The CS:GO Major Championships evolved over the last decade from a humble tournament to one of the grandest spectacles in all of esports. With production values always so high, and prestige even higher. All in all, there were 19 Majors held in CS:GO, with tournament locations ranging from Germany to Sweden, Denmark, the United States, and Poland among others. The last-ever CS:GO Major, BLAST.tv Paris 2023, was held in the French capital and played host to one of the most captivating events in professional Counter-Strike following the end of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Bracket and Format
The Paris Major bracket featured the same structure that had become standard for the previous five years. In the beginning, there were sixteen teams competing for eight slots in the next Legends stage in the Challengers Stage. These teams were classified as either “Challengers” or “Contenders” according to how they placed in respective Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournaments. The top eight in the Legends Stage of the Major advanced to the knockout stage in front of a crowded Accor Arena in the all-or-nothing playoff bracket. The Challengers and Legends stages of the Paris Major followed a Swiss format, with three wins guaranteeing a place in the following round of matches and three losses sending a team home.
From the quarterfinals to the grand final, the knockout round followed a single elimination best-of-three format. With Valve implementing new matchup and seeding criteria for the first Counter-Strike 2 Major in Denmark, this format—which had been the standard for a while—would be the last to use it.
What Happened In The Last CSGO Major?
The Paris Major was a story of underdogs rising and fallen giants. Fan favorites like ENCE and G2 were eliminated early, while lesser-known teams like GamerLegion and Monte surprised audiences with their stellar performances. Natus Vincere, a Major finalist on multiple occasions, fell short in the very last matchday of the Legends Stage, marking a bittersweet end for their legendary core.
The Paris Major was decided on May 21, 2023, between Vitality and GamerLegion. Vitality were coming off a dominant run of form in front of the organization’s home fans, spearheaded by veteran in-game leader Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. GamerLegion, on the other hand, were looking to complete a fairytale run in the tournament and pull off what would be the greatest upset in the history of CS:GO Majors.
Vitality, however, proved too strong. Their coordinated plays and unwavering focus secured them a convincing 2-0 victory, etching their names in Major history. A dominant performance in the first map, Overpass, and a closer but still manageable display in the second map, Nuke, took it home for the European mixteam and granted ZywOo, also known as one of the game’s greatest prodigies, his first-ever Major championship and an HLTV MVP to go with it.
Lotan “Spinx” Giladi and ZywOo both won their first Major titles, apEX claimed the second of his career, Emil “Magisk” Reif bumped his tally up to four, and as a member of Vitality, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen finally eclipsed his Astralis teammates from a dynasty many years before with the fifth CS:GO Major of his entire career – standing alone atop the professional world.
The Paris Major wasn’t just the end of an era; it marked a new beginning. The anticipation of Counter-Strike 2 during the Major fueled excitement for the future of the franchise. With a revamped engine, updated maps, and weapon balance adjustments, CS:GO players eagerly awaited the next chapter. And now, the very world we all awaited is finally the reality.