The Most Scandalous Major in Counter-Strike History — PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 Recap

The first Major in CS2 history is behind us, and it left mixed impressions. In this article, Bo3.gg will tell you about the scandalous moments at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.

Unpredictable Results

The first and most significant thing that caught everyone's attention during PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 was how unpredictable the match results were. This was due to the matches being in the best-of-1 format with an MR12 system. In such scenarios, a team that lost the first pistol round and subsequently the gun round practically had no chance of making a comeback.

For the neutral viewer, this was an exciting spectacle, but from a sports perspective, it introduced a certain imbalance. With an MR12 system, tournament organizers should abandon best-of-1 matches in favor of best-of-3, and event finals should be held in a best-of-5 format. Such changes would minimize randomness and add even more excitement.

Thorin, jL and Eternal Fire

Duncan "Thorin" Shields has a reputation as a journalist who constantly keeps his finger on the pulse of events and isn't shy about making "sharp" jokes towards esports players and teams. In February, he targeted Natus Vincere's rifler Justinas "jL" Lekavicius for coming to a match against Eternal Fire at IEM Katowice 2024 with a depleted mouse. Thorin harshly criticized the player, which sparked a conflict between them.

jL responded to the criticism with a photo of a clown aimed at Thorin and made some interesting crafts with skins, with which he won the Major and became MVP. The analyst responded jokingly, and the conflict can be considered resolved.

But that was just the beginning. Throughout the championship, Thorin mocked the captain of Eternal Fire, whom the Turkish community considers the best Turkish IGL in CS history. At the same time, during an interview, Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli admitted that it's difficult for him to communicate with the team in Turkish since it's only his second language. Engin’s main language of communication remains French, since it was in France that he was born and lived most of his life.

The owner of Eternal Fire reacted aggressively to the analyst's comments. Furkan "1NCON" Güven threatened Thorin with physical violence at a personal meeting. As a result, the Eternal Fire owner's account on Twitter was blocked, and Thorin promised to do everything in his power to ensure that Eternal Fire doesn't attract any new sponsors. You can read more about this in the article.

Activists

From the first days of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 playoffs, volunteers distributed leaflets outside the Royal Arena, stating that the former sponsor G2 Esports, represented by CSGORoll, is a fraudulent organization. The next day, during the G2 - MOUZ match, the same volunteers stormed the stage. The responsibility for organizing the action was taken by representatives of the skin casino CSGOEmpire. When one of the activists was attempted to be detained, the main trophy of the Major fell and broke.

Subsequently, the activists were detained, and security measures at the arena were tightened. After that, the action's organizer and the owner of CSGOEmpire stated that similar incidents would continue to occur at CS2 events. It looks like a simple war between two skin casinos, nothing more.

Traditional PGL Problems

Traditionally, PGL tournaments regularly experience various sound and video issues during broadcasts. PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 was no exception. Throughout the championship, viewers encountered poor sound quality on broadcasts: you could hear the audience louder than the game or the commentators and so on. Moreover, the official English-language broadcast could even crash in the middle of a match, leading to technical pauses that disrupted the game's pace. Everyone had already gotten used to such PGL mishaps and practically didn't pay attention to them anymore.

There Wasn't a Single Danish Team in the Playoffs

It seemed like Danish clubs had been waiting for a home Major for so long, and here it is. However, practically all local rosters didn't even qualify for the tournament. The only team with a Danish lineup at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 was ECSTATIC. The team confidently passed the Opening Stage but stumbled in the Elimination stage and failed to advance to the playoffs. A global disappointment for local CS2 fans.

The champions of PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 were Natus Vincere. The event took place from March 17 to 31 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The teams competed for a prize pool of $1.25 million. You can study the tournament results via the link.