Only three players from Dreamhack Winter 2013, all in-game leaders, have made it to play at IEM Cologne 2026.
The first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major took place in November 2013 with a $250,000 prize pool. Dreamhack Winter 2013 was shockingly won by the Swedish team Fnatic, who defeated their local rival, the legendary NiP lineup with GeT_RiGhT and f0rest in their prime.
After nearly 13 years and 23 Majors later, only three of those initial 80 players have stood the test of time to be at the IEM Cologne Major in 2026. Unsurprisingly, they are all in-game leaders.
When the two greatest Danish IGLs played together
At Dreamhack Winter 2013, gla1ve and karrigan were part of the same Danish n!faculty lineup, which also included cajunb, Pimp and raalz.
Both gla1ve and karrigan would go on to make history separately as two of the greatest captains – the former as the leader of the dominant 2018 Astralis lineup and the latter as the glue that bound together multiple championship-winning international teams.
At the time, gla1ve maintained IGL duties, as karrigan had been a star sniper in the previous version of CS, CS 1.6.
While gla1ve is commencing his journey as a coach in the lower tiers of CS, karrigan remains on a top squad that contends to win IEM Cologne this very year. That is only because of a recent contract offer from the Saudi-owned Falcons, which saved karrigan from missing his first Major since 2015.
Neither apEX nor karrigan made playoffs at DH Winter 2013
Both apEX and karrigan were on competitive teams in 2013, but both players were very different to their roles today. They were both stars on teams that failed to make playoffs of the first Major.
Clan-Mystik was apEX’s squad, with the infamous KQLY in their ranks and future Major-winner kioShima. They lost to LGB 2-16 in the decider map of the group, against KRIMZ and olofmeister before they joined Fnatic.
Today, apEX is the leader of Team Vitality, the absolute favorite to win the IEM Cologne Major, his record-equalling third consecutive Major, tying with the likes of Astralis.
Snax is the third player and IGL to be at the IEM Cologne Major who was at the first Major. At the first, he didn’t make the playoffs, but would win the next Major in home soil. Since then, he became an excellent star player, and has now transitioned to in-game leading GamerLegion.
Close but no cigar
The Swedish legend, KRiMZ, was close to making it to the IEM Cologne 2026 Major, but fell short alongisde the Ukrainian Fnatic roster. This shows the descent of Fnatic, the first Major winner, now not able to qualify for the 32-team tournament.
Xizt, finalist at Dreamhack Winter 2013, could have made it as the coach of the international NiP, but failed repeatedly close to the qualification cutoff date.
TaZ, Polish legend, failed to make the playoffs of the first Major (but would win the next one in Poland), and did not qualify to the IEM Cologne Major as the coach of the BC.Game roster featuring s1mple.
