Hello and welcome to our list of the most memorable moments in competitive e-sports
history.
This was a tough one to narrow down, but we’ve managed to compress over a decade's worth
of incredible moments into these 5 standout events, that truly capture the reasons why
we love pro gaming.
Cypher vs Cooller - Quake - QuakeCon 2010
Cooller had been an icon in the pro Quake scene for just over a decade, before he came
head to head with Cypher, a player 5 years his junior.
The two had sparred a few times before their eventful match at QuakeCon 2010 and Cypher
had been starting to claw back victories from the veteran player.
In possibly their most memorable match, the 2 competed in the final of Quake Live, one
of the few tournaments that Cooller had never won.
After keeping Cypher on his toes for the preceding 4 matches, the final blow came when Cooler
was winning 2 - 1 in the last match of the game, right up until Cypher used some incredible
agility and a well placed frag to turn the tables and steal Cooller’s chances of victory
with
a 3-2 lead.
Team X vs NiP-Gaming - CS:GO - Dreamhack Summer 2013
In this exceptional comeback, Ninjas in Pyjamas found themselves being dominated by Team X
during the CS:GO final of the Dreamhack Summer 2013 tournament.
But, over the course of a 6 round “plant the bomb” match, they slowly started fighting
back, and as the nerves got to Team X, they began to lose their grip on the lead.
In this final edge of your seat moment, Team X’s last man standing has to plant the bomb,
but unfortunately he has 2 NIP players patiently waiting for him to be distracted with the
bomb set up animation, before they move in.
In a last ditch effort and with dwindling options, the last member of Team X makes a
brash, and arguably poorly thought out kamikaze run to finish off NIP’s remaining team mates.
The 2 NIP players swiftly mow him down and take the victory, walking away with a 1st
prize pool of just under $11,000.
The Alliance vs Na’Vi - Dota 2 - The International 2013
The final of The International 2013 is widely considered to be one of the greatest finals
in any Dota tournament.
In the last minute of the match, Team Alliance’s player S4 pulls off a million dollar dream
coil with Puck, when he cancels the teleports of 2 Na’Vi players.
This prevents them from being able to defend against the final push on the Na’Vi base,
which sees The Alliance take the victory.
This win saw The Alliance leave The International with $1,437,190 and earned their place in
the e-sports hall of fame.
This tournament also really raised the bar on how much an e-sports tournament was able
to pay out, and proved that Dota 2 had the financial legs to support itself as a competitive
e-sport.
Daigo Umehara vs Justin Wong – Street Fighter III: Third Strike – EVO World Championships
Finals 2004
The championship final match of EVO World 2014 was a record breaking moment in e-sports.
The live stream had an audience of over 20 million viewers, making it the most watched
competitive gaming moment of all time, even till this day.
Daigo, playing as Ken, creates a historic moment when he pulls victory out of the jaws
of defeat, by escaping a deadly combo from Chun Li and laying his opponent Justin Wong
to rest.
It’s a moment that captures the pure intensity of what we love about competitive gaming.
Axe vs Silent Wolf - Super Smash Bros: Melee - EVO 2014
In this incredible final match between Axe and Silent Wolf, Axe shows us just how unbelievably
skilled he is with Pikachu, by beating Silent Wolf’s Starfox in a 4 stock game in just
under 45 seconds.
We hope you enjoyed our rundown of the greatest moments in pro e-sports.
If you want more from us then don’t forget to like and subscribe, and we’ll see you
next time for more standout moments from the entirety of the gambling world.