ESL One Katowice 2015 Awards

ESL One Katowice saw its fair share of remarkable matches, highlights and even bloopers, but which were the best? In this article we take a crack at answering that very question and more!

Warning: Beware of opinions.

      Performances like that of Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer's are rare; they are defining of a player's peak performance and true potential. olofmeister brought an unprecedented level of raw skill to Katowice this year, outperforming many of the best aimers and smartest players in the world. He proved himself a multifaceted and dynamic force on the battlefield, showing a great breadth of ability and experience in every situation he faced. Behind that versatility, though, there is a great foundation of composure, confidence, and decision making. Everything came together for olofmeister this tournament and he demonstrated that he may even be Fnatic's strongest asset.

      With Fnatic's current playstyle, it's dangerous to have Jesper “JW” Wecksell playing below his standards. Much of Fnatic's core game plan is based around the information and map control given to them via JW's aggressive, forward AWPing. For olofmeister, however, there was no role he could not fill. JW's normally forceful map presence was not in full effect this tournament, and olofmeister was made to pick up some of the slack in that regard. Furious entry kills and a mastery of the Tec-9 played beautifully into the strategies of Markus "pronax" Wallsten and facilitated a strong coordinated performance from the rest of Fnatic. Wherever olofmeister played, whether he was just poking and prodding or looking to force rotates, he was likely to do damage or gain valuable information and always trade efficiently for it. Once Fnatic was ready to execute, olofmeister had already played a vital role in setting up the pace and layout of the round in favor of Fnatic.

      The ability to AWP, to lurk, to dominate armor/pistol buys, and even to make occasional calls for his team—these all add up to one very frightening all-star player for the ESL One Katowice 2015 champions. The Swedish adept not only showcased his wide array of skill on the Terrorist side, but also shut down entry fragging opponents at an unbelievable rate. The immovable object of Fnatic's Counter-Terrorist halves, olofmeister gave one of the most commanding performances in recent CS:GO history. If successive showings have olofmeister playing to this same level, he may very well develop into the best player across 2015.

      After showing up huge at MLG X Games Aspen, Keyd Stars (ex-KaBuM.TD) have proven themselves a phenomenal wildcard team. The story at the Brazilians' first major was no different—in groups, they took nine rounds from Ninjas in Pyjamas in their first loss on Inferno, with subsequent victories over HellRaisers and Counter Logic Gaming to make it to brackets. In Katowice, the members of Keyd came with a more well-rounded game, proving their worth on more maps than just Mirage. Unfortunately, nagging consistency issues and some individual blunders would eventually be the downfall of the only non-European team left in tournament, but even in their final series, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and his squad put on a show. An overtime victory on map two against Virtus.pro almost saved their tournament lives, but eventually the Poles prevailed.

      On Inferno, a strong Terrorist side would push back against a NiP who practically abused Keyd in the first half. When the pieces fell together for FalleN and co., they looked like a team comfortably in tier one—world-class teamplay and cohesive executions with competent aim and the occasional individual performance to cinch a round. It's clear that in their months of practice and bootcamping, Keyd's players worked to build upon strong fundamentals and a team-oriented style. No flashy risks or unexpected plays; just smart, textbook play from a team on the verge of breaking into the upper echelon of competitive Counter-Strike.

      Against CLG on Dust 2, a favorite map of most North American teams, Keyd employed calm, coordinated strategies with strong AWP presence from top fragger FalleN. Perhaps a name which has so far flown under the radar on Keyd is Ricardo “boltz” Prass, who won a large percentage of his fights and played a massive role in his team's executions. Even taking over the secondary AWP when teammate Caio “zqkS” Fonseca was underperforming, boltz is proving himself a key component to Keyd's winning formula. Though Keyd never relies on individual performances to carry games, players like boltz and FalleN stepped up to the task when the time came. With a fleshed out Counter-Terrorist side and some more months of drilling and practice, Keyd could be a team ready to contend for first at any tournament they enter.

      Coming into Katowice, very few predicted the Brazilian hopefuls Keyd Stars to make it out of the group stage as they were drawn into a lot that included the likes of Ninjas in Pyjamas, HellRaisers and Counter Logic Gaming. Yet the South Americans showed that they were not a team to be taken lightly after they entered the bracket stages by defeating CLG and HR. They were led by their aspiring young star, Ricardo "boltz" Prass. He had the largest impact on Keyd's games with his exceptional fragging, and boltz was crucial in Keyd's barnstorming success at the tournament. This 17-year-old is one to look out for as he carries the hopes of Brazilian Counter-Strike on his back. Based on his performance last weekend, the future looks bright for the youngster, and—especially in his hands—so does the Five-Seven.

      Check out boltz's highlights in the video above!

      Perhaps the strongest rivalry in CS:GO since the VeryGames versus Ninjas in Pyjamas era, Fnatic and NiP have time and again met in these explosive clashes, resulting in some of the most intense and nail-biting Counter-Strike in the series' history. At ESL One Cologne, an all Swedish final would have these two legendary organizations battling it out in three back-and-forth maps. At MLG X Games Aspen, Fnatic and NiP were matched in a best of three for a spot in the grand finals, and the three maps played out in NiP's favor at 16-14, 14-16, and 16-13. It was clear that not only were these teams were at a similar level of play, but that they meshed and balanced against each other in a certain manner which made their meetings tense and exhilarating. Their most recent match, the grand finals of the biggest tournament in CS:GO's history, did not disappoint.

      Ten explosive all-star players, each with the potential to upset rounds and make critical individual plays. Three tight maps resulting in the first ever dual major champions in Fnatic. Aleksi ”allu” Jalli made his major debut with NiP, giving a stellar performance and bringing to the table a well-rounded game in place of Mikail “Maikelele” Bill. Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer finished out his hot streak through the tournament in style, top fragging for his team in each map (and in the server for the two games Fnatic won) and playing his roles dominantly. Strong CT sides on Dust 2 from both teams came to a head at a 16-14 scoreline in favor of Fnatic. Even with robust AWPing from allu and an on-point Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, the Terrorist side Ninjas could never string together more than a couple rounds against Fnatic's defense. NiP hit their stride on the Counter-Terrorist side, but vicious entry kills from Robin “flusha” Rönnquist and Jesper “JW” Wecksell would eventually close out the map.

      NiP entered Cache as the favorites for that map and showed exactly why. A 16-10 victory for Richard “Xizt” Landström's NiP brought the series to a third map and gave hope to the fan favorites. GeT_RiGhT and allu both played strong but did not offer the stalwart defense many expected during their Counter-Terrorist half. Fortunately for NiP, their T side Cache is perhaps the best in the world. Led by Xizt's masterful understanding of the map, Adam “friberg” Friberg and Patrick “f0rest” Lindberg opened round after round with entry kills and trades, while allu won most of his fights against JW and GeT_RiGhT scooped up a considerable number of frags on rotating enemies. Their final game on Inferno, a map which has become the most heated point of contention among the tier one teams, was nothing short of a masterful showing by both teams. It was clear throughout the entire tournament, though, that olofmeister had no intention of losing—and he didn't. A truly dominant performance, reminiscent of Richard "shox" Papillon in his prime, olofmeister was a true rock of a defense, constantly shrugging off one of the world's most dangerous entry fraggers in friberg. His flexibility and experience on the map propelled Fnatic's CT side to 11 rounds and eventually allowed for their 16-13 victory and second major championship.

      With a spot in the finals on the line, Virtus.pro faced Fnatic on Cobblestone for Game 1 of their semi-final series. The map underwent changes before the tournament, and the tweaks helped Cobblestone produce close and exciting games. In the best example of the map’s new subtleties, Fnatic barely defeated Virtus.pro 19-17 in a nail-biting match. While many of the games during this major produced moments of awe, no other game combined peak performance and high stakes as much as this one—a recommended watch for old and new Counter-Strike fans alike.

      There were many notable frags and feats of strength performed by players in intense situations, but the best highlight frag of the weekend was undoubtedly device’s Snax-esque play on allu and friberg. Hiding behind sandbags, device spotted allu by the cart but decided to wait patiently for his opportunity to strike. With impeccable trigger control, he creeped up to the rookie Ninja and waited until friberg lined up behind him before taking the shot. The result: A devious double kill. device’s control was impressive, but it was the TSM player’s decision to intentionally position himself appropriately for the line-up that puts his ingenuity above all others. That kind of game sense demonstrates why he’s a world-class player.

      Just when you think you've seen it all from Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, the legendary clutch master reminds you that he's still got plenty of juice in tow. Katowice's first round of brackets pitted Ninjas in Pyjamas against the deadly Danes in TeamSoloMid. With a 10-4 lead on the Terrorist side of Dust 2, the Ninjas were looking strong, but in the last round of the half, a fast rotate from a force-bought TSM had the Swedes charging into a brick wall. With only 15 seconds left in the round, GeT_RiGhT was the last man standing in a one on three. Charging up cat and through a smoke, GeT_RiGhT took a quick first kill with his AK-47 before picking up an AWP and dropping to CT ramp. Running with his P250 out, GeT_RiGhT prefired and dropped the man holding box and jumped to site, where the last man alive for the Counter-Terrorists barely made it to quad. With less than a second left in the round, GeT_RiGhT, still on the hunt, received a call from teammate Aleksi ”allu” Jalli to wallbang quad box—the trigger was pulled and NiP secured an 11-4 half in spectacular fashion.

Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan's Team Kill on semphis

      The biggest blunder of the event goes to none other than Cloud9’s newest recruit ShahZaM for his team kill on semphis against Virtus.pro in the winners' match of Group D. Having Katowice as his first major, ShahZaM’s nervousness played a significant part in his poor performance as well as his team kill. In a mess of poor communications and nerves, ShahZaM kills his teammate semphis at banana on accident even though the round was already won. It was a cringe inducing mix-up that shouldn’t have happened at such a large event, and the embarrassment will sadly be one of Cloud9’s more memorable moments from the event.

      Eastern Europeans have some of the manliest beards, and teams from around the world flocked to Katowice sporting their fiercest follicles. It was obvious that we had to give out an award for the Manliest Beard, and it turned out to be one of the more hotly contested titles. It was a tough decision, but it was agreed that Havoc from Vox Eminor destroyed the beard competition with his raging face fuzz. His secrets for maintaining his luscious lip locks has yet to be revealed to the public, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it involved wizardry or voodoo. It must be something in the Aussie wildlife that enables him to grow such a magnificent mug mane.

Writers: Shooz29, amazingxkcd
Editors: lichter, Souma
Graphics: InsidiA
Photos: ESL
CSS: Souma
Videos: LastManProductions, NihilStarcraft