8 Best CS:GO Matches in Esports History

CS:GO tournaments always gathered the attention of gamers around the world. Sometimes they count literally millions of viewers at the peak. However, not all matches bring the same level of entertainment and enjoyment. Therefore, let's recall the best moments in Counter-Strike that are worth your attention. 

In this article, we will look at 8 of the most outstanding matches in CS:GO. Some became popular because of their unpredictability, others because people had waited long for their favorite team to win, but all of them have their "historical" impact on the CS:GO world. 

Let’s dive in!

8. FaZe vs. NAVI 

And we will start our top of the best CS:GO matches in esports with one of the games of NAVI on PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Although these guys regularly showed a good game, that time, they failed to conquer the Major. It was a very fierce struggle on the first map, which decided the fate of the whole match. The FaZe team was at that moment both in the best shape and more stable in the moral component. And, by their gameplay, it seemed like rain and karrigan really wanted that cup. As a result, the final ended with a score of 2:0 in favor of FaZe.

7. Heroic vs. Vitality

This match in the DreamHack Fall 2020 tournament had a lot of significant moments. For example, how Niko took away a score from Vitality by killing four CT players alone or 5 headshots from TeSeS. The latter eventually issued a highlight reel worthy of a VAC ban on the final map. He took Vitality's exit on point A, taking out four Frenchmen with an AK-47 trigger pull. And no, they didn't come out in a line.

 6. NAVI vs. FURIA

The semifinal during the Brazilian IEM Rio Major 2022 ended with a victory for FURIA. The honorable sixth player of the team was the Brazilian public, which cheered their team to move forward. For many fans, the defeat of NAVI was quite a surprise. It seems that their players simply could not cope with the pressure.

5. Luminosity Gaming vs. Team Liquid

Legendary semifinal of MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016 is undoubtedly one of the best CS:GO matches of all time. It was the first major in North America and hopes for Team Liquid were high in the country, as they had impressive results in previous games of the tournament. The team also had a young talent in the person of Alexander s1mple Kostylev. 

Therefore, no one was surprised when in the first game at Mirage, they achieved a 15:9 advantage. Only one round was missing before the victory, and the spectators had no doubt that Liquid's attack on point B would finish the game. But the round proved to be fatal. The hopes of Liquid players and their joyful fans in the stadium were crushed by Marcelo coldzera David and his AWP. LG went on a 23-1 winning streak and won the match, giving the fans something to discuss for years.

4. Team Envy vs. G2 Esports

If you remember the Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca 2015 semifinals, you can be considered a true CS:GO veteran. KennyS, apEX, and NBK were playing for Team EnVyUs back then. It was a bad match-up for G2 Esports. The series started with their surprise victory on the first map. On the next map, Inferno, G2 Esports were head-to-head with the Envy but lost in the overtime 25-21. Nevertheless, G2 fought fiercely and proved they could not only get frags but also seriously think strategically.

3. Astralis vs. Virtus.pro

Let’s also recall the final of The ELEAGUE Major 2017. Back there, two T1 heavyweights took the stage in Atlanta. The end of that game was the most memorable that year. 

The boat teams won 1 map, and the last one was Train, a classic for Polish veterans. It seemed that this time, they would defeat their opponent, and it seemed so until the 21st round. Virtus.pro was leading 13:7 for defense (which is considered easier on Train), and then Andreas Xyp9x Hoyslet won the duel with an accurate headshot from Tec-9. Astralis won the round it needed to break Virtus.pro's winning streak and won that match.

2. Cloud9 vs. FaZe Clan

The final of ELEAGUE Major 2018 was one of the best CS:GO matches ever staged. This grand final is worthy of a best-of list for its atmosphere alone. But there was so much more to it than that. 

It is worth mentioning that Cloud9 had one of the best players on their team at the moment — olof, guardian, Niko, and rain. Therefore, it was quite a surprise for everybody when FaZe won the first game with the score of 16:14. The second map was Overpass, where Cloud9 performed brilliantly in defense and came to the second half with the score of 12:3. However, the climax came when Skadoodle took down GuardiaN with a sniper shot, paving the path to the win streak, and made his team the first major champion from the USA. 

1. G2 vs. NAVI

We started this list of the top most legendary CS:GO matches in history with NAVI, and we will end it with them. PGL Major Stockholm — Grand Final 2021 became the most-watched event for a reason, gathering 2.748.434 viewers at the peak. People were very hungry for good CS, as such a big event was the first since the Pandemic and online era. Moreover, the win was long-awaited for NAVI after many failures in the finals. A lot of time passed after the tournament and many rounds were forgotten, but NiKo's miss at 15:12 will be remembered by many for a long time, as well as this game will be remembered as the best CS:GO match. 

Summary

So that was our top of the best matches in CS:GO gaming history. Of course, the professional scene knew other great fights, but we chose these as the most epic ones. If you're curious about the teams that have consistently dominated the scene, check out our list of the best csgo teams of all time. Cheer for your favorite teams, enjoy the game, and get good to become a part of such a top list in the future.

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