-20 K/D ratio and 90.4 ADR. The team easily dispatched ENCE in two maps – Train and Inferno – without breaking too much of a sweat.
Starladder Berlin Major 2019
Winner:
Roster:
- Device
- Dupreeh
- Xyp9x
- Magisk
- Gla1ve
Runner up:
AVANGARThe threequel of Astralis returns in Berlin as a Major CS:GO tournament returns to Germany after three years – the last being ESL One: Cologne 2016. Astralis completed their trifecta of Major wins at Cologne, where they went against AVANGAR.
Device emerged as the MVP of the match as he walked away with a 42-21 K/D ratio and 102.3 ADR. AVANGAR was defeated by Astralis in two maps – Inferno and Dust2 – in a shockingly short time as Astralis did not give AVANGAR any quarters in the two maps.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021
Winner:
Roster:
- S1mple
- Electronic
- Boombl4
- Perfecto
- B1t
Runner up:
G2 Esports
After waiting for so long, Natus Vincere finally received its first Major title; the team has been in the runner-up position in three different Majors previously (DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016, FACEIT Major: London 2018).
S1mple was the man of the hour, as he walked away with a 72-41 K/D ratio and 95.2 ADR. While Ancient was a relatively easy match for Natus Vincere, G2 Esports fought back in Nuke where the map went into overtime twice. Even so, Natus Vincere bulldozed through and won the map, and the match 2-0 – giving them their first Major win ever.
PGL Major Antwerp 2022
Winner:
Roster:
- Rain
- Broky
- Twistzz
- Karrigan
- Ropz
Runner up:
After so long, it is now FaZe Clan’s turn to enjoy their first Major title. Their last brush with the championship was in Boston 2018, where they lost to Cloud9.
Rain was the MVP of the match as he breezed through the competition with a 52-40 K/D ratio and 107.9 ADR. NAVI did not give FaZe an easy time as the first map, Inferno went to overtime, but FaZe persevered and eventually won the map with a 3-point lead. The second map, Nuke, saw FaZe barreling ahead of NAVI and easily winning the second point to win the match 2-0.
Teams are now in the midst of their planning and strategizing for the upcoming Major, Intel Extreme Masters Season XVII - Rio Major 2022. This will be the first Major in South America, and it promises to be an exciting one for fans watching at the venue and online.
