2022 was a year full of beautiful, varied stories in the CS:GO scene.
In the first half of the year, FaZe Clan reigned supreme and steered some kind of era after their four big event wins–IEM Katowice 2022, ESL Pro League Season 15, PGL Antwerp CS:GO Major and IEM Cologne 2022. In two of the latter events, they had to take down another star-heavy team in the grand finals, Natus Vincere, who were the most dominating force in Counter-Strike in 2021.
Besides that, there were a lot of Cinderella and heartwarming stories all around. Heroic finally broke their LAN curse and claimed a significant offline title by winning BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2022. North American Counter-Strike returned to top-tier competition with Team Liquid solving a lot of their problems and having a few deep runs here and there. Brazil finally got its first Major after the 2020 one was canceled due to the pandemic. And a lot of top-tier teams kept the game competitive by always bringing a challenge in the most pivotal tournaments around the world.
Still, there are a few storylines that didn’t come to fruition this year, though, that a lot of fans had high hopes for. And while nothing stands in the way of them finally coming true in 2023, it’s a shame that we couldn’t see them unveil in the last 12 months.
Here are a few storylines we wish had come true in CS:GO in 2022.
FaZe secure the fourth season of Intel Grand Slam
FaZe won three big events organized by ESL in the first half of the year, becoming just one trophy away from claiming the fourth season of the Intel Grand Slam. Doing so would enrich them for $1,000,000, and more importantly, allow them to write history as the fourth team to complete this achievement. With the last event of the first half of the year being IEM Cologne 2022, the international squad needed to win either Rio Major or ESL Pro League Season 16 in the remainder of the year.
Unfortunately for the team, FaZe lost their steam and fell short. In EPL, they were defeated in the quarterfinals by Cloud9, while in the Brazilian Major they became the first defending Major champions to go 0-3 in the next one.
Not all is lost for Karrigan and crew, as they still have four more shots at winning the IGS, with their first chance being IEM Katowice 2023. Still, them securing that feat this year would be the perfect icing on the cake of their short yet dominating era this year.
FURIA make Brazilian wishes come true by hoisting IEM Rio Major trophy
The IEM CS:GO Rio Major 2022 was a dream come true for passionate Brazilian fans and their home teams in the form of Imperial Esports, 00 Nation, and FURIA. And while the first two failed to surpass expectations and bombed out in the Challengers Stage, KSCERATO and his crew electrified the crowd by going all the way to the semifinals.
When the Brazilian teams were playing on stage in Rio de Janeiro’s Riocentre and Jeunesse Arena, the crowd support was loud and energetic like never before in CS:GO’s history. The Brazilian national anthem, soccer-like hyping songs, excitement all around, and more were present during FURIA’s games. And while the event certainly made history, having a Brazilian team hoist the trophy on their home turf would be a cherry on top of an already great tournament. For now, though, it remains a fantasy.
Liquid put NA back on the map with a tournament win
The North American Counter-Strike scene has been in pretty bad shape for a few years now. Since the start of COVID-19 pandemic and the division of online tournaments for Europe and NA, the North American teams were left behind. Once the LAN events returned, it was hard for them to catch up; however, after many efforts it seems like Liquid is finally doing so.
The North American team brought in YEKINDAR as a stand-in for IEM Cologne 2022 originally. But after a miraculous quarterfinal run in Germany and second-place finishes in ESL Pro League Season 16 and BLAST Premier World Finals 2022, the Latvian was signed as a full-time member. Since he became a part of the roster, Liquid have once again become a formidable opponent in the scene for the first time since their short dominant era in 2019. Once again they aren’t traveling to events just to fill in the North American slot, but are also putting up decent fights. Securing a trophy would cement them and the region as worthy of respect once more.
Astralis return to glory
Astralis were once the dominating force in CS:GO. The Danes were simply outstanding in 2018 and 2019, where they won almost every event, completing arguably the greatest era in the history of Counter-Strike. After Counter-Strike returned to offline events in the second half of 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic, Astralis were only echoes of themselves.
The legendary roster was broken, with only Xyp9x and gla1ve remaining in the organization. Still, with some fresh firepower in the form of BlameF and k0nfig, good results were within their grasp, at least on paper. However, last year wasn’t strewn with successes for Astralis, as they struggled in many events. The team didn’t even make the IEM CS:GO Rio Major, which was the first Major that the organization missed in its history.
Due to Astralis’ dominant nature in 2018 and 2019, fans of professional Counter-Strike have gotten used to seeing the Danes in the biggest events of the year and were hoping to see Astralis’ banner once again compete for the titles. While it didn’t come to fruition in 2022, the org once again revamped its CS:GO roster, with dev1ce returning to the team. If all goes well, Astralis should be back in 2023.
