Quickfire Announces First-Ever Malta CS:GO Invitational
Published: Sep 19, 2018 - Last Updated: Oct 13, 2021
Europe is one of the fastest growing esports markets in the world at the moment. It’s exciting to see a number of big new esports tournaments across the continent featuring some of the world’s finest teams and players.
On that note, this week, Quickfire announced a new event in Malta. It will feature eight of the very best CSGO teams battling it out Nov. 29 through Dec. 2 for a $150,000 prize pool. The Supernova CS:GO Malta will call the Intercontinental Arena Conference Centre in St Julian’s its home.
The host nation
Although best known as a beautiful year-round holiday destination, Malta boasts a burgeoning reputation as an esports hotspot in Europe.
Earlier this year, Quickfire and FACEIT joined forces with a number of sponsors, including Esportsbets.com, to host the CS:GO Hotshot Series. Teams from all over Europe are competing throughout the year to land a €1,000 prize in each of the eight online tournaments, plus a chance to play in the Grand Hotshots finale in October, which will be hosted on the island.
It’s worth noting the Intercontinental Arena Conference Centre has been specifically designed to host large conferences and technology events. That’s to say, the infrastructure is already in place to ensure the esports tournament will thrive.
The Supernova CS:GO Malta details
This will be the first esports event in Malta to feature Tier 1 teams from the ultra-competitive CS:GO esports community. The $150,000 prize pool confirms this event will certainly appeal to the top teams.
The first of the eight invited teams to the event have been chosen. Virtus.pro and BIG have confirmed their participation in the tournament.
Virtus pro
Virtus.pro is a Russian esports organisation that currently boasts a squad comprising entirely of Polish players and a Polish coach. Two players, “NEO” and “pashaBiceps,“ have been with the team since January 2014. Coach “kuben” joined back in February 2015. The three other team members — “MICHU,” morelz,” and “snatchie” — joined up at various points in 2018.
Although its performances in 2018 have been below expectations, the team has enjoyed extensive success since 2014. They’ve won a number of notable tournaments, including:
- ESL Major Series One Katowice 2014 – $100,000
- ESEA Season 18 Global Invite Division – $70,000
- ESL ESEA Pro League Invitational – $100,000
- ELEAGUE Season 1 – $400,000
- DreamHack Open Bucharest 2016 – $50,000
- DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 – $200,000
In addition, the team has also enjoyed three second-place finishes at EPICENTER 2017, ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017, and EPICENTER 2016.
Their best performances so far in 2018 were two second place finishes at the V4 Future Sports Festival Budapest 2018 in March and CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 in June.
They will be looking to bounce back in the coming weeks after a poor performance at the FACEIT 2018 Major in London. There, they lost all three of their games in the opening New Challengers Stage and were eliminated from the tournament at the first hurdle.
BIG
BIG is an acronym for Berlin International Gaming. “gob b,” “tabseN,” and “LEGIJA” founded this German squad in January 2017. The trio remain part of the team with the former two serving as players; “LEGIJA” serves as the coach. Other members of the team include “nex” and “tiziaN.” The only non-German player on the squad, “smooya,” hails from Great Britain.
Although a relatively new team to the CS:GO esports community, the team has enjoyed some notable victories in Major and Minor events:
- iGame Winter Invitational – $7,500
- ESL Meisterschaft Spring 2017 – $8,799
- Europe Minor Championship Krakow 2017 – $30,000
- ESEA Season 27 Global Challenge – $18,000
The team also performed superbly to reach the final of the ESL One: Cologne 2018 event, where they were pipped to victory by Natus Vincere.
They have further increased their profile at the currently underway FACEIT 2018 Major in London. They qualified from both the New Challenger and New Legends stages to reach the New Champions Stage, where they will shortly take on their old rivals Natus Vincere once again. This performance has guaranteed them a coveted spot at the next IEM Katowice Major 2019 as one of the Current Legends.
The field
Quickfire will announce the remaining six places for Malta on its website in the coming weeks.
StarLadder will co-produce the event alongside Quickfire. What’s more, The Supernova CS:GO Malta has attracted a number of high profile sponsors. These include AirMalta, the Malta Tourism Authority, Gaming Malta, Intercontinental Malta, and Holiday Inn Express.
Tickets are on sale now.
Since: August 10, 2015
