One of the first games that comes to mind when you say esports is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It has been a game that has always been the centre of attention of esports lovers with magnificent tournaments held across the world.
Thousands of tournaments were held. Dozens of them had a prize pool of more than a million dollars. Today we will look at the 5 CS:GO tournaments with the highest prize pools.
5. ELEAGUE Season 2
At the beginning of our list, we go back five years. If you've been following CS:GO since then, there's no way you've forgotten. The offline tournament held in Atlanta, United States was one of the most legendary CS:GO tournaments. Those who do not remember those times may not be able to guess who the champion was. Back then, there was a CS:GO team called OpTic Gaming. They were the champions of the tournament. It had been quite a competitive tournament. Despite being second in their group, OpTic Gaming had made it to the finals. Although they fell behind against Astralis in the final, they became champions by winning consecutively on two maps. With this win, they won the grand prize of $400,000.
Champion: OpTic Gaming
Prize pool: $1,100,000
Date: 21/10/2016 - 03/12/2016
4. ELEAGUE Season 1
The fourth tournament on our list is another ELEAGUE tournament. It was a tournament held a few months before Season 2. In the tournament where CS:GO's leading twenty-four teams took part, the audience had unforgettable moments. In the tournament, which witnessed spectacular matches, Virtus.pro did not start well at the beginning, but later started to play great and their 2-0 victory against Fnatic brought them the championship. Virtus.pro enchanted the audience with their performance in the finals.
Champion: Virtus.pro
Prize pool: $1,400,000
Date: 24/05/2016 - 30/07/2016
3. World Electronic Sports Games 2017
The next tournament is from China. Although some very important CS:GO teams did not take part in this tournament, there were many familiar teams. In fact, the champion of the tournament was Fnatic, which we know very well. Fnatic had a great performance overall in this tournament. They continued this performance until the final. In the final, they defeated the Turkish team Space Soldiers, who disbanded in 2018, 2-1. With this win, they also won the huge prize of $800,000.
Champion: Fnatic
Prize pool: $1,500,000
Date: 13/03/2018 - 18/03/2018
2. World Electronic Sports Games 2016
In the second place of our list, we have World Electronic Sports Games 2016. I say second place, but actually the prize pool is the same as the third place WESG 2017. At the World Electronic Sports Games 2016, also held in China, a total of 23 teams had a fierce battle for the $1,500,000 prize pool. The winner was Team Envy, which would later disband in 2021. When they won the tournament their name was Team EnVyUs. Team EnVyUs, which finished first in their group, had a hard time against TYLOO in the quarterfinals and Space Soldiers in the semifinals, but won the championship by beating Team Kinguin 2-0 in the final. It was surprising that the round with the least difficulty for Team EnVyUs was the grand finals.
Champion: Team EnVyUs
Prize pool: $1,500,000
Date: 12/01/2017 - 15/01/2017
1. PGL Major Stockholm 2021
At the top of the list is PGL Major Stockholm 2021, which was held this year and ended a month and a half ago. A CS:GO major was held after a long time, and the hype was skyrocketing. In the tournament that included twenty-four teams, NAVI, the most successful team of recent times, became the champion. Having had an extremely comfortable tournament, NAVI won $1,000,000, the highest prize ever by a CS:GO team in a single tournament. As if it wasn't enough that they completed the New Legends Stage 3-0, they later defeated Team Vitality in the quarterfinals, Gambit Esports in the semifinals, and G2 Esports 2-0 in the final. Kudos to anyone who can stop NAVI.
Champion: NAVI
Prize pool: $2,000,000
Date: 26/10/2021 - 07/11/2021
We've come to the end of our list of five great tournaments, but the tournaments don't end in CS:GO. You can watch and bet on the ongoing BLAST Premier: World Final 2021 on Luckbox.
