The year 2022 is gradually ending, and CS:GO tournaments are also ending. So, it's time to remember the most popular tournaments of the professional scene. Which event became a record number of spectators? Which tournament surprised the audience? You will find the answers to these questions in this article.
BLAST Premier World Final 2022 And the Return Of G2
BLAST Premier World Final 2022 could not gather many viewers: at its peak, 378,262 viewers watched online, and the Etihad Arena held about 18,000 people. It was held from December 14 to 18, and its result surprised all spectators.
The champions became G2 with a new lineup, which no one believed in before this tournament. However, the team was able to earn its first championship, which was the first for the club in 5.5 years. G2 made a comeback with this event.
ESL Pro League Season 15 And the Start of the FaZe vs. NAVI Confrontation
The FaZe vs. NAVI rivalry started with something, and ESL Pro League Season 15 was the first tournament where these two teams faced each other. It was held from March 9 to April 10, and 413,642 viewers watched the NAVI vs. FaZe quarterfinal.
Back then, NAVI lost to FaZe, and European Mix won its second tournament in a row. Only then the community started talking about the dominance of this club.
BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022 and Heroic's First Victory At Tier-1
BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022 was another tournament during the uncertainty and lack of favorites and the gradual return of FaZe. The event took place from November 22 to 27 and gathered 421,711 viewers online and 16,000 people offline.
Heroic won their Tier-1 LAN event for the first time at this tournament at their home stadium. After that, the Danish team became a full-fledged tier-1 club that is fighting for the championship.
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IEM Dallas 2022 And the Victory of Cloud9 In America
IEM Dallas 2022 was supposed to be the first colossal tier-1 tournament in North America in a long time. Unfortunately, not all top teams came to the event, but this did not prevent it from gathering 405,650 viewers on the screens and more than 9,000 people in the hall.
The tournament was remembered as Cloud9's first club victory in a long time. And an important factor was that the American club won at home, and Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne lifted the cup.
ESL Pro League Season 16 And the Triumph of Vitality In the New Lineup
The first large tier-1 tournament of the year's second half was held from August 31 to October 2. There was a little live audience at the event, but 509,732 viewers watched online in full swing.
ESL Pro League Season 16 was a triumph for Vitality, who changed the lineup during the Player Break. Liquid also performed well, but Vitality showed the best game and won their only tournament this year.
BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 and NAVI's Only Victory of the Year
BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 was held from July 15 to 19 and was the first Major event of this year. The final of NAVI vs. Vitality gathered 762,855 viewers on the Internet and 6,000 people in the hall.
The main event of the tournament became the only NAVI championship this year. The club only made a substitution and immediately won against Vitality in the final. This is an important chapter in the confrontation between NaVi and FaZe. Because this is the only major tournament with all teams' participation, FaZe did not win in the year's first half.
IEM Katowice 2022 And the Beginning of FaZe's Dominance
IEM Katowice 2022 was the first full-fledged tier-1 tournament of the season, which took place from February 17 to 27. It was impossible to determine the favorites, so every match drew attention. The final of the event gathered 1,122,015 viewers online and more than 11,000 people in the stadium.
IEM Katowice 2022 marked the beginning of FaZe's dominance. The team encountered several out-of-game issues during the event. Two of their players alternately fell ill with COVID-19, and the team played the final with a stand-in. But that didn't stop FaZe from opening an era of dominance, defeating G2 in the final with a score of 3-0.
IEM Cologne 2022 And the End Of the Confrontation Between NAVI And FaZe
FaZe Clan ended the first half of the year with their superiority
The last tournament of the first half of the year, which took place from July 7to 17, attracted a lot of attention because it ended the history of the brightest confrontation of 2022. The final of IEM Cologne 2022 gathered 1,249,426 spectators on the screens, and another 18,000 people watched it in the stadium.
IEM Cologne marked the end of NAVI vs. FaZe. The teams were the event's favorites and met again in the final. The final turned out to be one of the best this year. The match ended with a 3-2 score in favor of FaZe, who finished the first half of the season with their dominance.
IEM Rio Major 2022 And the Failure Of the Favorites
Outsiders are the most unexpected champions of 2022
The second most popular event was the event that raised the recognition of CS:GO to the limit. It was held from October 31 to November 13 and could not gather as many viewers as PGL Major Antwerp 2022. The most popular match of IEM Rio Major 2022 was NAVI vs. FURIA, which gathered 1,428,993 viewers in peak.
IEM Rio Major 2022 became the loudest tournament - Brazilian fans created a fantastic atmosphere at their teams' matches. It was not for nothing that the spectators appeared from the event's first stage. Jeunesse Arena has a capacity of 18,000 spectators, excluding the lounge area behind the stadium.
The failure of all the favorites made this tournament memorable. FaZe, Liquid, and Vitality were eliminated from the Legends Stage, and NAVI and Cloud9 left the event after the quarterfinals. As a result, IEM Rio Major 2022 became the Major of the underdogs. In the final, the Outsiders met Heroic and won the tournament. Before this final, few could bet on the team.
PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and NAVI vs. FaZe Confrontation
It was the most popular event, which took place from May 9 to 22 and set a record for the number of spectators in peak season this year. During the finals, the tournament was watched by 2,113,610 spectators, which is the second-highest result in the history of CS:GO. Only the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, which took place a year ago, will beat it.
Also, PGL Major Antwerp 2022 became the largest eSports event in history, with 20,000 people in the stadium during the final.
The main event of this tournament was the confrontation between NAVI and FaZe, which was followed throughout the tournament. FaZe Clan was stronger in the final and passed NAVI with a score of 2-0. Then Finn Karrigan Andersen won his first Major. This championship came to him at the age of 32.
2022 was a fantastic year for professional Counter-Strike. Constant competition, a lot of LAN tournaments with the public, and a lot of amazing memories. CS:GO is finally back after COVID-19, and we hope the next year will improve this.
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