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December 22, 2020
CS:GO
The biggest takeaways from the 2020 IEM Global Challenge
With the conclusion of the IEM Global Challenge 2020 the year officially comes to a close. Many would have expected Vitality to take yet another title but it seemed as if this was not their tournament to win, as they did not even make the top four.
Astralis on top
If you missed out on the IEM Global Challenge 2020, you missed out on a tournament that would have given you flashbacks to last year. Astralis and Team Liquid facing off once again in a best-of-five grand final, something we’ve seen so many times before. It seemed like Astralis was the stronger team from the start, winning the first map of Inferno with 16-11. From that point onwards Astralis was back in their prime and they won the following maps quite convincingly with yet another 16-11 on Overpass and a 16-10 on Dust2.
This meant a great end of year bonus for Astralis with $200.000 in winnings and, possibly even more important to them, getting back to the number one position in the HLTV World Rankings just before the year end. This means they’ve now held that position at the end of the year three times in a row with the exact same core roster.
Goodbye Twistzz
Unfortunately with the conclusion of the tournament it became known that Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken had just played his last match with the Team Liquid line-up and organisation, deciding to step down in a mutual decision. The future for Twistzz is currently unknown yet he did make it clear he is hoping to have a new home for 2021.
Through the heartbreaks and the triumphs, we built a legacy together Russ, thank you. pic.twitter.com/ZOJxWQ4xVV
Team Liquid themselves should not be too disappointed by one of their star players leaving, as rumours are that they will be picking up none other than Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo. The Brazilian star stepped down from the active MIBR line-up earlier this year after some disappointing performances in Europe and not being satisfied with recent decisions about the roster made by the MIBR organisation.
Vitality not up to par
However, you might have recalled that we hyped up Vitality a little bit, saying they had a good chance at winning this last event as well as they did with Blast Premier the week before. With only eight teams competing in the IEM Global Challenge 2020, the opponents they faced were fierce and, unfortunately for Vitality, a bit too strong. Vitality was unable to get out of groups due to losing to BIG with a 1-2 score in maps and eventually also losing to the tournament winner Astralis with a 1-2 score.
This unfortunate loss for Vitality might be due to them already performing so well in so many tournaments, showing most of their strategies throughout recent months. With Astralis now back in an incredibly strong and well-performing form, they seemed to be able to take advantage of this and properly read into how they could take down the French powerhouse. Yet with over $300.000 made in prize money in the last quarter of the year, Vitality can still have an abundant Christmas and player break.
Were you also surprised by the classic Astralis and Liquid final in the IEM Global Challenge, or were you already expecting this to happen? Join the discussion on social media or our Discord!
