DreamHack Winter 2014

Format

For DreamHack Winter 2014, the top eight teams from the previous Major, ESL One Cologne 2014, were initially given automatic invites as Legends. However, a cheating scandal led to two of those invites being pulled, which opened up ten Challenger slots. Those spots were filled through a combination of qualifiers and direct invitations. Five European teams, one North American team, and two teams from a Last Call LAN Qualifier earned their way in through competition.

After those qualifiers ended, two more teams received direct invites to complete the field. The tournament used four groups with all matches being best-of-one. In each group, the top seed faced the bottom seed, while the second and third seeds played each other. The winners of those two matches then faced off, with the victor advancing to the playoffs.

The losers of the first matches also played, and the loser of that match was eliminated. The two remaining teams then played a decisive match for the second playoff spot. This structure is called the GSL format, borrowed from the Global StarCraft II League. The playoffs featured eight teams, two from each group, in a single-elimination bracket where all matches were best-of-three.

The seven-map pool stayed the same as at ESL One Cologne 2014. During the group stage, each team banned two maps, and the map was randomly chosen from the three left. In the playoffs, each team first banned one map and then picked one. Those two picks became the first two maps of the series. If a third map was required, it was randomly selected from the three remaining maps.

Olofboost controversy

DreamHack Winter 2014 was the site of the Fnatic pixel-walking controversy, commonly called the Olofboost. The dispute centered on plays made by Swedish player Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson. Fnatic and Team LDLC.com had advanced from the group stage and faced each other in the quarterfinals. LDLC won the first game on Dust II 16–10, and Fnatic won the second game 16–8 on Cache.

The third game was played on Overpass. LDLC won the first half 12–3. After LDLC won the first round of the second half to make the score 13–3, olofmeister exploited an invisible pixel-walk glitch, allowing him to use illegal boosts and jumps to gain increased height, enabling him to see more of the map and shoot from a greater height unseen by LDLC. Fnatic won thirteen consecutive rounds and the game 16–13, advancing to the semifinals.

After the match, Fnatic coach Jonatan "Devilwalk" Lundberg revealed the team had practiced the boost strat two months before the Major. LDLC lodged a protest to DreamHack, claiming Fnatic used an illegal pixelwalk on invisible ledges outside the map geometry. LDLC player Nathan "NBK" Schmidt criticized the move, saying the CS:GO scene would turn into a joke if Fnatic were not disqualified. Semifinalists Ninjas in Pyjamas and Virtus.pro supported LDLC, with Virtus.pro tweeting that Fnatic had no respect for the fans.

DreamHack ruled in favor of LDLC and ordered the second half replayed. Fnatic counter-protested that LDLC also used a pixelwalk. DreamHack then ordered the entire game replayed, but after intense backlash, Fnatic forfeited the map, becoming the first team to forfeit a match in Major history. LDLC advanced to the semifinals against Natus Vincere and won 2–0.

LDLC defeated defending Major champions Ninjas in Pyjamas in the grand final, winning the organization's first Major championship. Fnatic later won ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015, becoming the first organization to win multiple Majors and the first to win back-to-back Majors.

Teams

The biggest shake-up before the Major involved a cheating scandal with three French players. Two teams that had earned Legends status at the prior Major lost those spots. Titan, whose players had reached Legends as Team LDLC.com, was kicked out after Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian was caught cheating. Epsilon eSports was also disqualified after Gordon "Sf" Giry was found cheating. Valve issued VAC bans to both players and Simon "smn" Beck, permanently barring them from all Valve-sponsored events, including Majors. Copenhagen Wolves and Flipsid3 Tactics, who came through a new qualifier, took the vacant spots.