From the fjords of Scandinavia rises a relatively new team that’s slowly taking over the European CS:GO esports scene like a storm.
Copenhagen Flames, who are they, how come they came out first from the PGL Major Antwerp 2022: European RMR B, let’s take a look at their recent history.
Copenhagen Flames’ first Major
Daniel Vorborg, the Copenhagen Flames' co-owner and interim coach, has set a goal for his club to be one of the top 20 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world by the end of the year. It was a long - term objective, but the crew felt confident they could do it and indeed they did, just a month and a half later they were ranked 19th on HLTV’s legendary world rankings. Even he was surprised by this extraordinary achievement.
The Copenhagen Flames reached the milestone thanks to IEM Fall in 2021. The Flames cruised through the group stage with a 5-0 record, defeating better renowned teams like G2 Esports, BIG. Even though the squad was confident in their talents, the outcomes surprised them.
While it's simple to point to the IEM Fall’s best-of-one format and argue that it helped the underdog team beat some of its opponents. But this happened five times consecutively, now that’s talent and practice combined.
Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen said in an interview to HLTV after their Major debut:
“I feel like it helped us to some extent, but I wouldn’t say it would’ve been impossible for us to go 5-0 even in a best-of-three format,”. “When it comes to the toughest scenarios for underdog teams, like mid-round scenarios where you have to think and make a decision in a split second, I still feel like we are pretty much at the same level as the other teams.”
At the Major's doorstep
With the group stage completed and the playoffs secured, the Flames believed they had all but won a berth in the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The Flames waited in anticipation. The major was well within striking distance but not yet certain.
Still, for a team of gamers that arrived unaware that they were at an RMR event, they couldn't expect much more than a spot in the most renowned tournament in CS:GO. They discovered that they only need to survive a bit more to secure their place at last year’s Stockholm:
To qualify for the Stockholm Major, the team just required one Bo3 victory.
Their first opponent was Vitality, one of the globe's strongest teams. Despite a competitive game, the Flames were defeated 2-0. Their next opponent was the Movistar Riders, another underdog team creating a name for themselves in the event with a young group. Yet the collapse of morale can be felt this time and Copenhagen Flames were defeated 2-0 once more.
The Flames, who had been building momentum after thinking they'd qualified for the majors only days before, were suddenly up against it. Their last opponent was the Bulgarian Team Fiend, and the winner would advance to the main. They had to give it all to keep their extraordinary breakthrough a real thing for the CS:GO history.
The opening map was won by the Flames. Inferno, the second map, was a back-and-forth massacre. After four overtime games in a row, the Flames won the game thanks to a nice clutch play by veteran roeJ. The teams played a total of 88 rounds in just two games.The Copenhagen Flames had officially secured their stickers, immortalising the club in CS:GO esports scene and assuring a large monetary prize for the players.
The Copenhagen Flames rejoiced. Organisation as well as every single player on the roster were heading to their first big tournament.
Fast forward to PGL Major Antwerp 2022: Legends Stage
The team, along with BIG, is the only Legend outside of the top 10 in HLTV's global rankings.
Something about RMR events seemed to be catapulting the Copenhagen Flames to unprecedented level. Their performance in the Intel Extreme Masters Fall RMR prior of the PGL Major Stockholm 2021 catapulted them into the global spotlight. The squad played excellently at the major, but ultimately fell short in the decisive playoffs qualifying match to none other than NiP only to take their revenge in PGL RMR.
They came out on top in PGL’s Major Antwerp 2022 European RMRs. Beating their every single opponent with ease, and ending their RMR run by defeating the legendary NIP roster 2-0 this time, without breaking much sweat, earning $42,500 and the Legend Status at the end. They will compete in the Legends Stage of the Major starting next week.
CPHF is what can be called the indigo child of the CS:GO esports scene and unprecedented in their synergy for such a newly formed team on its own, and their extraordinarily fast reach for the skies.
Make sure to keep an eye out for them in their Antwerp journey next week.
