Monte Win First ESL Challenger CS2 Tournament in Jönköping

Amidst the chaos of the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023, it’s easy to forget that the first-ever ESL Challenger CS2 tournament was ongoing in Jönköping. The Grand Final came down to Monte and Eternal Fire, with the Ukrainian roster emerging on top against XANTARES and co.

Monte’s Long Wait

This victory has been a long time coming for Monte. They’ve always been known as a team of grinders, but their only real CS tournament wins came during CCT events. In bigger tournaments, Monte have established themselves as a consistent Playoff contender, but have never taken the necessary steps toward victory. A recent runners-up defeat in the Roobet Cup 2023 against Virtus.pro was just the latest salt in the wound.

At the ESL Challenger CS2 tournament in Jönköping, Monte finally exercised their demons, 2:0’ing Eternal Fire to take home a cool $50,000 cash prize, as well as securing their place at ESL Pro League Season 19. Crucially, it’s a first-ever LAN tournament victory for the team, who can now hope to take this winning experience onto bigger stages.

Monte’s ESL Challenger CS2 Run in Jönköping

Despite not being the biggest event on the block, the ESL Challenger CS2 tournament in Jönköping offered some stiff opposition for Monte. Their opener came against TYLOO, the best CS team China has to offer. Then there was Nouns, who, fair enough, you probably expect Monte to beat.

After this though, it was strong Tier 1 opposition all the way. In the Semi-Final, they took some revenge on Virtus.pro, in a hard-fought 2:1 victory. Then came the Final against Eternal Fire, where again they dug deep to secure the trophy.

While CS is a team game, it was individual brilliance that saw them over the line here. IGL sdy had what he called on Twitter a “life tournament,” and it took young Danish rifler br0 dropping a colossal 36-kill map against Eternal Fire (while battling illness!) to ensure the series didn’t go to the wire. After this ESL Challenger CS2 tournament, Monte will hope to take this winning momentum into bigger and better achievements.