U.K CS:GO team Into the Breach accomplished in 2023 what no other squad from the region has done since Valve’s FPS launched in 2012. They already made history in April by qualifying for the BLAST Paris Major—the first time ever that a U.K.-majority roster secured a spot in a Major—and kept the dream alive on May 16 after eliminating Fnatic from the tourney to reach the playoffs.
The quintet of in-game leader Thomas Utting, riflers Cai “CYPER” Watson, Sebastian “volt” Malos, Karol “rallen” Rodowicz, and AWPer Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel are hands down playing the best CS:GO of their lives at the BLAST Paris Major and all their efforts culminated in a reverse sweep against Fnatic today.
Related: All CS:GO teams qualified for BLAST Paris Major playoffs
Every reasonable CS:GO pundit likely thought Into the Breach were done after Fnatic dispatched them on Inferno (16-12), the U.K. team’s own map pick. But instead, the loss was their wake-up call. Into the Breach produced a 14-1 CT side half on Overpass and won the map 16-8 to tie the series, then knocked Fnatic out in incredible fashion on Vertigo (16-4).
The veteran Dutch AWPer CRUC1AL was clearly the name of the series as not only did he outfrag every single player on Fnatic, but also CYPER, who has been Into the Breach’s star since the RMR in April. CRUC1AL finished with a positive K/D of 23 and had a 1.35 rating after the three maps played against Fnatic in the BLAST Paris Major Legends Stage on May 16, according to HLTV.
Although nobody should disregard Into the Breach’s chances in the BLAST Paris Major playoffs, it’s still unlikely they’ll win the whole tournament. Nevertheless, they have already accomplished so much for their region since the lineup was created in February 2023 and have a solid foundation to work on ahead of the release of Counter-Strike 2 this summer.
