Guys who doesn't love a good underdog story.
In esports as with all things, it's hard not to root for the David over the Goliath.
That's why this week we're bringing you the Top 10 Underdog Moments in CS:GO.
Now guys when I say underdog moments, I'm not talking about clutch plays here.
I'm talking about when a dark horse team goes on an improbable tournament run.
I'm talking about when the upstarts take down the favourites.
As for how we ranked the list. Well we looked at the obstacles in each team's way.
We looked at how deep their run went, and yes, we looked at their effect on CS:GO history.
So without further bullshit let's get into it with the Top 10 Underdog Moments in CS:GO.
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Team Liquid themselves put it best: “Rarely are the Liquid boys a favorite, but they can never be ruled out.”
Kicking off this list we have Liquid’s iconic run at ESL One Cologne 2016,
where they made history by becoming the first North American team to reach a Major grand final.
"Team Liquid will eliminate Fnatic. They will be playing in a grand final against SK. What the hell just happened?"
Headed into the tournament, some doubted their chances of even making it to playoffs.
But Liquid never stopped believing.
"If you want to hope for Liquid and the underdog chance, okay we have seen underdogs beat Na'Vi.
With that said though, still very rarely that Na'Vi lose a full best of three series."
(Casting)
"A team who have already made history. By becoming the first ever North American team
to reach a Major Final. But the big question on their shoulders right now, is can they end 10 years of waiting
for a North American Major championship."
In the first ever Americas-only Major final, the
boys in blue were once again the underdogs and it was here that SK Gaming put an end to the dream.
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But which do you remember: the loss, or the run itself?
"The Americans, did so well to get to this point."
From s1mple’s immortalized heavenly play to jdm’s Ace, Liquid showed the world why
one should never count them out.
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CS:GO wasn’t exactly the shooter of choice for China back in 2016, and as a result, the
region was never really part of the conversation in the world of professional CS:GO.
Coming in at number 9, we have TyLoo who were one of the first Chinese teams to fully transition
to the game, making their international debut at DreamHack Masters Malmo 2016.
After an unimpressive showing against Luminosity Gaming, TyLoo were able to take out Team Liquid
to stay alive in the group stage.
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In the decider match for their group, what should have been an easy 2-0 for LG turned
into a slugfest.
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"Tyloo, the complete underdogs of this tournament just taken the first map of a best of three
against Luminosity Gaming here."
TyLoo showed they didn’t just come to play, they came to win, going all the way to eliminate LG from
the tournament.
"And that's it, the Major Champions have been knocked out by one of the biggest underdogs of this
tournament. No one had actually expected them to even get out of the group stages.
Let alone to be knocking these guys out. That's absolutely nuts."
"Like mind blowing. Everything about this match was going the way of LG. The desk said the same.
There's no way we could have predicted it."
And despite losing in the first round of the playoffs, TyLoo put China on the map and shocked
the world with one of the biggest upsets in CS:GO history.
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Team Dignitas may have been contenders but were certainly no favorites to win EPICENTER 2016.
Still, they held their own in the round robin group stage, tying all three matches to make
it out over NiP via round differential.
For our number 8 spot we have Dignitas’ epic run in Moscow at EPICENTER.
After dropping the first map to a struggling Fnatic, Dig’s playoff run looked fated to
end right there and then.
"Fnatic camping it and watching exactly where you're coming from. No hope at all for Dignitas
in the end."
But the Danish team was able to turn things around, moving on to take out Na’Vi in three
maps to meet Virtus.pro in the grand final.
"I don't want to call it early, but I feel like this crowd is going to be on VP's side.
Semmler, we're seeing a lot of Virtus.Pro signs."
Dig came back after being down 0-1, putting a stop to a then surging Polish Plow in dominating fashion.
"The biggest victory to date for this team. Amazing play."
Needless to say, it was a result and a run that no one could have expected.
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Brazilians are some of the most passionate fans you’ll find in all of CS:GO.
So when the ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals took place in São Paulo, it felt like SK Gaming were destined
to take the title.
And despite topping the NA League ladder, C9 were certainly not the team anyone predicted
to challenge them.
At number 7, the boys from NA take on an SK Gaming backed by the entire arena.
After dropping the first map in a close overtime, it seemed like Choke9 all over again.
But C9 were able to defy the crowd and, in the next two maps, eased past
SK on their home turf -- turning the venue into a library.
"Normally the crowd erupts when a team wins a tournament, but it's quite a hollow victory there
considering the atmosphere."
"Besting SK on home soil, there's no sweeter a victory than that."
(Casting)
Ninjas in Pyjamas may have always been a household name in CS:GO but few outside of the CIS region
had ever heard of Vega Squadron.
So for our number 6 spot, when these two teams squared up at the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017
qualifier, on a map the Ninjas were known to perform on, Vega’s chances were -- quite
simply -- written off.
"And of their maps was Cache, that was their best map they became known-"
But a CIS team upsetting against NiP wasn’t unheard of.
Some even joked that NiP should be worried about facing Vega. They were right.
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"Four of the NiP players had been at every single Major in the history of Counter-Strike."
In the end while Vega didn’t make it to the Major, their win on Cache meant that for
the first time in CS:GO history, NiP would not be attending a Major championship.
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“I am not going to give up before I win a motherfucking major.”
These words from veteran in-game leader Zeus would turn out to be prophetic a year after
he tweeted them, with an unlikely team backing him. Gambit esports.
It was at the PGL Major Krakow 2017 that the Cinderella story would take shape for our fifth spot on this list.
No one expected this CIS roster to contend for a Major championship, let alone go the
distance and win one.
It was Zeus and Gambit versus the world.
Gambit’s round robin score was impressive, but it was the semis where they’d face Astralis
in the hardest match of their careers.
"Very much looking forward to this one, this is the biggest test maybe for Gambit, of their career."
(Casting)
The grand finals saw underdog against underdog with the unexpected matchup of Gambit against
Immortals, but it was Zeus, Dosia, h0bbit, Adren and mou who would triumph.
"An unlikely final but worth of every round. What a performance from all 10 players."
"Guys I just want to say that. Just believe your dream, follow your dream, and just work a lot."
"Thank you guys, thank you a lot."
(Casting)
Some teams have that special place where, no matter how badly they’re doing elsewhere,
they just always seem to step up and perform.
For Ninjas in Pyjamas, that place is Oakland and for our fourth spot on the list we have
a serious case of NiP Magic.
Towards the end of 2016, NiP’s performance was… questionable.
SK Gaming on the other hand were at the top of the world.
But even after going down 16-4 in the first map of the IEM grand final against the Brazilians,
the Ninjas pulled through in spectacular fashion.
"NiP will take down SK on the return of Pyth."
2017 was another year of lacklustre performance for NiP.
In spite of that, the Swedes managed to find their way back to the grand final at IEM Oakland 2017.
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"The defending champions have done it what a performance there."
In a final that gave us all a sense of deja vu, NiP found themselves in an unfavorable
matchup against another top team, FaZe Clan.
After an absolute marathon of a series, Ninjas in Pyjamas successfully defended their Oakland
title, making them unlikely but loveable two-time champs.
"A best of five, against the best in the world. And NiP go back to back in Oakland."
"On this stage last year, on this stage again."
"With Threat on board, and this man to carry them NiP!"
"NiP returning to take the world on in Counter-Strike. They fell from grace, but they do return and they
return in full force."
(Casting)
Although the now decorated Brazilian core of FalleN, Coldzera and Fer is one of the
most successful in Counter-Strike history, it wasn’t always so.
There was a time when the legends had to prove themselves, and that’s exactly what they
did in our number three entry.
"And Luminosity will find themselves in the grand finals against Na'Vi."
Luminosity Gaming were on the rise at the start of 2016 and people were starting to notice Brazilian CS.
But in the past the Ukrainian squad had often come out on top.
So when the boys from Brazil faced off against the back-to-back Major finalists, Na’Vi
seemed destined to finally win their first Major title at MLG Columbus and deny LG.
With wins over Virtus Pro and Team Liquid to reach the final, many thought that that
would be the end of their tale, but after a close overtime on their map pick Mirage,
LG managed to edge out the win.
"Picking it up and Luminosity winning on Mirage."
It was then, on Na’Vi’s map pick Overpass, that the Brazilians would truly show their dominance.
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"And it's Luminosity winning their first Major championship!"
Luminosity made history by becoming the first non-European major champions and after a rebrand
shortly after, they would go on to win the next CS:GO Major establishing an era of Brazilian dominance.
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Taking the runner up spot on our list is The ELEAGUE Season 2 Grand Final
which was truly a David versus Goliath scenario.
OpTic versus Astralis.
Nobody believed that OpTic would even make it to the final.
Even after taking down Fnatic to qualify for the playoffs, the NA team was frankly a non factor.
"FaZe is gonna beat OpTic tonight. Personally I think we should beat OpTic everyday in the week."
"I think the semifinal could be easy for us."
A win over fellow underdogs Mousesports was within reason.
Defeating FaZe Clan could have been a fluke.
"OpTic secured the spot over their long time rivals FaZe Clan for the grand finals up against Astralis
the Danish team it's happening."
But against Astralis, surely, OpTic had no chance.
Right?
Wrong.
After falling to the Danes on Train, Rush, NAF and the rest of the NA squad shocked the
CS:GO world when they did the impossible and beat the future Major champions over the next two maps.
"Ladies and gentlemen OpTic Gaming, your winners of ELEAGUE Season 2."
"I am just blown away. A mixed group and a really determined one as well."
"The support was here, you see the owner of OpTic right in front cheering the whole way through."
"This is a cinderella story like we've almost never seen it before."
(Casting)
I still can’t believe this one.
Can anyone?
Picking up the torch that Liquid left behind, Cloud9 made it to the ELEAGUE Boston Major
grand finals and claimed a championship for North America on home soil.
The first ever -- and first on our list of CS:GO underdog moments.
"That is the most insane way, to win a Major."
"It could hardly have been more difficult, they weren't the favourites, they were the underdogs.
They were the heavy underdogs. But they did it for North America. Skadoodle's won the Major!"
After immediately going down 0-2 in the New Legends Stage, Cloud9 had to win three consecutive
matches keep their Major dreams alive.
Squeezing into the playoffs, the NA team made their way through to the Grand Final with
wins over the French Super Team G2 Esports and Brazilian rivals SK Gaming.
"And Cloud9 are in the grand finals of a Major tournament, nobody saw this coming."
The final boss FaZe Clan awaited them.
"The juggernauts of the game. FaZe Clan."
It’s hard to exaggerate just how incredibly favoured FaZe was in this matchup.
But Cloud9’s fans never stopped believing, and North America’s heroes would not let their story end there.
Even after a close defeat on Mirage, C9 defied the Choke9 curse and caught up by winning
Overpass, taking it to a deciding map of Inferno.
"Boston make some noise in this bitch!"
And every single fan of NA CS should know what happened next.
(Casting)
"I'm not crying, you're crying, stop."
Well guys that's our list. Now look if you do disagree with it, and you decide to post a well-written, well-thought-out
grammatically correct argument in the comments section. Well you're the real underdog.
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