This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.
The dust is finally settling after an exhausting DreamHack Winter weekend. Tournaments spanning multiple titles would leave us all with our mouths agape as champions, both new and old, would see glory while their opponents would be left looking towards next year.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, strangely enough, would have the largest prize pool at the event, and the title would see a tremendous boom in audience interest with over 100,000 people tuning through Twitch.tv. DreamHack's Dota 2 league, the ASUS ROG DreamLeague, would wrap up it's inaugural season with the four best teams from their regular season duking it out. The DreamHack Open StarCraft 2 tournament would see a familiar face from a familiar team take another title. Quake, an iconic title for so many people, would see a fantastic duel between two masters of their craft. Street Fight IV, often overlooked at DreamHack, would set record breaking numbers for a European fighting game tournament.
1st. Fnatic | $100,000 |
2nd. Ninjas in Pyjamas | $50,000 |
3rd/4th. compLexity | $22,000 |
3rd/4th. Very Games | $22,000 |
5th - 8th. Astrana Dragons | $10,000 |
5th - 8th. LGB eSports | $10,000 |
5th - 8th. Recursive | $10,000 |
5th - 8th. Copenhagen Wolves | $10,000 |
8th - 16th. Clan Mystik | $2,000 |
8th - 16th. iBUYPOWER | $2,000 |
8th - 16th. Universal Soldiers | $2,000 |
8th - 16th. nfaculty | $2,000 |
8th - 16th. SK-Gaming | $2,000 |
8th - 16th. Xapso | $2,000 |
8th - 16th. Reason Gaming | $2,000 |
StarCraft 2 and DreamHack have been kind to one another over the years. The finals would see two young, renowned, champions facing off. Team Liquid's Yun 'TaeJa' Young, a Terran, Seo would battle Lee 'Life' Seung, a Zerg, in a best of seven in the Dream Arena. Yun would walk away the victor, going 4/2. This is Yun's second DreamHack win a row, and the third year that a Team Liquid player has won DreamHack Winter.
Taeja | 200,000 kr |
Life | 100,000 kr |
Patience | 60,000 kr |
INnoVation | 40,000 kr |
5th/6th. JYP | 30,000 kr |
5th/6th. MMA | 30,000 kr |
7th/8th. NaNiwa | 20,000 kr |
7th/8th. Polt | 20,000 kr |
Fnatic would convincingly 3/0 Na'vi to send them to the lower bracket. In the Grand Finals the two would meet again, and Na'vi would return the favor with a swift and decisive 3/0 of their own to claim the championship.
1st. Natus Vincere | $25,000 |
2nd. Fnatic | $15,000 |
3rd. Alliance | $7,500 |
4th. Team Liquid | $2,500 |
The League of Legends tournament would see an post Ocelot SK Gaming take the DreamHack Winter 2013 title. Reassuring for fans of the organization, this win bodes well for the team as they creep into 2014.
1st. SK Gaming | 70,000 kr |
2nd. Kiedyś Miałem Team | 35,000 kr |
3rd/4th. Intellectual Playground | 25,000 kr |
3rd/4th. LowLandLions | 25,000 kr |
5th - 8th. Team Property | 10,000 kr |
5th - 8th. Tricked eSport | 10,000 kr |
5th - 8th. Eternity Gaming | 10,000 kr |
5th - 8th. Storm Games Clan | 10,000 kr |
The Quake finals would see legendary rivals Alexey 'Cypher' Yanushevsky and Shane 'rapha' Hendrixson fight, once more, for the title of best Quake player on the planet. This time Yanushevsky would walk away the winner.
1st. Cypher | 50,000 kr |
2nd. rapha | 25,000 kr |
3rd. evil | 15,000 kr |
4th. Av3k | 10,000 kr |
Fighting Game events in Europe typically aren't as well attended nor watched as their North American counterparts. However, according to Twitch.tv's Ben Goldhaber DreamHack's Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition tournament may have been the most viewed European fighting game event of all time.
17k viewers for @DreamHack Energizer Street Fighter IV tournament. To my knowledge, this is the largest viewership in EU FGC history.
— Ben Goldhaber (@FishStix) November 30, 2013
Daigo, the beast, would take the crown.
1st. Daigo | 50,000 kr |
2nd. Gamerbee | 25,000 kr |
3rd. Luffy | 15,000 kr |
4th. Mago | 10,000 kr |
Photo Credit: Helena Kristiansson, Carl Oscar Aaro, Frederike Schmitt, and DreamHack