The PGL Major Antwerp 2022 comes to an end with the victory of the FaZe Clan. Besides the historic triumph of karrigan and co, other special events happened
The FaZe Clan won the final of the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 on Sunday against the until then reigning champion NAVI with 2-0 after maps. In doing so, the organisation has made CS history.
“Oldie” karrigan ends his major trauma
A long ordeal has come to an end for CS veteran Finn “karrigan” Andersen. Since losing the 2018 Major final in Boston in dramatic overtime fashion to Cloud9, the Dane has matured into the best in-game leader in the world. The reward for relentless work has finally been crowned with the title in Belgium. “I’m stronger than I was in Boston,” said karrigan right after the award ceremony at the event in front of the raucous crowd.
This team is special @ropz @FaZe_rainCS @brokycs @Twistzz @FaZeRobbaN whatever happens from here. What a journey we had the first 4 months. I’m literally in tears that @FaZeClan made a gamble to sign a 31 year old IGL.
– karrigan (@karriganCSGO) May 23, 2022
This is the first time karrigan has won a major tournament, joining the illustrious roll call of CS:GO legends. While final opponent Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev won his long-awaited top title with NAVI at the previous Major in Stockholm, the Dane has also come full circle. Moreover, at 32, karrigan is the oldest player to win a Major. Previously, that record was held by Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko, who won the 2017 PGL Major Krakow with Gambit Esports at the age of 29.
FaZe Clan achieves a first
It was a double day of celebration for the entire organisation, with FaZe Clan winning a Major event for the first time and also fielding the first team made up of a wide variety of nations.
Lineup of the FaZe Clan
- karrigan (Denmark)
- rain (Norway)
- broky (Latvia)
- Twistzz (Canada)
- ropz (Estonia)
The Major trophy is ours. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oICozhjaEA
– FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) May 22, 2022
Before, teams that united players from one nation or a maximum of two were always successful at major tournaments. This was most recently the case with NAVI, which relies on Ukrainian and Russian professionals. Before that, the Danish organisation Astralis won almost everything with its stars for years. In the early days of CS:GO, Swedish Counter-Strike was at its peak, going down in history with legendary final duels between Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas. Now, with the FaZe Clan, a team has shown that a completely international roster can also win a world tournament at the highest level.
Second-best attendance for a CS:GO event
Millions of CS:GO fans around the world turned out to watch the final of the event between FaZe Clan and NAVI. At its peak, up to two million people were watching simultaneously on all channels, according to Esports Charts.
2M Peak Viewers on PGLMajorAntwerp @natusvincere vs @FaZeClan is the most popular match of the event. English peak – 1M viewers.
Languages & Platforms statistics of CSGO Major:https://t.co/KdlA4o3Xwu pic.twitter.com/gzvMZZiDUc
– Esports Charts 🇺🇦 (@EsportsCharts) May 22, 2022
This makes the final match of the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 the second most watched final in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The November 2021 Major final between NAVI and G2 Esports in Stockholm remains in first place with over 2.7 million viewers at the top.
Final viewers result of the PGLMajor Finals:
Peak Viewers – 2 048 282
English Peak – 1M
Russian Peak – 502K@Twitch Peak – 1. 6M@pglesports @CSGO @natusvincere @FaZeClan– Esports Charts 🇺🇦 (@EsportsCharts) May 22, 2022
Teammate rain is named MVP
While karrigan was one of the central figures in the success, Norwegian Håvard “rain” Nygaard also played a crucial role in the triumph in Belgium. According to the scene site HLTV, rain had by far the best performance of all players in the entire tournament with an impact rating of 1.47.
MAJOR FUCKING CHAMPIONS!!!!!!
– Håvard Nygaard (@FaZe_rainCS) May 22, 2022
Most notably on the final map Nuke, rain showed his dominant play against NAVI by contributing 30 frags to the win. There was no way of getting past him, which meant that FaZe ultimately deserved to win 16:10 and clinch the title. It is thus also a crowning tournament for the longest-serving FaZe professional, who has been active for the team since 2016.
Numerous Knife Kills
Kuriose moments occurred during the CS:GO highlight event. Several knife kills provided the best entertainment. While some players were cornered, the profiteers took ice-cold advantage of their knife skills.
Event organiser PGL captured six knife kills on video. Probably the most spectacular action was shown by karrigan in the semi-final between FaZe and Spirit. With a jump on the last opponent, the ingame leader sealed the 25:23 victory in overtime on Inferno and at the same time the entry into the final of the Major. The Dane knew about the comfortable situation in the five-on-one and thus provided one of the most curious kills of the tournament.
