The 2022 Esports Recap
The past few months have been jam-packed with a suite of esports majors. From the Dota 2 International to the CS:GO IEM Rio Major, esports fans have been spoilt for choice in the competitive gaming scene. MOBA’s, FPS’, sports games, and more have all had their time to bask in the limelight and without further ado let’s take a deep dive into each esports’ pivotal tournament!
IEM Rio Major 2022
After an intense qualifying season that saw giants G2 Esports and Astralis knocked out before the major kicked off, the CS:GO world knew the Rio Major would be unlike any other. Held in the Brazilian capital after originally being delayed due to COVID-19 in 2020, the crowd was one of the wildest ever seen in Counter-Strike history.
Image Credit: ESL | Stephanie Lindgren
Starting the major with 24 teams, tournament favourites FAZE Clan were eliminated early in the Legends stage. Shortly afterwards Team Vitality followed the same fate before the final 8 teams were decided for the Champions stage. Surprisingly Fnatic and Team Spirit snuck into the major playoffs but unfortunately couldn’t progress any further. Notably, Simple’s Natus Vincere and other tournament favourites Cloud9 were knocked out in the quarterfinals.
This left MOUZ and Outsiders to play for a grand final position, and with Jame going ballistic Outsiders secured a 2-1 win and a chance at the CS:GO holy grail. The other semi-final saw Brazil’s FURIA Esports take on Heroic in a gruelling series of maps. Unfortunately for the home team heroes, Heroic overcame the deafening crowd and would go on to face Outsiders in the grand final. In a dominating performance by Outsiders, Heroic were swept 2-0 leaving Jame to claim the coveted IEM Rio Major MVP and the Russian organisation to take home a comfortable $500,000 in competition winnings out of a $1.25 million prize pool.
The International 2022
A tournament full of upsets and emerging new blood, the TI11 was chock-full of incredible Dota 2 moments. Evil Geniuses ran amuck in the group stage but were shut down early in the playoffs by South American teams Thunder Awaken and Beastcoast. Meanwhile, former champions Team Spirit were knocked out in the first round of the lower bracket playoffs by newcomers BOOM Esports.
In a brutal Bo1 match-up, Entity and RNG battled it out in a 107-minute-long brawl, now known as the longest Main Stage match in Dota 2 International history. PSG.LGD made a valiant run after initially being sent to the lower bracket by a fearsome Team Secret but were outmatched by their rival, Team Aster.
The final bouts of the tournament began with Team Liquid knocking out Team Aster in a closely fought 2-1 win. Shortly thereafter Tundra Esports took control and won in the upper bracket against Team Secret who promptly retaliated, beating Team Liquid 2-1 in the lower bracket final, forcing a grand final rematch between Tundra Esports and Team Secret. Despite Nisha’s best efforts for Team Secret, Tundra Esports’ dominated in the Bo5 final which lasted a measly 3 maps.
Tundra Esports’ skiter and Nine joined the coveted Royal Roaders, an exclusive club for players who won at their first-ever Dota 2 International appearance. Additionally, out of an insane $18.9 million prize pool, Tundra Esports helped themselves to a substantial $8.5 million in winnings.
2022 World Championship
The Play-In rounds kicked off the LoL World Championship with a boom and a bust. After the first round, Fnatic and DRX qualified instantly for the group stage after a strong showing in their respective Play-In groups. Surprisingly out of the remaining play-in teams, MAD Lions fumbled spectacularly and failed to qualify after a 3-0 sweep by Evil Geniuses. This left both RNG and EG to progress into the Group Stage.
With 4 groups each consisting of 4 teams, only the top 2 from each group could progress into the quarterfinals. Group A saw the previous world champions, T1 and EDG breeze through their unprepared Fnatic and Cloud9 opposition. Group B was rough, there was no opportunity for European’ G2 Esports and the American EG to do anything against their superior DK and JDG counterparts. DRX topped Group C followed closely by Rogue, leaving Top Esports and GAM Esports out of contention. The final group was similar to B and left no chance for 100 Thieves and CTBC Flying Oyster.
Out of the quarterfinals played, two of them resulted in 3-0 shutdowns with JD Gaming and T1 brushing aside Rogue and RNG. However, the other two matches were close-fought affairs. The Korean grudge match initially saw Gen.G take an early 2-0 series lead. DAMWON managed to pull it back only to let it slip in the 5th game where Gen.G survived the 44-minute-long tiebreaker. Similarly in the last quarterfinal matchup, EDG took a quick 2-0 series lead, however in an extraordinary comeback, DRX prevailed 3-2 and progressed into the semi-finals.
The first semi-final saw T1 face JD Gaming. After an initial slip-up in the first game by T1, Zeus and Faker produced some great performances and beat the Chinese side 3-1. In the second semi-final, DRX had a rough start and lost the first game to favourites Gen.G. In a turnaround similar to the first semi-final, DRX adapted brilliantly and thanks to an incredible showing by Zeka destroyed Gen.G 3-1.
This final series was one of the most exciting in League of Legends history. With two Korean sides facing one another T1 took the first match in 30 minutes. DRX responded quickly and started a team fight at the 15th-minute mark resulting in an early lead and securing the 2nd game. T1 then proceeded to take match point after killing Baron twice and overwhelming DRX. Game 4 saw a change in tactics with T1 taking an aggressive stance. Ultimately DRX found a counter, played around their opposition, and pushed the series to the full 5 maps. In a closely fought final match, the game was still in contention up to the 25th-minute mark. It was only 40 minutes in when the Elder Dragon sealed the deal for DRX when they were able to storm T1’s base and claim the Summoner’s Cup. In a fairy tale ending for Deft, DRX won $489,500 out of a $2.225 million prize pool.
Rocket League Championship Series 2021-22
Esports fans experienced the climax of the Rocket League Championship Series 2021-22 back in August. Starting with a wildcard stage, 16 teams competed in a Swiss System Format. The top 8 teams then progressed into the Group stage where another 8 teams were already waiting for them. In a two-group double elimination bracket Moist Esports, Team BDS, Version1, and The General NRG proved themselves as the Group A qualifiers. From Group B, G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, Karmine Corp, and FURIA prevailed.
Three out of the four quarterfinals went the full 7 games with FURIA overcoming Moist Esports, Karmine Corp struggling at the last hurdle against Team BDS, and FaZe Clan pulling off a strong comeback over Version1. The only one-sided matchup was G2 Esports versus The General NRG which could only score 1 goal throughout the entire series.
Heading into the semi-finals FURIA burst out of the gates and won the first two matches against a startled Team BDS. But in a third match beatdown, Team BDS scored 6 goals to nothing which catapulted them into a 4-game streak, winning the series 4-2 against a visibly distraught FURIA. The second semi-final saw G2 Esports clamour through their FaZe Clan opponents in a similar 4-2 series win. From what seemed close on paper, the 14-5 scoreline speaks volumes.
This left Team BDS, with a French line-up, to face a North American roster by G2 Esports in a match to settle which region would be crowned best in the Rocket League world. With Seikoo pulling off 13 shots on goal in the first 3 maps, Team BDS kicked off the championship final 3-0. G2 Esports managed to pull themselves together, secured game 4, and were on the hunt for a gentlemen’s sweep. However, Team BDS had other plans and finished strong with a 3-goal stomp in game 5 winning the 2021-22 World Championship.
Seikoo claimed the tournament MVP alongside a comfortable $600,000 for Team BDS out of a $2.085 million prize pool.
ADDITIONAL 2022 Tournaments
Valorant Champions 2022
Held in Istanbul, LOUD took home Valorant glory with a dominating performance throughout the playoffs. Having only lost to OpTic Gaming once throughout the entire event, yay earned the most MVP’s across the tournament and LOUD ran away laughing with their $300,000 in winnings.
PUBG Global Championship 2022
With a total prize pool of $3.35 million, the PUBG Global Championship was intense. After securing 3 wins on the final day of the tournament, Natus Vincere overtook 17GAMING and claimed the tournament with over $1 million in winnings. With 32 kills and 15 assists in the grand finals alone, xmpl was crowned the 2022 MVP.
Overwatch League 2022 – Playoffs
After placing first in the regular season, Dallas Fuel proved to the world why they are the Overwatch Champions. In a tough 7-map finale, San Francisco Shock pushed Dallas Fuel to their limits and couldn’t close out their 3-2 lead. Fearless was awarded the Grand Finals MVP and Dallas Fuel went home with an extra $1 million in their back pocket.