This Easter Sunday marked the end of the first major of Counter Strike 2 (CS2), held in the Copenhagen Royal Arena. Counter Strike is a 5 versus 5 first person shooter with one team tasked to plant a bomb, and the other to disarm it. To date, CS2 is one of the largest esports in the world, surpassing viewership for this year’s MLS Cup and nearing the viewership total for the most recent Stanley Cup Final game. Officially, the event organizer, PGL, has put the official viewership for its channels alone at around 1.8 Million.
The tournament started on the 17th with initial opening matches, featuring a mix of international and national based teams. Surprises came from the likes of the Polish-mixed roster of ENCE who bottomed out early after a strong run at IEM Katowice. Portuguese squad SAW was also expected to make a solid run, but also failed to make it out of the opening stage. Of the four Brazilian squads, all but Legacy advanced, along with a surprising emergence of The MongolZ and the Danish Ecstatic.
The Elimination Stage brought more upsets and surprises. Danish organization Heroic made a good run through the qualifiers and opening stage, but fell in the elimination stage after initially beating the tournament runner-up, Faze Clan. Probably the biggest surprise was the Turkish representatives at the major, Eternal Fire. Having beat the reigning champions, Vitality, and stumbling over the international squad of MOUZ, EF would go on to beat Faze Clan and Virtus Pro, advancing to the playoff stage.
The playoffs would start on March 28th, and was probably the most chaotic start we have seen at a major playoff in years. Tournament favorites, Spirit, lost in what is being dubbed the “Royal Rumble” after a three map series with multiple clutches and overtime thrillers against Faze Clan. Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) would take down the Turks of EF in another close series, and G2 would upset the dark horse squad of MOUZ. In the semis, Faze would take down a weaker Vitality, and on the other side G2 would fall to Na’Vi in a rematch of the 2021 Stockholm Major.
The finals brought a rather one-sided affair, as both squads traded quick maps on Ancient and Mirage, until Na’Vi would demolish Faze on the final map of Inferno in a 13-3 match. Coming into the tournament ranked 6th in the world, Na’Vi shocked many and compelled the world with a captivating storyline, and very calculated gameplay. Justinas “jL” Lekavicius took home the MVP of the event with a 1.22 rating over 18 maps played.
Natus Vincere captures its sixth major after previously winning the PGL Stockholm Major in 2021, and capturing four titles in CS 1.6. The Ukrainian organization is also one of the winningest organizations in the game’s history, with the most appearances at majors (12). Na’Vi will get some much-earned rest over the next few weeks as the teams next official match is scheduled to be ESL Pro League Season 19. Although the new major champions will not be participating, IEM Chengdu is right around the corner with North America being represented by the likes of Team Liquid and Wildcard.
