“We were down 13-2, and said okay, now is the chance to try it out."
”It was a dirty trick in my opinion"
"It's definitely not fair, it should probably be removed."
"It's just shameless of them."
"Definitely can't just go unquestioned."
"This isn't right."
"The problem is, you're never gonna get another boost that is that OP but also wins you the whole map."
What if you had a secret strategy that was so unprecedented,
so dominant, that using it might not be worth it?
"Honestly I am genuinely speechless, it's made me so upset."
When you finally used it, how would you feel?
"I mean the map is called 'Olofpass' for a reason."
Counter-Strike has always been a strategic game.
But those strategies also evolve, even on maps that have been around forever.
(Casting)
But the boost that Fnatic used at DreamHack 2014
on Overpass was different.
"It's not an exploit really, it's just a broken map apparently and no one knew until now."
And the lead-up to it didn’t help matters.
"We had a major issue in Counter-Strike with some cheating, not only cheating accusations that are running
rampant. But obviously we did have several top players get VAC banned."
"We need to talk about Flusha."
"I know that a couple of my teammates are convinced, they think they cheat."
"I do not think Flusha cheats, But I think maybe in the past he might have."
"Is Flusha aimbotting?"
"Flusha's not aimboting."
"Oh my god you're such a f***ing sellout I thought you were the coolest dude in the world."
None of Fnatic's players had been banned, they had their fans but they had even more detractors.
It’s always easy to hate on the top dog, and Fnatic was the best CS:GO team in the world heading into
Dreamhack Winter.
But once they got there, things didn’t go so smoothly.
(Casting)
They only got the second seed.
And their quarterfinal matchup saw them face off against LDLC, the French powerhouse that
was considered second-best in the world at the time.
(Casting)
LDLC took the first map, Dust2.
Marking the first time they took a game one off this Fnatic roster.
But Fnatic fired back with a statement victory on Cache to even the series.
The deciding map was Overpass.
(Casting)
Overpass is considered a CT sided map, and Fnatic lost their first T side half dramatically 12-3.
"It is really terrifying at the moment here."
"Pistol round means everything otherwise Fnatic could end up crashing out of this quarterfinals essentially
in the final map."
"That would be a devastating result for them obviously on home turf here."
This is when Fnatic finally deployed the boost.
(Casting)
The triple boost allowed Fnatic to see a huge portion of the map from the CT spawn.
And though they used it in the pistol round for information, they had lost that too.
(Casting)
Even though Fnatic had the boost available, they were running out of time.
After the pistol round, LDLC only needed three more rounds to win the series.
Fnatic had enough money to buy a Scout, and in Olofmeister's hands, from the boost position.
That had to be enough.
(Casting)
The secret strategy immediately reshaped the landscape of the map.
LDLC just couldn't figure it out.
(Casting)
Even when LDLC managed to get on a site and out of Olof's sight line.
Fnatic managed to hold on.
(Casting)
They tried rushing the A bomb site to push in before the boost could get any work done. But that failed too.
(Casting)
At 13-13, a broken LDLC finally called a timeout to see if they could figure out a counter strategy.
But it wasn't enough.
While LDLC eventually figured out where Olofmeister was firing from,
they never managed to eliminate the threat he posed.
(Casting)
The boost gave Fnatic the win. It was their ace in the hole in the purest sense.
(Casting)
After the win, Fnatic’s coach Devilwalk said in an interview that he believed the
better team had won.
"I mean I feel sorry for the LDLC guys cause they played an amazing match.
They played better than we actually did, but we had more knowledge about the map, so we won because of that."
While Fnatic certainly had their fans, especially in Sweden, they had their detractors too.
And after the boost, which had proven so dominant, the backlash worsened.
"It was such a low, low point. I have had much hate through my whole career pretty much in CS:GO.
But this, this thing was so much at the same time.
And it was very, very hard for me as well as the others."
The DreamHack admins, looking at the boost, tried to figure out if something about it was illegal.
And fans on social media pointed to an old 2013 DreamHack rulebook
that prohibited so-called pixel boosts.
This would have applied in 2013, except the current rules didn't prohibit those kinds of boosts.
"The rules that has been pasted on a lot of social medias, is actually DreamHack Summer 2013 rules.
So those rules has not been the rules in the tournament.
The tournament rules has been delivered to all the teams in advance of the tournament.
And in that rule there is no... Pixelboosting is okay."
The initial call from admins was to replay the second half of overpass the next day,
But the decision was debatable.
"It's not an exploit, it's in the rules that you can use this boost it's not considered an exploit.
It's clever use of mechanics."
They discovered that two aspects of the boost Fnatic used were illegal.
But also that a boost that LDLC had used in the first half was also illegal.
"After hours of demo review, they found that both Smithzz's and Olofmeister's boost
took advantage or were subject to this one texture bug that could be applied to both of them.
And so they'd found their way to just say both of you are at fault actually, and so we'll replay."
The exact nature of the discussion that followed between the two teams is still unclear.
Thorin claims that LDLC refused to even replay the second half.
But the result that fans got wasn’t a replay at all.
"Fnatic has forfeit the match against LDLC.
So this is final and LDLC is through, they're gonna face off against Na'Vi at 4:30."
Even though both teams used boosts that turned out to be illegal, it was Fnatic who were made out to be villains.
The community decided that they weren’t geniuses for their discovery — they were evil masterminds.
"It's just shameless of them. They're just a top team, who doesn't need to do exactly like bug using
in order to win and it was unnecessary and they should replay it."
In the immediate aftermath of the event, the team wasn’t exactly having a good time.
"Let's say it was more than half of the team that wanted to quit."
Several members of the team considered just quitting.
They weren’t really known for CS before GO, and now firmly cast as the villains, they were outsiders.
"But they understand it was way worse for Krimz and Olof. They were coming in, being new to the top scene.
Being praised by everyone and then suddenly in one game they're hated by the majority.
So I think it was hardest for them."
But in the end, Fnatic stuck it out.
And CS history is all the better for it.
In 2015, the same roster went on to win two of that year’s three Majors,
and Fnatic had become the only organization with three CS:GO majors to their name.
The lineup is one of CS:GO's truly legendary rosters driven by a desire to prove their
haters wrong, and make history.
"Fnatic are indeed your ESL One Cologne 2015 champions! Winning back to back ESL events
But of course more importantly winning back to back Majors. Now three major titles in their trophy case."
The boost itself also stands out.
Today, it’s hard to imagine that a boost so powerful could ever be discovered and then
somehow kept secret for months until it could be pulled out in a major tournament.
What’s even more unbelievable is that Fnatic used it against their toughest opponent,
when everything was on the line, and it worked as well as it did.
(Casting)
Now immortalized in graffiti on Overpass, the Olofboost is a reminder of the power of ingenuity,
the pressure faced by esports athletes, and the grey area between what's possible
and what's acceptable.