CS:GO’s rise as one of the top games in the esports industry was all thanks to the Majors and tourneys that have been held since its huge hype. The year 2021 is full of these big tourneys and one can say that all of these contests have kept the game relevant.
CS:GO teams prepare ahead of these tournaments to get a shot at the Majors. While most of these events are set to be held either online or in studios, fans are still excited and hope to see all the intense action.

The most intense games are seen on tourneys such as the Intel Extreme Masters or the ESL One. The DreamHack Masters and EPL also present a lot of opportunities for the teams to get their win. This is why most esports tournaments are very fun to watch.

Here are some of the best tourneys that helped CS:GO become popular:

Beyond the Summit

More known as BTS, this tourney is focused on creating unique shows and events for multiple games, such as Dota 2, Mortal Kombat and of course, CS:GO. It is considered a pillar for the games the last tourney held in May, the cs_summit 8, has left fans delighted with the coming tournaments as well.

Beyond the Summit came into play in the esports production and broadcast media back in March 2012. Based in Los Angeles, BTS prided itself on creating quality content while focusing on showcasing talent on its shows. As a pioneer in the industry, it became a leader in viral content for the esports side.

BTS began as a Dota 2 casting project and soon expanded into a community support site with more games and stood as the premier Dota 2 studio. In the past few years, the company has reached out to come up with key events in different games.

With a wide variety of game developers, brands and tournament organisers, BTS has seen success in their events for certain games. The likes of Smash Ultimate Summit, Mainstage and Space Hub have been viral along with their CS:GO and Dota shows. The show also presents some of the best teams in the world.

BTS has played a big role in setting the tone for the rest of the 2021 tour. Most teams have waited for 2021’s event and they were left with a shock in Team Liquid’s win. This only means that there are more to expect for the game at this point in the season.

Thanks to the recent success of the tournament, teams and players are getting ready to come up with the best they can for the rest of the year's events. There are many games ahead in 2021, and CS:GO can expect teams and players to take part with a much bigger motivation following the finish at the cs_summit 8.

BLAST Series

Succeeded by the BLAST Premier Series, the former BLAST Pro Series definitely took the world by storm as CS:GO fans loved the level of intensity that was offered by the tournament. This meant the success of both the tour and the game itself.

The tournament was organised by RFRSH Entertainment in 2017. The Danish esports team built a hopeful tournament with the hopes of showcasing the best CS:GO teams in the world.

There were many expectations on how the tournament would go. Some claimed that it was going to be a flop in the first place, but then it defined the level of play that other tournaments such as the ESL Pro Tour or even the Intel Masters would offer up to date.

The BLAST Pro Series began with its first tournament, which was held in Copenhagen in November 2017. The group stage saw a single round-robin format with best of one matches and no overtimes. The top two teams were also set to advance in the Grand Final.

The 2017 edition had a prize pool of $250,000 and was spread among the top six teams in the rankings. SK Gaming took home $125,000 as the winners of the tournament while Astralis had $50,000 for second place. FaZe Clan had $25,000 and North got $15,000. G2 Esports and Ninjas in Pyjamas got $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.

For the BLAST Premier series, there are three more tourneys left to play this year, including the World Final 2021 set in the month of December.

Intel Extreme Masters

The esports community was left with a shock when they played in 2021 as the IEM Katowice shocked every team in the world when Gambit Esports emerged as the winner and got the lion’s share from a prize pool of $1,000,000 against 24 teams.

This comes a year after Natus Vincere earned the crown for IEM Katowice 2020, and a tough ending for them as well. The Major is one of the biggest events of the year and they lost it in just a snap, not even making it to the final at the very least.

Na'Vi still had one of the best shots at winning the title again. Fans did not know how to tell how the series would play out with the likes of Astralis and Team Vitality gaining headway on their early games for 2021. Every player, team and fan was speechless when it was Gambit Esports who took the win at the end of the tourney.

Every esports fan knows how crucial this tourney is. Gambit Esports has reaped the benefits of being the winner in this one as they have earned a lot of sponsors and an increased ranking over the past seven months. Even those who are interested in esports tournaments will know them as a top option when they play.

In the end, these tourneys played a huge role in the success of CS:GO today. Some even see the game as the face of the esports industry, and it is all thanks to these big tourneys that led to more reach for Valve’s shooter game.