Throwback: Team Liquid win the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 inside 63 days
In this series, we look back at the teams who have managed to bag themselves an Intel Grand Slam title.
In the world of Counter-Strike, the Intel Grand Slam is one of the most prestigious and greatest honors to obtain. The massive prize and title live up to its name, as the Intel Grand Slam offers no more than a whopping $1.000.000 in prize winnings. The Intel Grand Slam was founded in 2017 by ESL and the prize is awarded to any team that manages to win four S-tier events held by ESL and DreamHack in a span of ten tournaments.
In this article we’ll be taking a look at how the North American squad from Team Liquid stepped out of the shadow of Astralis and cemented their name in CS:GO history with an insane Intel Grand Slam in 2019 that capped off one of the most dominant runs CS:GO fans had ever seen.
Intel Grand Slam Season 2 | May 2019 – July 2019
Winners: Team Liquid (EliGE, Stewie2k, NAF, Twistzz, nitr0)
Intel Extreme Masters XIV Sydney – Liquid
DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 – Liquid
ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals – Liquid
ESL One: Cologne 2019 - Liquid
In 2018, the North American CS:GO roster made it to 5 grand finals, but lost all of them and watched the Danes from Astralis take on the first edition of Intel Grand Slam in the span of nine tournaments. Going into 2019, Team Liquid was looking for revenge.
Team Liquid break their long-standing curse of second-place finishes
In 2018, the Danish CS:GO roster of Astralis established their hold on the competitive Counter-Strike scene with a historic run of tournament victories. They were unbeatable for much of their streak and nobody came close to them besides Team Liquid, who constantly finished directly behind them at events.
The North American CS:GO team had been nipping at the heels of the Danish CS:GO team Astralis during the year. And throughout the Danes’ Intel Grand Slam run, the team they faced and defeated in the finals, over and over again, was Team Liquid. The North Americans just couldn’t beat Astralis. If Team Liquid was a clear silver team, then Astralis was an even clearer gold team. But that was all until Team Liquid added Stewie2k to their lineup.
Rather than reaching out for an international player, they decided to bring in North America’s original savior. Stewie2k won the first Major title for NA when he led Cloud9 to a grand final victory against FaZe in Boston. He left Cloud9 to play for MIBR with one of the greatest players in coldzera, and now he was returning home to play with North America’s best CS:GO team.
With the Smoke Criminal on the roster, a superteam was finally assembled. All of Liquid’s players had renewed motivation and fire that Team Liquid had never experienced before. Right off the bat, 2019 opened with an upset as Team Liquid finally managed to secure a grand final victory over Astralis at iBUYPOWER Masters IV. This victory broke Liquid’s losing streak of five tournament finals and also their fifteen multi-map series losing streak they had since September 2017 when they had a different roster.
After the iBUYPOWER Masters IV grand final victory over Astralis, Liquid’s new coach in AdreN credited their 2018 experience as a part of why they immediately found success in 2019.
“They had a rough 2018 if you’re thinking about how many finals they lost but I think that experience they got through that whole year was so invaluable. I think they learned so much, and the fact that they kept their heads up high was so important.”
However, as much as Team Liquid saw the tournament as a breakthrough, the rest of the CS:GO community wasn’t so sure. At the IEM Katowice Major 2019, Liquid and Astralis seemed destined to meet each other after an exciting Legends stage. But an underdog run from Aleksib and ENCE stopped the North American’s in the quarter-final. Instead, Astralis went on to secure the title, putting themselves in the drivers’ seat for the second season of the Intel Grand Slam.
Liquid on a tear
The IEM Katowice Major was the only tournament in Season 2 of the Intel Grand Slam that Team Liquid let out of their grasp. After that, Liquid went on a tear. As the Danes from Astralis went for a Blast-only calendar, NA’s Team Liquid was dominating the tier 1 scene. Not a single one of the elite teams at the time (ENCE and Vitality) stood a chance against the unstoppable Team Liquid.
Starting off with IEM Sydney, Liquid was favored from the start. For many CS:GO fans, IEM Sydney seemed like an aberration due to the lack of top teams, but it ended up marking the beginning of Liquid’s dominance in the circuit. They made it to the grand final where they faced fnatic, a team that was good but not on the level of Liquid. The Swedish squad played their hearts out and brought the series so close that every fan wondered if Liquid would choke again. But they didn’t. Liquid secured a 3-2 series victory and would go on to electrify the world of CS:GO.
They won DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 over the likes of ENCE and FaZe Clan, proving they were a level above everyone else within the top five teams. Then, they went on to eliminate Astralis in the quarter-finals at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals event, before demolishing G2 in the grand final to secure the title.
The North American CS:GO roster was winning so much that they realized they could win the Intel Grand Slam in record time.
63 days
By now, any notion of Team Liquid not being the strongest CS:GO team in the world was squashed, and their chance for an Intel Grand Slam title came clearly into view.
ESL One: Cologne 2019 was up next, and here Liquid had the perfect opportunity to cement their status as the best CS:GO team in the world and win an Intel Grand Slam. And they wouldn’t waste it as they won the event in their most convincing fashion yet. They took down NAVI, NRG Esports, and Vitality on their way to the title without dropping into the Lower Bracket.
Cologne had always been a place where history was made and for the first time in a long time, it was Liquid’s turn to make history by completing the Intel Grand Slam in just 63 days. This put Astralis’ achievement of winning the first season of the Intel Grand Slam in a completely different perspective.
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at NAVI’s journey to the Intel Grand Slam Season 3 title.
