It’s common for CS:GO matches to go into overtime, but on May 25 Portuguese team SAW stunned the fans by playing 222 rounds in just two sets. In the BetBoom Playlist Freedom 2023 and ESL Challenger League Season 45 Europe, the Iberian team faced off against Movistar Riders and 1WIN, respectively. According to HLTV, SAW played nine overtimes in each series, culminating in a marathon run of 222 rounds. In addition to Nuke, Vertigo, Anubis, and Ancient, SAW also played Overpass twice.
Overpass featured twice in Saw’s mammoth series. Image via Valve
It goes without saying that playing 222 rounds in just one day must be exhausting, averaging 37 rounds on each map. Unfortunately for them, they only ended up winning the series against Movistar Riders. They lost their clash with 1WIN and were eliminated from the tournament.
Tier-two teams are known for constantly grinding and trying to level up their game. Many of them compete in multiple tournaments every month, and some of them are able to reach great heights thanks to this. The last CS:GO Major in Paris saw four tier-two squads in the playoffs—Apeks, GamerLegion, Monte, and Into the Breach—with siuhy and his crew going all the way to the finals.
But playing so many tournaments can take a toll on teams, which has often been echoed by pro players. FaZe Clan’s Twistzz said he had “no shame in saying that I am exhausted” after falling short at IEM Rio on April 20.
FaZe qualified for the Paris Major via the RMR conducted in Copenhagen, Denmark two days before the event and immediately had to travel to Brazil for the next tournament. Just two weeks after their journey in Rio de Janeiro had finished, the Parisian Major began.
With CS:GO’s schedule being so tight, we hope there aren’t many more cases like SAW’s—for the sake of their own health and well-being.