Very few people remember but Majors were hosted for the first time in CS:GO and then, Dota 2 took this idea. Now, we are between the fourteenth and fifteenth Major tournament.

Two CS:GO Major tournaments were scheduled to be hosted this year. One of them has already been hosted and brought a lot of positive emotions to esports fans. Katowice Major 2019 took place in a small Polish town Katowice and gathered the best teams in the discipline.

Hosting of the second Major 2019 was entrusted to the Ukrainian company StarLadder and its long-term partner, the Chinese company Imba TV.

What was going on between two Majors? How did the favorites of competitions change and what surprises were made by cross-Major tournaments?

World Electronic Sports Games 2018

  • Dates: 11.03.2019 – 17.03.2019
  • A venue: Chongqing, China
  • A prize pool: $890,000

World Electronic Sports Games is China’s effort to become an innovator in the world of the esports, consisting of using the format of national teams just like in such popular sports like football, basketball, and hockey. Having collected a crazy prize pool by the standards of CS:GO, especially considering a specific experimental format, the Chinese made strong players of the world accept their rules. Of course, teams with mono-national roster have an advantage, for example, such teams as MIBR. Unfortunately, this tournament is uncomfortable for CIS teams, results of the last years reflect this. Both Team Ukraine and Team Russia left the tournament at the round of sixteen. A mono-national roster is a reason for the low popularity of the tournament among esports fans. That’s why very few people know the winners of the tournament, if not heard about them. Judge for yourself, the Bulgarian team Windigo Gaming became the owner of the main prize of half a million dollars, having defeated AGO Esports in the final, which earned a consolation of $200,000.

The majority of modern esports specialists consider for a reason that the tournament has no future and it will not pay off in any case. Well, it seems that the Chinese don’t think so.

StarSeries & i-League Season 7

  • Dates: 30.03.2019 – 7.04.2019
  • A venue: Shanghai, China
  • A prize pool: $500,000

And here is China again but in a traditional for all fans CS:GO format. Sixteen teams were fighting for the right to hold a title of the winner of the tournament and to earn a quarter of a million dollars. The lineup of the tournament can’t be called weak. There were the French from Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and NRG. However, old opponents, two legendary CS:GO and esports teams, Fnatic and NaVi faced in the final. The Ukrainians managed to destroy the Swedish roster and to confirm the status of the favorite of the tournament.   

IEM season XIV – Sydney

  • Dates: 30.04.2019 – 5.05.2019
  • A venue: Sydney, Australia
  • A prize pool: $250,000

The beginning of the hegemony of Team Liquid – that’s how the Australian tournament can be summed up. After the victory over Fnatic, despite it was very difficult (3-2), Liquid was maximally close to one million dollars, which was promised to the winner of four out of ten ESL and DreamHack tournaments with a prize pool of not less than $250,000. Team Liquid was confidently passing the tournament, having placed first in its group and destroyed Ninjas in Pyjamas in a semi-final with a score 3-0. It was way more difficult for the Swedish finalist because due to advancement to the playoffs from the third place in a group, they had to play one more match. Having defeated their countrymen Ninjas in Pyjamas and then the American NRG, Fnatic gave a solid fight to Team Liquid, however, the luck was on the last one’s side. As a result, Liquid earned $100,000 of grabs and one more point on its way to a million dollars.

Dream Hack Masters Dallas 2019

  • Dates: 28.05.2019 – 2.06.2019
  • A venue: Dallas, the USA
  • A prize pool: $250,000

Every year, DreamHack hosts a series, which includes two tournaments in various cities all over the world. The organizers preferred the European cities (Marseille and Stockholm) last year but the main city of the Texas state became the first city this year. In the absence of the Danish team Astralis, Team Liquid won the tournament without problems, having earned $100,000 of winnings. Having faced the Scandinavian team, the Finnish ENCE, Liquid managed to add one more title to their titles.

ESL One Cologne 2019

  • Dates: 2.07.2019 – 7.07.2019
  • A venue: Cologne, Germany
  • A prize pool: $300,000

Cologne is certainly some kind of “a holy city” for esports fans like the ancient Greek Olympia, in which Olympian games started. Many memorable world esports events are hosted there and many historical events took place there. For example, the first Dota 2 The International was carried out in Cologne.

Something great in terms of CS:GO had to happen in this city this time. Team Liquid would have won its fourth ESL and Dreamhack tournament or would have been stopped by someone. We could hardly believe in the second option of events, considering Liquid’s play. But if we had believed, this miracle would have been made only by the legendary Astralis. As a result, the deserved victory by Team Liquid, having beaten … the French team Vitality in the final. Finally, besides the main prize, Team Liquid takes a significant prize and a title of the main favorite before the future Major in Berlin.

What about Astralis? The team disappointed seriously and, despite it had won the first Major in Katowice, it has to improve its teamplay seriously to have chances on something serious at the tournament in the capital of Germany. We will see what happens next… And cheer for our favorite teams at the tournament, which will be hosted very soon.