After a long weekend of amazing Counter-Strike at MLG Columbus 2016, Luminosity Gaming emerged victorious, taking first place at the event and securing their position in eSports history as the winners of the first CS:GO Major with a $1 million dollar prize pool. Luminosity faced off against Natus Vincere in the grand finals–the CIS-based team had had a dominant run to the finals, but were unable to put a stop to the Brazilian stampede, and Luminosity took the series in two maps. The first game, on Mirage, went to overtime, but the second map, Overpass, was a far less competitive affair, and saw Luminositytake the grand final victory with an indisputably powerful 16 – 2 scoreline.
A hearty congratulations is in order to the Brazilian squad, who have gathered constant forward momentum over the past year, including a string of remarkable second place finishes and tournament runs during the last months of 2015 and leading into early 2016. Following the team’s explosive debut at MLG X-Games Aspen–where the Brazilians, then known as KaBuM.TD, showed off a dominant and innovative approach to their signature map, Mirage–the team focused almost exclusively on preparing for Majors, competing in few online leagues or other tournaments. The hard work paid off–Luminosity put in top 8 finishes at all three Majors in 2015.
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What’s Next?
Now, with 2016 just starting, the newly crowned Major champions are at the top of a constantly evolving and–in many cases–volatile competitive scene. Fnatic, the Swedish squad who had won the past 6 LAN events they had attended, were sent home by perpetual semifinalists Astralis, leaving the Swedish superstars with their worst event placing in quite some time.
Other teams that many expected to advance further than they did at Columbus failed to make the cut–EnVyUs, winners of DreamHack Cluj-Napoca 2015, were knocked out of the Major during the group stage, a feat normally reserved for North Americans.
Speaking of North Americans, MLG Columbus was the first time in history that not just one, but two North American teams made it out of the Group Stage, and into the top 8: Counter Logic Gaming and Team Liquid, although both possessing a unique knack for being unable to close out games, made history in Ohio.
There’s a lot to digest in the aftermath of the Major–your faithful and diligent CS:GO writer, for example, has come down with a terrible case of LAN plague after being lucky enough to attend the event. (It was awesome. Stories and pictures to come! After I stop puking.)
In other words, make sure to check back over the weekend for more coverage of all the remarkable happenings at MLG Columbus! And a special shoutout to MLG and Adam Apicella, who remained in constant contact with the community during the weekend, putting out fires and responding to questions over social media.
Want to know what it was like in Nationwide Arena, other than just ‘loud’ and ‘patriotic’? Check out our Twitter for pictures, videos, and more!
