DreamHack Winter 2014: The most controversial Major ever played
In this series we look back at all the previous 18 Majors in CS:GO.
Countdown to the Major!
We are only one week away from the start of the last ever Major in CS:GO history. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 18 Majors. Today we have reached DreamHack Winter 2014.
DreamHack Winter 2014 
Date: Nov 27th – Nov 29th 2014
Number of teams: 16
Prize Pool: $250,000
Winner: Team LDLC $100,000 (Happy, kioShiMa, NBK, shox, SmithZz)
MVP: Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer
Map pool: Cache, Cobblestone, Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass.
The DreamHack Winter 2014 tournament was the fourth CS:GO Major Championship in the history of the game and was held from November 27-29, 2014 at Elmia in Jönköping Sweden. The prize pool was $250,000, similar to that of the previous 2 Majors with 16 teams gathered to find out who were going to claim the title as DreamHack Winter 2014 champions. But this Major turned out to be much more different than the ones before, leaving behind a lot of shocking and unforgettable moments. It was at this event that the CS:GO community lost something, gained something, and saw something.
Just a few months before the event, fnatic was on a four LAN tournament winning streak, with many online titles, and was starting to establish themselves as one of the most dominating teams on the scene. Nobody could deny that the Swedes were favorites to win the tournament and the only team that could put up a fight against them at the moment was Team LDLC. All eyes were on these two rosters, and it was generally predicted that the grand final would feature both of them, unless they were to take upon each other in the bracket stage. And that is exactly what happened.
The ‘olofboost’
Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer’s boost is a crucial piece of history for the Counter-Strike scene. The boost is a reminder of the power of ingenuity, the pressure faced by esports athletes, and the greay area between what is possible and what is acceptable.
The Swedish squad from fnatic managed to pass the group stage at the tournament, but struggled in the Quarter-finals against Team LDLC who had Happy, kioShima, NBK, shox, and SmithZz on their roster. The first map of the series saw the French squad come out on top, but that didn’t affect the Swedes who answered back on the second to force the decider.
On the decider of Overpass, olofmeister and company got crushed on the T-side as LDLC ended the first half with an impressive 13-2 advantage. However, things changed drastically in the second half. fnatic made a boost on top of the A site, where olofmeister could see the entire ‘Water’ area outside short on B as well as the area outside ‘Monster’. The ability to overlook a great area of the map, helped olofmeister and company to climb back on the scoreboard. Whenever a LDLC player would try to gain map control, olof would immediately spot them and take them down.
The olofboost led fnatic to grab 13 rounds in a row and wrap up the series 2-1 against a LDLC squad who had no clue about what struck them. After the match, the Frenchmen filed a complaint against pixel-walking and the organizers ended up ordering the teams to replay the second half of the match again. The Swedes replied with a complain implying they also had a boost which helped them see through transparent textures. DreamHack then came to a conclusion that both of the boosts allowed for an immortal bug and announced Overpass to be replayed. fnatic, however forfeited and LDLC advanced to the semi-finals.
LDLC’s way to Glory
The CIS team from Natus Vincere were up next for the Frenchmen in the semi-finals. NAVI were lead by Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko and had a dangerous AWPer in Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács. The semi-final matchup was expected to be a close affair with pure aim on display. LDLC however confidently took down NAVI with 16-11 victories on Dust2 and Inferno. Happy and shox were on fire and started to peak at the tournament, helping their team to secure a spot in the Grand final.
Facing off against Ninjas in Pyjamas for a Major trophy, LDLC drew the first blood to the series winning Dust2, 16-10, but Ninjas in Pyjamas replied with a dominant 16-4 victory on Inferno to force the decider, Overpass. LDLC fought bitterly to wrap up the series, but the Swedes managed to force overtime. In OT, the Swedish squad finally ran out of steam and allowed LDLC to close out the map 19-16 to claim the trophy. The event was the first ever Major title for the French Counter-Strike scene.
Tournament results:
1. LDLC - $100,000
2. Ninjas in Pyjamas - $50,000
3-4. Virtus.pro - $22,000
3-4. NAVI - $22,000
5-8. HellRaisers - $10,000
5-8. PENTA - $10,000
5-8. Dignitas - $10,000
5-8. fnatic - $10,000
9-12. iBUYPOWER - $2,000
9-12. ESC - $2,000
9-12. Cloud9 - $2,000
9-12. FlipSid3 - $2,000
13-16. CPH Wolves - $2,000
13-16. Bravado - $2,000
13-16. myXMG - $2,000
13-16. Planetkey - $2,000
Highest rated players at DreamHack Winter 2014:
1. 
Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski (Virtus.pro) – 1.29 Rating
2. Robin “flusha” Rönnquist (fnatic) – 1.26 Rating
3. Jaroslaw “pashaBiceps” Jarzabkowski (Virtus.pro) – 1.23 Rating
4. Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (fnatic) – 1.23 Rating
5. Jesper “JW” Wecksell (fnatic) – 1.21 Rating
6. 
Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer (LDLC) – 1.17 Rating
7. Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg (NiP) – 1.15 Rating
8. 
Braxton “swag” Pierce (iBUYPOWER) – 1.14 Rating
9. Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas (Virtus.pro) – 1.14 Rating
10. Pawel “byali” Bielinski (Virtus.pro) – 1.14 Rating
Something you probably didn’t know: The worlds current best player, Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev actually made his first ever Major appearance during DreamHack Winter 2014.
Tomorrow we take a look at the ESL One: Katowice 2015 tournament.
