CSGO10: Liquid challenge Astralis' reign (2019)
Astralis shattered old records in 2019, Liquid challenged the throne, and Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut emerged as a world-class player.
The year 2019 was undoubtedly one of two rivals that stood head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. There was Liquid, a team that reached heights that no other North American side ever attained prior — albeit without winning a coveted Major — and ruled over even the fiercest competition.
Nick "nitr0" Cannella and company raised hardware at a plethora of events and secured the second Intel Grand Slam season, which they achieved in record time from their victory at IEM Sydney. They then won three more tournaments consecutively to accomplish the feat, which catapulted them atop the world rankings to become the most accomplished team to ever come out of North America.
On the other hand was Astralis, a squad known for their unparalleled teamwork and coordination under Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander's leadership. They built on their strong 2018 season, during which they won the FACEIT London Major and attained the No. 1 rank in the world rankings, and set records which still stand to this day.
These include their untouched 58-week reign as the world’s best team on the HLTV ranking, winning the most Major titles in CS:GO history, four, and having the distinction of being the only team to win three Majors in a row. These achievements came together to shoot the Astralis name to the stars and cement their legacy as the most successful team to ever compete in Global Offensive.
It wasn't only the year of two teams, even if they often hoarded headlines. It was also the year of ENCE's Cinderella run at IEM Katowice, where a homegrown Finnish side defeated a handful of Big Event mainstays and made it all the way to the grand final of the year’s first Major.
The year of Finn "karrigan" Andersen's renaissance outside of FaZe, leading MOUZ to three first-place finishes at the tail end of 2019, including a prestigious ESL Pro League title. A second North American squad also made a leap as Evil Geniuses lifted silverware, and a new name was also engraved forever in the history books: ZywOo, who not only broke out as top prospect, but as a virtuoso of the game that became the youngest player of the year at age 19.
Astralis entered 2019 with the same roster from the year prior. It was the same lineup that won the first-ever season of the Intel Grand Slam and the FACEIT London Major in the back half of 2018. The off-season was thus silent for the Danish powerhouse, while the opposite can be said of Liquid.
The North American squad parted ways with its Brazilian members, Epitacio "TACO" de Melo and Wilton "zews" Prado, in a trade with MIBR. In return they got Jake "Stewie2K" Yip to join a roster that featured some of the region's best riflers in Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski and Keith "NAF" Markovic, a young up-and-coming Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, and the ever-reliable Nick "nitr0" Cannella calling the shots.
Apart from Liquid and Astralis, other teams like Vitality were putting themselves on the map as they got ready to embark on their first full year together with superstar AWPer ZywOo at the helm. Natus Vincere were another group with big expectations heading into the year after a fruitful 2018 campaign in which they took home over a million dollars in prize money.
iBUYPOWER Masters 2019 eased the year in for the eight invited teams, including both Liquid and Astralis. The pair made quick work of the lesser opponents in both the group stage and the semi-finals before meeting one another in the grand final. Liquid fell behind 0-1 after the first map, but recovered and took the win over gla1ve's crew. It was the North American team’s first LAN victory of the year, their first LAN triumph over Astralis in three months, and it marked the moment they overtook Natus Vincere to become second in the world ranking.
Liquid encountered their first roadblock of the year at IEM Katowice despite shining in the New Legends stage, quickly securing their place in the playoffs. As fate would have it both Astralis and Liquid were seeded on opposite sides of the bracket, which made a grand final matchup between the tournament’s heavy favorites a real possibility. Until ENCE happened.
The Finnish squad made their way to the IEM Katowice playoffs all the way from the EU Minor and attained a 3-2 record in the Legends stage to set up a quarter-final matchup with Liquid. Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen's men pulled off two huge upsets, ending Liquid’s journey in the Spodek Arena in the quarter-finals and Natus Vincere’s in the semis en route to the grand final.
The Finns' fairytale run came to an abrupt end when Astralis showed exactly why they were the best in the world and far outplayed ENCE in a 2-0 sweep, although the loss took nothing away from the prowess the budding Finnish team displayed against the most formidable opponents in the world as they wrapped up the Major in second place.
Unlike other Major champions such as Virtus.pro in 2014 and Cloud9 in 2018, Astralis’ post-Major-winning form didn’t suggest any sort of immediate drop off. The Danes exacted revenge on Liquid in their second grand final meeting of the year at BLAST Pro Series Sao Paulo and took home the trophy to increase their points advantage in the world ranking over the North Americans.
In March Valve made big changes to CS:GO's in-game economy by revamping the loss bonus calculations. Previously, a win would reset the round loss bonus. With the update, a win reduced the loss counter by one with the goal of reducing a negative feedback loop following streaks of losses. Two of the most popular rifles also received substantial changes, the AUG and M4A1-S. The AUG had its price bumped up from $3,150 to its original $3,300, while the silenced M4 now held 25 bullets in the magazine and 75 in reserve.
In the same month, the game also experienced a massive shake-up for the competitive scene when Cache, a map that had been in the competitive map pool since ESL One Cologne 2014, was replaced by Vertigo. The new map received a number of updates following its release and was quickly included in the map pool by various tournament organizers such as BLAST, Dreamhack, and ESL.
Liquid kickstarted their 2019 journey with a bang, but it still took the NA team a few months to reach success at a Big Event. They lost their next grand final at BLAST Pro Series Miami to FaZe and were even overtaken by Natus Vincere for the No. 2 spot in the ranking after the CIS squad won StarSeries i-League Season 7 in China.
Everything started to look up for Liquid when IEM Sydney rolled around. Some big names were noticeably absent from the list of participants at the tournament in Australia such as Natus Vincere, ENCE, and crucially, Astralis. This cleared the way for the North American squad to win the whole competition before going on a run of form that not even the Danes could derail.
nitr0 and company placed second at their next event, cs_summit 4, before starting their year-defining sprint to the Intel Grand Slam. Liquid claimed successive victories at Dreamhack Masters Dallas, ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, and ESL One Cologne to dethrone Astralis from the top spot in the world rankings and be recognized as the winners of the $1,000,000 Intel Grand Slam in a record 63 days. Liquid wrapped up the competitive season by winning IEM Chicago to further solidify their top spot in the ranking heading into the player break.
While the North Americans were enjoying an unparalleled level of success, Astralis struggled to even reach the finals of events they participated in during Liquid's rise. They failed to reach the playoff stage at the ECS Season 7 Finals after getting knocked out by a young FURIA side and had to settle for 5-6th place. Their woes continued at the EPL Season 9 Finals, where they lost to rivals and eventual champions Liquid, once again placing in 5-6th.
Astralis also fell to the high-flying Vitality squad powered by ZywOo in the semi-finals of their final event before the player break, ESL One Cologne, capping off their season with a 3rd-4th place finish. The Danes’ struggles not only allowed Liquid to continue their reign in the world rankings, but also paved the way for other teams to make a name for themselves.
It’s worth noting that during this time, the Danes were noticeably absent at many Big Events since the conclusion of IEM Katowice. They played only five best-of-threes or best-of-fives at international LANs from early March until the beginning of June, the lowest tally among the top ten teams in the world ranking. Much of their play came in the best-of-one heavy BLAST Pro Series tournaments, earning the team a new moniker: Blastralis.
The MOUZ squad led by karrigan, which was only formed in March, finished 1-4th at EPL Season 9 Europe followed up by a fantastic 3rd-4th place finish at the Pro League finals. Vitality's cs_summit 4 triumph over Liquid shot them to fifth in the world rankings, and they later on reached second after making it all the way to the grand finals at ESL One Cologne.
Even the up-and-coming NRG side led by Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz was consistently finding top-four finishes at events as they placed 3rd-4th at the ECS Season 7 Finals, 3rd-4th at the EPL Season 9 Finals, and third at BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles. Needless to say, the competition was heating up.
The second Major of 2019, StarLadder Berlin, was the first event for most teams coming out of the player break and with the competition fast approaching, it seemed like all the momentum was on Liquid's side. Following Astralis’ string of disappointing performances prior to the nearly month-long break, no one was sure whether or not the Danes would show up in full force.
Liquid, on the other hand, was still fresh off their Intel Grand Slam triumph and the clear No. 1 team in the world. If there were ever an opportune moment for nitr0’s squad to give North America its second Major championship, it would be in Berlin.
All eyes were on the pair of rivals heading into the event on the shores of the Spree. If Astralis won the tournament, it would mark their fourth CS:GO Major title and third in a row. They had the chance to become the first team in history to achieve both, surpassing the records set by Jesper "JW" Wecksell's fnatic back in 2015. Conversely, if Liquid were to emerge victorious at the StarLadder Major, they would be crowned Major champions for the first time ever and Stewie2K would become the first North American to win multiple Majors.
Astralis missed the chance at a flawless run in the Challengers Stage after losing to NRG, but claimed a 3-1 record after dispatching of CR4ZY in their next match. Meanwhile, Liquid struggled early and faced the threat of elimination with a 1-2 record, but the North Americans turned things around and qualified for the playoffs after finishing 3-2.
As the smoke from the preliminary stage cleared, it was revealed that Astralis and Liquid would meet in the quarter-finals. The magnitude of the scenario led to the match being dubbed the Major's unofficial grand final as the Counter-Strike world sat in anticipation of the battle that would ensue between the two heavy favorites. In that moment, only a single thing was certain; one team’s dream was about to end.
Liquid boasted a 100% win-rate on Vertigo in the three months prior to the StarLadder Major, and was considered the world's best team on said map. During the picks-and-bans portion of their quarter-final match against Astralis, however, the Danes surprised nearly everyone and opted to select Vertigo as the first map of the series. Despite having shown unmatched success on Vertigo in the past, Liquid struggled immensely and Astralis comfortably took the 16-8 victory and 1-0 series lead.
Even with all the firepower Liquid could muster up in the second map, it wasn’t enough to stop Nicolai "device" Reedtz and company from winning the series, officially putting an end to the North American team's Major campaign. From there on out the rest of the event was a breeze for Astralis, who took commanding wins in the semis and the grand final to claim their record-breaking fourth Major championship.
Most of the glory went to the Danes, but it didn’t take away from the praise reserved for teams that also outperformed their own expectations in Berlin. AVANGAR, who made it all the way to the Major’s grand final, overcame the odds and defeated Liquid, G2, and Vitality in the process. NRG and Renegades also attained their organizations’ best-ever finishes at a Major by reaching the semi-finals, and were later on signed by Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves, respectively, as a result of their performance.
In the wake of the Major’s conclusion, a number of players were either transferred, released, or benched as multiple teams went through roster shake-ups. ENCE were one of the top teams to make a change, as they benched in-game leader Aleksib and brought in Miikka "suNny" Kemppi as his replacement following their exit from the StarLadder Major. fnatic would follow suit and shake things up by bringing back Robin "flusha" Rönnquist and Maikil "Golden" Selim to their lineup after missing out on their first Major in history, while G2 welcomed Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač and Nemanja "nexa" Isaković to their ranks after parting ways with Lucas "Lucky" Chastang and Richard "shox" Papillon.
Natus Vincere's in-game leader Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko announced his retirement from professional Counter-Strike after his and his team's run at BLAST Pro Series Moscow. It marked the second roster change of the year for the CIS side after Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev also parted ways with the team back in April following a string of disappointing results. Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov transitioned into the in-game leader role, while Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács returned to Natus Vincere after a two-year stint FaZe.
Amidst everything the post-Major ‘silly season’ brought, a couple of teams and individuals emerged stronger than ever and wrapped up the year in fashion.
Evil Geniuses made their return to the Counter-Strike scene in September 2019 by signing NRG's lineup, and immediately achieved success at ESL One New York where the group triumphed in the event’s grand final over the reigning Major champions, Astralis. The North American outfit continued their winning ways at StarSeries i-League Season 8, defeating fnatic in the final, a victory that would catapult them to the No. 1 spot in the world rankings over Astralis.
Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte was statistically Evil Geniuses’ best player at Big Events throughout the year, and a huge reason for their strong results in 2019. The American’s impressive resume included six EVPs, an MVP medal at ESL One New York, a 1.15 average rating, and recognition as the world’s best trade-killer with 0.16 per round.
fnatic's revamped Swedish roster also found success, raising the Dreamhack Masters Malmö trophy in front of their home crowd. They took down fellow Swedes Ninjas in Pyjamas, the Danish powerhouse Astralis, and the Frenchmen of Vitality to take home their first Big Event win in 19 months. The achievement was followed up by a 3rd-4th place finish at the ECS Season 8 Finals, along with second at the aforementioned StarSeries i-League Season 8 and the EPL Season 10 Finals held in December.
Vitality were no strangers to compelling results either, achieving a number of Big Event wins and grand final appearances throughout 2019. Their superstar AWPer, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, was a crucial factor in the team's success. On an individual level, the Frenchman was in a league of his own and the leader in a multitude of categories, such as average rating (1.30), damage per round (86.1), impact rating (1.40), and K-D difference (+955). ZywOo was also awarded five MVPs and EVPs and boasted a whopping 1.53 rating at EPICENTER 2019. These all contributed to the French sniper earning his title as the world’s best player in 2019.
Finally, there was MOUZ. Finn "karrigan" Andersen's side were a team that struggled at Big Events all throughout the year, but whose fortunes changed when December finally rolled around. In the final month of 2019, the European mix won three consecutive events — the CS:GO Asia Championships, the EPL Season 10 Finals, and cs_summit 5. This run of form also included a second-place finish at EPICENTER 2019, which subsequently propelled MOUZ to the No. 2 spot in the ranking to wrap up the year.
An important change in November came to start to rein back the AUG's T side counterpart, the SG 553, as it had its price adjusted from $2,750 to $3,000. This change was a result of the rifle's overwhelming popularity and performance on the server, which even led to Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen referring to it as "the most overpowered gun in CS:GO history," although it wasn't fully nerfed until the following year.
By the time 2019 died down it was clear that Liquid and Astralis’ dominant run was over. Liquid never truly recovered their pre-break form, during which they won six consecutive tournaments, as the North Americans began falling down the order. They also massively struggled against rivals Astralis, and on two occasions fell to the Danes in grand finals, namely at ECS Season 8 Finals and the BLAST Pro Series Global Final. Meanwhile, placing 9-12th at Dreamhack Masters Malmö, 5-6th at the EPL Season 10 Finals, and fifth at the BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, all contributed to Stewie2K's crew dropping to fourth in the world rankings by year-end.
On the flip side, Astralis' consistency in the back half of 2019 gave the Danes the edge in their year-long rivalry with Liquid. They also managed to pick up three more trophies before 2019 ended, but were constantly challenged by the likes of Evil Geniuses, fnatic, and MOUZ at every corner throughout the latter months of the year. Even though gla1ve's men finished the year on top, their opponents’ resilience and triumphs would go on to prove that even Astralis were not invincible.
It’s easy to remember 2019 as the year of Astralis and Liquid's dominance, but it was so much more than just that. It was a year in which long-standing records were shattered, one that both strengthened old legacies and built new ones, and ended with the two juggernauts’ descent from their God-like status — an important reminder that no one can stay on top forever.
The CSGO10 Series:
Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen
Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong
Özgür 'woxic' Eker
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants
Sanjar 'SANJI' Kuliev
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev
Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai
Rokas 'EspiranTo' Milasauskas
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