Highlights & Skins Used by Pros of the First CS:GO Major Event

Showtime! CS:GO community has always loved LAN events for spectacular matches, fierce battles between the best pro teams ever, and the atmosphere of the arenas.

In this article, we will go back in time to rewatch the greatest highlights of the first CS:GO Major and find out the aesthetic preferences of the pros that played there. Let’s go!

Brief Overview of a CS:GO Major Event

This is where it all began! DreamHack Winter 2013 was the biggest CS tournament at the time and the first-ever CS:GO Major event. It was an S-Tier LAN event with a $250,000 prize pool held in Jönköping, Sweden. Sixteen teams participated in the tournament: ten of them received direct invitations, and the others had to qualify.

The Swedish team fnatic became the champions of the first CS:GO Major tournament ever, but they are not the only players who made highlights in the matches. Let’s do a little recap by watching the historical highlights and also find out what CS:GO skins players used at the first CS:GO Major.

AWP | Graphite – kennyS vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

In their opening BO1 match in Group B, Kenny “kennyS” Schrub and his team Recursive lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Inferno with a 13:16 score. However, the French sniper stood out by hitting an amazing highlight.

kennyS played aggressively with his AWP | Graphite on Mid and successfully took out four enemy players trying to push the chokepoint. Although Recursive lost the match, kennyS finished the map with a 1.18 Rating and was acknowledged as the best player of the match.

AWP - Graphite

AWP | Graphite is a Classified sniper rifle skin released as a part of the Bravo Collection in September, 2013. Described as “a memento from Agency”, this skin has a chrome base coat complemented by a geometric pattern applied with metallic paints. It resembles polygons, and different parts of the weapon’s body have different levels of reflectiveness.

This weapon’s finish style is Anodized Multicolored. If you’re not sure what it means, read our article covering all finish styles of the weapon skins and how they differ.

AWP | Graphite is only available in Factory New and Minimal Wear conditions, and their price is almost the same – around $200. If you want a StatTrak™ version of this skin, get ready to pay double the price.

M4A1-S | Blood Tiger – GMX vs. fnatic

In the DreamHack Winter 2013 Quater-finals, Recursive faced fnatic. They lost the first map of the BO3 but managed to even score on the second map, Dust 2.

As a CT player, Robin ‘GMX’ Stahmer destroyed the enemies’ hope of winning a round. With his M4A4 | Blood Tiger, he denied the push through the Doubledoors on A Long by scoring four frags.

M4A1-S - Blood Tiger

M4A1-S | Blood Tiger is Mil-Spec graded skin released in November, 2013. It is decorated with a jungle tiger hydrographic pattern in black and red.

This M4A1-S finish is rather affordable. Battle-Scarred and Well-Worn variants do not exist, and the starting price is $3. You can get a StatTrak™ Factory New M4A1-S | Blood Tiger for $13.10.

AK-47 | Black Laminate – olofm vs. NiP

LGB esports started their run in the DreamHack Winter 2013 Playoffs with a BO3 against Ninjas in Pyjamas. Although LGB could not secure its spot in the Semi-finals, losing 1:2 to another Swedish team, Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer made his mark with a triple-kill on Dust 2.

On the T side, olofmeister pushed Cat and, with one clean spray, single-handedly wiped out all three enemy players who were defending A site. He did that with his AK-47 | Black Laminate.

AK-47 - Black Laminate

The Mil-Spec AK-47 | Black Laminate is one of the oldest skins in CS:GO. It was released within the Vertigo Collection that was brought by The Arms Deal Update in August, 2013. The wooden parts of the weapon were given a laminate stock which resulted in a beige and gray wavy pattern.

The prices of this AK-47 skin vary. It sells for $30 in Battle-Scarred condition and for $36 in Minimal Wear. However, Factory New variants cost around $115.

AK-47 | Case Hardened – shox vs. n!faculty

ACE time! In Group C, VeryGames faced n!faculty in a BO1 fight for a spot in the DreamHack Winter 2013 Playoffs. They beat the Norwegian team scoring 16:9 on Dust 2, and advanced to the next stage. Richard ‘shox’ Papillon hit an ace in one of the rounds, and it was acknowledged as one of the best highlights of the tournament.

shox opened A by coming out from Short and taking out two CT defenders. He pushed the site with his team and placed the C4. His teammates died, and the French player was left 1 vs. 3, but he managed to score the round. 5 enemies, 5 frags, 5 headshots – perfect ace with AK-47 | Case Hardened.

AK-47 - Case Hardened

AK-47 | Case Hardened is a part of the CS:GO Weapon Case released alongside the Arms Deal Update in August, 2013. The weapon was chemically case-hardened. By applying wood charcoal to the metal parts of this AK-47, the author coated them with blue, purple, and yellow stains.

Common patterns of AK-47 | Case Hardened sell for $135 minimum and $350 maximum. However, rare patterns, so-called “Blue Gems”, are sought after the most and cost a minimum of $1,500.

AK-47 | Red Laminate – Devilwalk vs. Na`Vi

fnatic played against Natus Vincere within Group A. It was a BO1 match on Mirage, and the Swedish team crushed the opponent by winning with a 16:9 score. In one of the T-side rounds, Jonatan ‘Devilwalk’ Lundberg performed a 1 vs. 3 clutch.

Devilwalk pushed the A site with his team and got his first frag on Stairs. He threw a flash grenade to blind opponents in Jungle and planted the C4. After being left in a 1 vs. 3 situation, the Swedish player finished off the enemy team and secured the win with his AK-47 | Red Laminate.

AK-47 - Red Laminate

AK-47 | Red Laminate is yet another skin from the “Laminate” series. It was released alongside the first-ever CS:GO weapon skins in August, 2013. It has been treated with a laminate stock and decorated with a red wavy pattern.

While Battle-Scarred AK-47 | Red Laminate costs a bit less than $30, Factory New variants sell for around $250. StatTrak™ feature is available for this skin – a Minimal Wear finish with a frag counter costs $130.

AK-47 | Predator – Xyp9x vs. VeryGames

Although CPH Wolves lost 2:1 to VeryGames in the first CS:GO Major’s Quater-finals, they showed a brilliant performance on the second map in the series, Mirage. Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth demolished the French team in one of the rounds, taking down all five players.

On T-side, Xyp9x was trying to enter the B site, and he opened the round with a frag on B Short. Then, the Danish player took down the defending sniper near the Forest and planted the bomb. In a matter of seconds, he killed the remaining CT players and secured an ace with an AK-47 | Predator .

AK-47 -Predator

The spray-painted AK-47 | Predator comes from the Dust Collection which Valve released within the Arms Deal update in August, 2013. This skin is graded as Industrial, and it is complemented with a camouflage-styled animalistic pattern in brown and khaki.

You can get a Field-Tested AK-47 | Predator for $17 or a Factory New variant for around $50. There are no StatTrak™ nor Souvenir versions of this weapon finish.

AWP | Lightning Strike – Nico vs. Astana Dragons

Xyp9x’s teammate, Nicolaj ‘Nico’ Jensen , had a blast in the match against Astana Dragons which was held within Group D of the Major’s Group Stage. CPH Wolves won the BO1 on Nuke with a 16:7 score, and Danish player Nico made an awesome highlight.

With his trusty AWP | Lightning Strike, Nico first took down the unaware T opponent on the Outside, then secured a 1 v. 2 clutch by fragging the rest of the enemy team on the A site, and defused the planted bomb. He finished the map with a 3.0 K/D and a 1.86 rating.

AWP - Lightning Strike

AWP | Lightning Strike is a rare Covert skin released within the CS:GO Weapon Case in August, 2013. This weapon is Anodized Multicolored, and it has a massive realistic lightning bolt depicted on the metallic purple coat.

This is a rare and quite pricey skin for one of the most popular firearms in CS:GO. It is only available in Factory New and Minimal Wear conditions because the skin’s float value ranges from 0.00 to 0.08. Both variants cost around $500.

Fnatic’s Winning Moment at the First-Ever CS:GO Major Tournament

The Swedish fnatic had a great run at the DreamHack Winter 2013 SteelSeries CS:GO Championship and made history by becoming the winners of the first-ever CS:GO Major Tournament. Here are the last moments of the Grand Final captured on camera.

Jonatan ‘Devilwalk’ Lundberg was so excited to win $100,000 that he took down his pants, and Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell was later recognized as the Most Valuable Player of the event. It was a great tournament!

To Wrap Up!

Ah, the good old days of Counter-Strike! We hope you enjoyed rewatching the highlights from the DreamHack Winter 2013 with us and have already chosen a new skin to add to your collection. Owning a striking CS:GO skin is a great way to show off on the server and add a little bit of spice to the gameplay.

Explore our blog for more articles about CS:GO skins and other cosmetics, in-depth game guides, and esports news. See you, gamer!