CSGO10: Global Offensive starts to boom in first multi-Major year (2014)

Three Majors, a tight battle for the mantle of best team in the world, and exponentially growing player numbers defined the year.

When the year of 2014 began CS:GO was still growing as a game and the esports scene was beginning to truly establish itself. Player numbers rocketed throughout the year, first passing the 100,000 peak in January and then 250,000 in August. The prize pools were still fairly modest by today's standards, but starting to grow.

There were a number of teams that could make a claim to the title of best in the world, the most obvious of course being Ninjas in Pyjamas, but alongside them were fnatic who had recently beaten their countrymen in the first CS:GO Major, and VeryGames (soon to become Titan), who had ended 2013 on a hot-streak winning multiple international LANs. There were also multiple new and exciting rosters starting to appear, namely sides like Virtus.pro who had won StarSeries at the end of 2013 and a new iteration of Natus Vincere.

ESEA Invite Season 15 Global Finals kicked things off as the first international LAN event of the year, however it was a modestly attended 6-team LAN that featured three teams of note: Titan, and the two best North American teams, iBUYPOWER and Complexity. iBUYPOWER bagged the title, striking the first blow in the rivalry between between the two major American powers.

Next up was another small LAN, DreamHack Stockholm Steelseries Invitational, but this event was more prestigious in the sense that it hosted Ninjas in Pyjamas, fnatic and Dignitas in addition to Titan. The two Swedish teams that could potentially claim to be the best in the world and the young Danes who were making a name for themselves as exciting talents. Titan would continue their excellent form from the end of the previous year, taking home the trophy on the back of an inspired performance from Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon, although as a best-of-one tournament it was lacking in terms of a robust format.

These two events highlighted the fact that CS:GO was still in its fledgling stage, tournaments were hosted with weak formats or small team lists. These days it is rare to see an international LAN without at least eight teams, and usually more, and an international LAN would never be played out only in best-of-ones.

Next up was the Major in Katowice, Poland, taking place in March. There was something special about how wide open it felt; arguments could be made for so many teams to have a good chance of winning the tournament. Of course, Ninjas in Pyjamas felt due a Major title at some point, and they were still one of the best teams in the world. Titan were probably the best team at that very moment, and the Frenchmen were considered favorites by many.

fnatic won the previous Major, although it seemed they were probably not quite up to the standard of the Ninjas and the Frenchmen in the period since. There were also plenty of dark horses, like the HellRaisers lineup who had been a top-three team the previous year as Astana Dragons, or Dignitas, who were showing excellent consistency if an inability to beat the very best teams, and of course Virtus.pro, who had won a surprise victory in the final tournament of 2013, SLTV StarSeries VIII Finals, and the Polish squad were playing on home soil.

Few could have predicted what would happen for the Poles on home turf in Katowice. Not only did they secure an unlikely Major victory, but they did so in imperious fashion, brushing aside all competition and dropping a single map on their way to the trophy. They picked up some impressive wins along the way, defeating LDLC in the quarter-finals, an LGB team containing the likes of Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson and Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer in the semis, and overpowering top-two team in the world Ninjas in Pyjamas in the finals.

Their performance was built upon rock-solid CT-sides, they boasted a staggering 72.7% round win rate on defense, and T-sides that hit like a battering ram; so compelling was the fashion in which they played that it earned them the nickname Virtus.plow. The final factor that pushed them over the edge was the superlative performance of Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski, who racked up a monstrous 1.38 rating during his MVP-winning event.

From the moment of this Major victory, the Polish Virtus.pro squad cemented itself as a powerful and consistent force in world Counter-Strike, and this was confirmed in the very next international LAN, Copenhagen Games.

The monumental, 58-team BYOC event truly captured the old school LAN feel and was the type of event that top teams stopped playing as Counter-Strike became more and more professional. The best teams were in attendance, like Titan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, fnatic and Virtus.pro, and it was a tournament that would dictate the futures of several of them in the months to come.

fnatic struggled, falling to the young Danes of Dignitas 0-2 in the quarter-finals in a disappointing 5-8th finish that would put the Swedish Major-winning squad on its last legs. Titan signaled the true beginning of the decline of this iteration of the roster, having struggled in Katowice and finishing 5-8th in Copenhagen after losing to their LDLC countrymen. shox left shortly after. Virtus.pro confirmed their status as an elite team by finishing second, losing only to Ninjas in Pyjamas, who also confirmed they would still be one of the best teams in the world for the coming months.

A run of tournaments followed that would serve as the build up to the second Major of the year, ESL One Cologne, and provided with multiple international LAN winners. First was SLTV StarSeries IX Finals, where a Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko-led Natus Vincere side broke out to place themselves amongst the world’s best by taking down an ailing Titan and Ninjas in Pyjamas twice to secure the title.

Next came DreamHack Summer, where Natus Vincere proved their StarSeries win was no fluke by grabbing a second-place finish, but it was Ninjas in Pyjamas who would take the title and confirm that, since the fall of Titan, they were once again the best team in the world.

iBUYPOWER won ESEA Invite Season 16 Global Finals to confirm that they had most certainly come off better in a recent NA shuffle, Braxton "⁠swag⁠" Pierce making his way to the Sam "⁠DaZeD⁠" Marine-led squad and putting in an MVP performance to ensure his old side Complexity were left reeling. DreamHack Valencia went to LDLC, the team defeating a shox-inspired Epsilon in the final, although it lacked the depth of field of the rest of events.

August arrived, and with it some intriguing news for the North American scene. Complexity's roster signed for Cloud9, bringing a growing organization to the Counter-Strike table. Whilst the Cloud9 roster would achieve little of note for the rest of the year, they went to find reasonable success in 2015.

Just prior to the second Major of the year was Gfinity 3, a stacked event that would serve as an excellent warmup to Cologne. Shockingly, Ninjas in Pyjamas only managed a 5-8th finish, knocked out in the quarter-finals by Dignitas. Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and co. were steadily acquiring an impressive resume of series wins.

fnatic made a run all the way to top-four, the new lineup with olofmeister and KRIMZ that they put together after a shocking DreamHack Summer performance putting in work. Titan managed one of their best tournament performances for some time, beating teams like iBUYPOWER and fnatic on their way to the final. Ultimately, it was Virtus.pro who reigned supreme, grabbing their second title of the year after the Major and putting serious weight behind the idea that they were a truly elite team.

By the time ESL One Cologne rolled around Ninjas in Pyjamas were back to being, on balance, considered the best team in the world, their sheer consistency unrivaled in the run up to the event. Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund and Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg continued to justify their status as two of the best players in the world, carrying Ninjas in Pyjamas to regular titles, and despite the IGL mantle bouncing between Robin "⁠Fifflaren⁠" Johansson and Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström, the Swedes were making it work. The Gfinity result was certainly a setback, but had that event not occurred, Ninjas in Pyjamas would probably have gone into the Major as comfortable favourites.

GeT_RiGhT and co. finally built upon the promise of their dominance of the early part of CS:GO history to take their first and only Major title. The victory was made even sweeter by the fact they defeated fnatic in the grand final, taking revenge for their shocking defeat in DreamHack Winter 2013, and finally crowning their epic achievements to date with the Major win that they so richly deserved.

At this point the year’s competition was really picking up steam, with plenty more international LANs to be crammed into the last third of the year. SLTV StarSeries X Finals was the first event after the Major, and it was fnatic who came out on top in the four-team event. Whilst not the most glamorous of wins, it did include two wins over Natus Vincere, with one coming in a best-of-five, and it was a teaser of what fnatic had to bring to the rest of the year.

DreamHack Stockholm Invitational was next on the docket, and it was time to see the results of the first of what would become a yearly tradition, the French shuffle. Titan, who had grabbed the LDLC trio of Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez, Hovik "⁠KQLY⁠" Tovmassian and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire, saw an early return on their investment by winning the title and taking statement wins over LDLC and fnatic in the process.

Game Show Season 1 Finals followed, with Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro and a HellRaisers lineup now featuring Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev in attendance. It was Natus Vincere who would emerge as victors in a modestly attended event, with HellRaisers narrowly missing out with a 2-3 loss in a best-of-five grand final.

SLTV StarSeries XI hosted an LDLC win, the squad getting revenge on their countrymen in Titan by beating them in the upper final, before besting Natus Vincere 3-2 in the grand final. The French shuffle seemingly produced two strong, title-winning teams.

Rounding out October was the stacked FACEIT League Season 2 Finals where fnatic emerged victorious, producing a convincing tournament run that saw the Swedes lose only a single map whilst comfortably defeating iBUYPOWER, Virtus.pro and Dignitas along the way.

The aforementioned FACEIT League victory began a period of domination for fnatic, as they emerged as the pre-eminent force in world Counter-Strike post-Cologne. They had already confirmed themselves an elite team, winning StarSeries and taking top-four at DreamHack Stockholm, but they followed up FACEIT League by winning ESWC and Fragbite Masters, dropping not a single series in three back-to-back trophy-winning campaigns that saw them defeat the likes of LDLC, Virtus.pro, Dignitas and iBUYPOWER in series play.

With the DreamHack Winter Major just around the corner, it felt like fnatic were about to carve themselves another Swedish dynasty, taking over from Ninjas in Pyjamas but maintaining their country's dominance over CS:GO. They had four players that could arguably be included in discussions for the best in the world, an IGL who proved to be a potent tactician, and they were a simply unbeatable squad on CT side.

fnatic’s dominance was not the centerpiece story in the leadup to the Major, however. In November, CS:GO bore witness to the highest profile cheating ban the scene has endured to date, with Frenchman KQLY being handed a VAC ban a mere week before the final Major of the year, DreamHack Winter 2014. Not only was the timing dramatic, but this was a player who was supposedly at the peak of his powers, playing for one of the top teams in the world and a legitimate contender for the Major title.

Titan had recently won DreamHack Stockholm ahead of squads like fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas and LDLC. Combined with the fact that KQLY was a player who was responsible for an all-time great highlight clip that lead to his name being used as the de facto term for a jumping shot, it was a cheating scandal that rocked the world of Counter-Strike.

KQLY was by no means the only player banned, his countryman Gordon "⁠Sf⁠" Giry who played for Epsilon at the time was also VAC banned in the same wave. The icing on a wholly undesirable cake was Titan’s later disqualification from the Major entirely. Because KQLY was part of the three player ex-LDLC core that held the invite for the Major, along with apEX and Maniac, his team was disqualified from participating in DreamHack Winter.

The Major could have been remembered as the Major in which the LDLC squad, made up of names like shox, Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt and Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer, capitalised on their immense form after emerging as the winners of the most recent French shuffle and took home an epic Major victory. Unfortunately, there was yet more controversy to come. In the group stage LDLC did what was expected of them, cruising through with two best-of-one wins, one of them coming over Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The quarter-final draw was not kind to the French squad as they were pitted against a fnatic who had finished second in their group. The Swedes had overcome them twice in grand-finals in recent times, first at ESWC 2014 and then at Fragbite Masters Season 3. They were also the two teams tipped as favorites to take the trophy, adding further intrigue to an already fascinating match-up.

Despite the recent unfavorable context, the French squad came in all guns firing, taking Dust2 in a blaze of glory that displayed their potent firepower; they went 19-7 in opening kills and had a 1.14 average rating across the team compared to fnatic's 0.81. The Swedes recovered on Cache, a map they were considered the best in the world on at the time, and took things to a neutral decider, Overpass. The map had only just been added to the game for the previous Major, had yet to be fully figured out, and was often banned during vetoes.

Some will remember what happened next, and those who did not experience the madness have high chances of having heard tell of it since. With the series delicately poised at 1-1, fnatic had an absolute nightmare Terrorist half and lost their CT pistol to end up 3-13 down in the final map. It was at this point that The Swedes began to utilize a now-infamous pixel-boost on Overpass.

olofmeister bought a scout and clambered upon a boost on Optimus that allowed him to peer into construction and watch top connector and A-short. Not only could he command a vast area of the map, but he could also not be seen or killed by LDLC. Essentially, the player on the boost was invisible and invincible. The French squad were left reeling, clearly distraught and confused as to how they were dying from apparently nowhere round after round, and to make things worse if they did get towards a site, fnatic seemed to know they were coming, because they did.

LDLC finally manged to work out the boost that fnatic were utilizing, and constructed a boost of their own near T-spawn to counter olofmeister, but the Swede spotted the boost in time and it was too little, too late for shox and co. as they lost the match.

Chaos ensued after the match. The community was furious with fnatic, a team that was already unpopular for a number of reasons, be it cheating allegations that had been leveled against the team and particularly Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist in the past, or anger at Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell for a refusal to shake hands with Ninjas in Pyjamas during DreamHack Winter 2013.

Admins made an absolute mess of handling the incident, first insisting the map should be replayed, only later to be told that LDLC had used a less impactful but still illegal pixel-boost of their own during the match and deciding the whole series should be replayed. Eventually, fnatic relented under intense pressure from the community and decided to forfeit the series, with LDLC moving on and ultimately defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas in the grand final to claim the Major title.

fnatic recovered from the furor of the Major in style by taking home the ESEA Invite Season 17 Global Finals, the last big event of the year. In doing so, Markus "⁠pronax⁠" Wallsten and company sealed their status as the best team in the world at the time, and also made it tough to argue that 2014 did not belong to them.

Their resume was so strong in the second half of the year, including series wins over every single other elite team and precious few losses. Had it not been for the bizarre events of DreamHack Winter, they would likely also have added a Major title to their growing list of achievements, and also would have ended the year with five straight LAN wins, all of them well attended.

The final HLTV team ranking of the year confirmed fnatic’s status as the world’s No. 1 team, bringing to a close a year that witnessed multiple controversies, a multitude of different Big Event winners, and a tight battle for the mantle of the best team in the world.

The HLTV Top 20 reflected the growing stature of fnatic and LDLC, as each team had four players apiece, but it was still GeT_RiGhT who grabbed himself the honor of the top spot.

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