PGL Major Stockholm 2021 is the 16th Major. The eight years of the tournament’s history have witnessed a lot of interesting stuff, including a number of records. That’s why the CS.MONEY Blog has compiled five of the most unusual records set at Majors. Let’s find out if you already knew any of them. Here we go!
Final regulars Ninjas in Pyjamas
With four trophies under their belt, Astralis hold the record for most wins in Majors. Three of them were consecutive — that’s also a record, and it seems like no one could break it at the moment.
However, it’s another team that has reached the finals most often: that’s Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Swedish club fought for victory in Major finals 5 times in a row and won only once. It happened quite long ago too, at ESL One: Cologne 2014, and so far, it’s NiP’s only victory in a Major.
Fact is, Astralis and fnatic reached the last game of a Major four times each. The latter aren’t attending PGL Major Stockholm 2021! (their second missed Major in a row, by the way). Unlike fnatic, Astralis had their chance in Stockholm but they failed to reach the playoffs.
NiP could’ve set the new record by themselves. However, G2 defeated NiP in the quarter-final. This means the record stays. At least, until next year.
Longest match: two records in two days
Aside from their winning streak, Astralis have yet another fun feather in their proverbial cap of records. This one, however, is about losses. At the StarLadder Berlin Major, the Danes played the longest map in the history of Majors. They set the record twice over one and the same tournament on two consecutive days.
The first one happened on Train in the match versus NRG Esports. To determine the stronger squad, the teams had to play 59 rounds (that’s the equivalent of two entire maps)! After an unbelievable series of overtime rounds, NRG pulled off a victory with a score of 31–28.
Но, как было As mentioned previously, Astralis broke their own record the very next day. This time, the Danes excelled on Dust 2 versus CR4ZY, with the latter having nexa and huNter on board. The teams played an impressive 60 rounds on the second map in the match that would decide who’d advance to the New Champions Stage. Just like the day before, Astralis lost the marathon, this time by a score of 31–29. Nevertheless, that defeat didn’t stop them from pulling together, beating CR4ZY in the decider, and ultimately securing their third Major title.
Biggest prize pool
The very first Major, DreamHack Winter 2013, ended with Fnatic’s victory. The first place brought the team $100,000, or 40% of the prize pool. By today’s standards, that doesn’t sound all that impressive. Besides, Valve was already setting records in another discipline — offering millions to victorious clubs in The International at the time.
It’s PGL Major Stockholm 2021 that currently holds the record for the largest prize pool in the history of Majors. This is the first Major that will have clubs compete for a fantastic $2 million. Technically, ESL One: Rio 2020 had the same prize pool. But since the tournament was canceled, the record didn’t count either.
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Speedrun to victory in 6853 days
To date, the youngest Major winner is Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye. He became the champion of ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 with Astralis at the age of 18. Yet a more correct wording would be “at the age of 6853 days,” as every day counts in this race!
Fact is, the previous record-holder Jesper “JW” Wecksell set an analogous record at the same age of 18. But believe it or not, he was only 3 days older than Kjaerbye when he won DreamHack Winter 2013!
The CS:GO esports scene has seen multiple occasions on which this record could have been broken. For example, Owen “oBo” Schlatter had this chance at StarLadder Berlin Major 2019. The American player was only 16 when he made it to a Major together with Complexity Gaming.
At PGL Major Stockholm, there are new contenders who could ascend to the pedestal. Bruno “b4rtiN” Câmara, who represents GODSENT and hasn’t even celebrated his 18th birthday yet, might have set a new record too! But his team was knocked out of the competition before the playoff stage. However, FURIA’s André “drop” Abreu is still in the tournament and has his chance.
The match that gathered 15 stadiums’ worth of audience
The most important match in a Major is, of course, the grand final. Small wonder, then, that one of the grand finals set a record for the number of viewers. According to viewing stats websites, the Astralis vs. Virtus.pro encounter at ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 was watched live by 1,331,781 people. That’s a crowd large enough to fill 15 of the world’s most capacious stadiums to the brim!
The most curious part is that there’s another final that could lay claim to this record. The last match at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 drew a comparable number of spectators: 1,329,096. It’s actually quite possible that the FaZe Clan vs. Cloud9 match attracted even more people since the 3,000 gap can be attributed to statistical inaccuracy. But let’s trust the data: on paper, the record for most viewers belongs to the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 Grand Final.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 is the first Major in two years. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community has desperately missed tournaments like this, so the Stockholm-based event is in the spotlight now. Who knows, maybe the 16th Major will set some other records besides the size of the prize pool.
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