Esports has been around since the start of the 21st century, if not a little earlier, and each year, the scene as a whole continues to grow. From the epic competitiveness of each title, to the countless storylines within the pro scenes of each game, every esport varies, but the electricity remains constant.
Throughout esports history, there is nothing more defining or important than a great tournament. Fans of every game can always look back on some of the most impactful and memorable tournaments their titles have played host to, and regardless of what your “main” esport is, there’s always a major event that you can look back on fondly.
If you’re new to esports or are looking to dive into the pro scene of a game you might not know much about, here are four of the greatest events ever.
2018 CS:GO ELEAGUE Boston Major
The 2018 Cloud9 team that became the first North American lineup to win a Counter-Strike major immediately slotted itself into the annals of esports history when they reigned supreme at the ELEAGUE Boston Major that year.
Cloud9’s improbable run through the tournament is full of electric highlights, so if you’ve only seen the final map of their run, in which they beat FaZe Clan 22-19 on Inferno, you owe it to yourself to watch a full reel of C9’s run from start to finish. Fewer teams across any esport have been as locked-in as they were at the Boston Major, and it shows on almost every map.
Counter-Strike is a game where little to no knowledge of the game is required to enjoy it at its most competitive level, so when you combine the easy-to-root-for nature of the 2018 C9 squad and their storyline with the easy-to-understand nature of CS:GO, it shouldn’t be surprising why the Boston Major was so significant in bringing about a new era of the game’s history in North America. With most of the 2010s dominated by European and Asian teams and players in various esports across the board, regardless of title, an NA team—let alone one as significant as C9—winning a CS:GO major was extremely culturally significant in esports.
2022 League of Legends World Championship
The 10th edition of the League World Championship was easily the best of all-time, with the tournament culminating in the greatest underdog story in the game’s history.
At Worlds 2022, longshots DRX made a run all the way from the play-in stage to the Summoner’s Cup decider, eventually defeating regionmates T1 in the grand final. The epic five-game set at the end of the tournament between T1 and DRX had an endless supply of instant classic moments, but you can comb through the entire event and compile a montage of highlights that could easily last several hours.
The tournament was defined by the “Last Dance” narrative that had been surrounding DRX AD Carry Deft, who hadn’t made it out of the Worlds quarterfinals since 2014, and was seriously debating retirement. 12-year veteran Deft eventually captured glory and finally added League’s most prestigious trophy to his case, besting former high school classmate and League GOAT Faker in the finals. Without a doubt, Worlds 2022 was punctuated by DRX—the greatest Cinderella story in League history, and possibly all of esports history.
Smash Ultimate at EVO 2019
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was everywhere in 2019, with the Smash franchise earning a massive resurgence among casual players, local scenes, and major tournaments. No tournament, however, was as big or as hyped as EVO 2019. The culmination of a year’s worth of competition mounted to a peak at EVO, which drew over 3,500 participants. Ultimately, it all came down to two—MkLeo and Tweek—who are still regarded as two of the best to ever do it. The epic final series between the Smash Ultimate legends is looked back at as the peak of their rivalry, which had steadily reached a boiling point through the 2019 circuit. The match saw MkLeo come back from two games down to force a reverse sweep and bracket reset, taking Tweek off championship point and claiming the EVO title by winning six straight games.
DotA 2 The International 2018
The 2018 DotA 2 International (TI8) is home to one of the most improbable stories in all of esports history, as OG—a team that had come within inches of fading out entirely after losing several core players just a few months before the event—stitched a roster together that was able to win the tournament all the way from open qualifiers.
The unreal run to greatness was capped with a win over Dota 2 juggernauts PSG.LGD, in addition to a runback with the exact roster at TI9 the next year, which OG also won.
