How can one determine greatness? Is it more important to win the most prestigious tournament or to dominate over a significant period? Even Valve’s Majors were not immune to teams catching hot streaks. For example, Gambit Esports’ story at the Krakow tournament will remain a bright but short chapter in the history of CS:GO. Not to diminish Majors’ prestige, but the Intel Grand Slam became an alternative concept for defining the best of the best. In this article, CS.MONEY Blog explains what is Intel Grand Slam, how teams can win it, and names all Intel Grand Slam winners in one place.
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What is the Intel Grand Slam?
Intel Grand Slam is a special prize of one million dollars one team in a competitve year team can receive after winning four prestigious tournaments within ten attempts. Achieving this is exceptionally challenging; more than simple luck in one tournament will be needed. The triumphant team must showcase championship-level CS performance over an extended period, and the limit of ten attempts filters out legendary squads from just luckers or wannabes.
The Intel Grand Slam also helped tournament organizers maintain excitement between Majors for both fans and players. Players get the opportunity to compete for a prize that is twice the reward for winning a Major, which motivates them to excel. Fans get another significant storyline to follow, making it captivating. How good is a specific team right now? Are we witnessing greatness? Additionally, the motivation of teams raises the level of play, benefiting everyone.
But let’s delve into the history of Intel Grand Slam.
All Intel Grand Slam Champions Listed
All Intel Grand Slam champions and winners are listed below. We also added a little info about each winner so you can learn more about the history of CS:GO.
Astralis, the first Intel Grand Slam winner
The first Intel Grand Slam was announced in 2017, and there’s something symbolic about the fact that it was won by unequivocally the best team in CS:GO history. 2018 was Astralis’ year, and the Danes, for instance, earned about two and a half times more money than their closest competitors playing Valve’s shooter. There’s practically nothing more to add: the Astralis era was the brightest in the game’s history, once again underlined by winning the first Intel Grand Slam ever.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid’s record-breaking Grand Slam is a story about leveraging rule imperfections and competitors’ issues. We don’t want to belittle the players’ merits – the Team Liquid lineup of 2019 was very strong, and it’s not fair to say they won four tournaments by luck. However, we can’t overlook two points: firstly, Astralis at that time, for various reasons, practically didn’t participate in ESL and DreamHack tournaments. Secondly, after Team Liquid’s victory in the Intel Grand Slam, a condition was added that one of the four tournaments must be tier S.
Natus Vincere
Due to the pandemic, we had to wait over a year for the next Grand Slam holder. Ultimately, in 2021, we witnessed one of the greatest teams in the game’s history, Natus Vincere. After b1t joined the “born to win”, the puzzle fell into place, and we saw an impressive winning streak in 2021, culminating not only in victory at the Stockholm Major but also in the Intel Grand Slam gold bars.
FaZe Clan, latest Intel Grand Slam winner
The most recent Intel Grand Slam winner delivered an impressive winning streak in 2022. If the team could have extended their championship streak a bit longer, a conversation about including the Karrigan lineup among the five greatest teams of all time could have occurred. Instead, let’s highlight Twistzz – the Canadian achieved a unique feat. Winning two Grand Slams with two different teams is a sign of individual greatness!
The Intel Grand Slam has become a crucial part of competitive CS:GO, and with the transition to CS2, the situation is likely to remain the same. Don’t wait for CS2’s release, hop on to CS.MONEY Trade and pick your new skins to prepare yourself for the update!
