CS:GO

In the highest level of play, like a CS:GO major, it is still possible to witness upsets. It is a big field of teams from around the world. Not only that but a lot of times there are newcomers to the big stage. Teams who’ve booked a ticket to the Major Qualifier via a victory in one of the minors. But there is one region which seems to be frowned upon and overlooked by the big teams. This region has produced upsets unlike any other in a major. It’s the underdog CIS region.

Underdog CIS’s Flipside Tactics Streak

The first prominent underdog CIS team to succeed in the stacked field of the Major Qualifiers was Flipside. This CIS team would have to face some good opposition in order to qualify for the Major. They’ve done so successfully for 7 Majors in a row.

In one of the Majors, ESL One Cologne 2016, not only would they qualify for the event, but would secure their first-ever Legends spot. To do so, Flipside beat NiP to ruin their streak of impeccable Major runs. On other instances, Flipside would be the ones to stop prominent roster from securing a slot in the Major. They’d beat fellow CIS teams like Hellraisers and would crush the dream of Renegades, Immortals and many others down the line.

FlipSid3 Tactics at ELEAGUE Season 1 2016

From left to right: wayLander, WorldEdit, [[B1ad3 ], Shara, markeloff

Image via https://liquipedia.net/

Sharks Of Vega Squadron

By the time the Eleague Atlanta Major rolled around, there was a growing concern, whether CIS deserve to have 2 slots for a minor. After all, apart from Hellraisers, Gambit and Flipside there aren’t any notable underdog CIS teams who needed to use the minor system for Atlanta. The team to qualify for Atlanta was an unknown team by the name of Vega Squadron.

In the opening game of the Atlanta Major, the team won against CLG in their opening game 16-14. But their most notable achievement was a victory in the deciding game against NiP. That victory was 16-2, and they eliminated NiP from the Major Qualifier.

This team would be a reoccurring team in the Major Qualifiers for future events and would cause the occasional upset in that competition. They set the precedent of CIS teams not accomplishing anything between majors but would cause upsets in the Major.

Cinderella Story Of Quantum Bellator Fire

The most surprising underdog story has to go to the players of Quantum Bellator Fire. Just like the players from Vega Squadron, this team was an unknown quantity in the CS:GO scene. But they’ve successfully qualified to the Eleague Boston Major via the CIS Minor.

Quantum Bellator Fire at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018

From left to right: Boombl4, Kvik, waterfaLLZ, jmqa, balblna

Image via https://liquipedia.net/

In the Major Qualifier, it’s fair to say the team scrapped by with the wins they got. They were decimated by Na’vi and FaZe Clan and won against the Chinese team Flash, a very weak Envy (who had to use their coach) and a fellow underdog CIS team Avangar.

The Legends stage is were QBF should’ve been eliminated, but the team would continue to wrack up upsets. They’d go on to win against Virtus.Pro 16-6 and even Champions of the previous Major – Gambit. In order to qualify, QBF would have a ridiculous game on Train against mousesports. Whilst only having 2 rounds on the t side, the CIS team pulled off an incredible comeback on the ct side with 14 rounds to their name to eventually win the game.

QBF would go on to lose to Na’vi in top 8, but this run is the most incredible underdog Major run in CSGO’s history.