All About the Intel Grand Slam: Award, Rules, Winners
We’ve all often heard the term “new era.” Many top teams, which have been at their peak performance for a long time, have had their own era. During this period, they could win a whole series of tournaments and unquestionably dominate the pro scene. To solidify their successes and reward such organizations with a worthy commemorative award, tournament operator ESL, together with its title partner Intel, devised the Intel Grand Slam competition.
What is the Intel Grand Slam?
The Intel Grand Slam is a trophy in the form of gold bars with a total value of $1,000,000. To become the holder of this title, a team needs to win 3 competitions under the ESL banner and one of the main tournaments of the Intel Extreme Masters series (IEM Katowice or IEM Cologne). Once a team wins any of the tournaments, they automatically enter the race for the million-dollar prize. After the first triumph at one of the events, players have 9 more attempts to secure the remaining 3 victories. It is important to note that the victories are attributed to the core of at least three players, not the organization under whose tag they became champions. For example, at IEM Dallas 2023, the team ENCE won, but now in the race for victory in the fifth season, the contenders are Falcons. Snappi, Maden, and SunPayus moved under a new tag but retained the opportunity to inscribe their names in history as the holders of this prestigious trophy.
To fuel interest in the final matches, where the fate of the Intel Grand Slam will be decided, ESL has devised a special award. A sum of $100,000 will be awarded to the team that stops the contender in the decisive match and extends the current season. This condition applies throughout the season, but no team has yet been able to stop the champions on the verge of the coveted title.
Which teams have already won the Intel Grand Slam?
Astralis 2018. It took 235 days.
Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen
Emil “Magisk” Reif
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
The first team to receive the gold bars was the legendary Astralis team of 2018. At that time, this team won absolutely all competitions, and many had the impression that this award was invented for them. The Danes were then the perfect team that few could compete with. They accomplished this task in less than a year, winning:
- DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018
- ESL Pro League Season 7 –Finals
- Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago
- ESL Pro League Season 8– Finals
Team Liquid 2019. It took 69 days.
Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella
Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
Keith “NAF” Markovic
The North American team completed the ESL challenge in just over two months. In the summer of 2019, they caught incredible momentum and easily defeated every opponent. Their game was not distinguished by strong tactical decisions. They just entered the server and defeated any opponent through strong shooting and confidence in their abilities. After such a rapid victory in IGS, the rules were changed, and a clarification was added that the next winners must win one of the two most prestigious tournaments of the IEM series (Katowice or Cologne). Interestingly, Team Liquid would have received their million dollars even under the updated rules. As their fourth victory, they raised not only the gold bars but also the IEM Cologne trophy:
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV — Sydney
- DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
- ESL Pro League Season 9 — Finals
- ESL One: Cologne 2019
NAVI 2021. It took 566 days.
Valerij “b1t” Vakhovsjkyj
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev
Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov
Egor “flamie” Vasilyev
The next winner had to wait for almost two years, but for the most part, it was due to COVID restrictions. The NAVI team of 2021 is perhaps the strongest team in the history of CS:GO. Almost all of their finals ended with an unconditional victory, with scores of 2:0/3:0. At that time, they truly had their own era, which they rightfully entered into the history of Counter-Strike, winning the third season of the Intel Grand Slam. They are also the only championship roster out of six players, as flamie played instead of bit in the first tournament. The rest of the tournaments were won with the young talent from their own academy.
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV — World Championship
- DreamHack Masters Spring 2021
- Intel Extreme Masters XVI — Cologne
- ESL Pro League Season 14
FaZe Clan 2023. It took 404 days.
Finn “karrigan” Andersen
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
Robin “ropz” Kool
Håvard “rain” Nygaard
Helvijs “broky” Saukants
They are currently the latest holders of the Intel Grand Slam and achieved this in the previous version of the game. FaZe Clan has hardly changed their roster for two years and are favorites in every tournament. Even now (April 2024), this roster is at the top of the HLTV rankings and is participating in the race for the fifth season. Not long ago, this lineup lost Twistzz – the only two-time champion of the Intel Grand Slam. It is noteworthy that FaZe won both of the most important tournaments of the IEM series and overfulfilled the minimum task:
- Intel Extreme Masters XVI — Katowice
- ESL Pro League Season 15
- Intel Extreme Masters XVII — Cologne
- ESL Pro League 17
Which teams are competing for victory in the 5th season?
It’s been about a year since FaZe Clan became IGS champions. During this period, a lot has already changed. Most teams have changed their rosters, but most importantly, competitions are now taking place in a new version of the game.
Currently, the following teams are participating in the race: Team Spirit, G2, FaZe Clan, Falcons, MOUZ, and Vitality. Undoubtedly, Team Spirit and G2 have the best chances of winning, as they have victories in IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne. But the G2 team only has 6 chances left, while Team Spirit retains all 9 attempts. Falcons currently face tasks of a completely different level; they need to sort out their roster and strive to participate in tier-1 events. Vitality has too few attempts left, so they are unlikely to become the holders of this prestigious trophy.
In 2024, six more ESL tournaments, including the current IEM Chengdu, will take place as part of the Intel Grand Slam.
– Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu
– ESL Pro League Season 19
– Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024
– Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024
– ESL Pro League Season 20
– Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024
FaZe, MOUZ, and G2 have an excellent opportunity to pull away from their competitors and earn a second victory in their account. But we may see a new champion who will become the leader and significantly push the others aside due to a larger number of attempts.