In just the first map of a three game series at the StarLadder Berlin Major, NRG Esports and Astralis tied the record for the longest map at a CS:GO major.

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NRG Esports and Astralis needed 59 rounds to settle things on Train. And the best part? That was only map one in a best-of-three series. Both teams had stellar T side halves, but it was four straight CT wins from NRG to close out regular time, and force a 15-15 draw that sent us to the first overtime.

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For four consecutive overtimes, made up of six rounds each, NRG and Astralis would trade rounds back-and-forth, and trade highlights as well, as both teams sought to take that 1-0 series advantage by any means necessary. Not only did Cvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov star in most of the highlights that came from this map, he led the way for NRG with 52 kills (against 38 death) and stellar AWP play.

Astralis had a very good team performance, with no lone player noticeably falling behind, but there was no standout player to contend with the hot streak that CeRq was on.

With a final scoreline of 31-28 in favor of NRG Esports, this map officially tied the record for the longest map to take place at a CS:GO major.

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In 2016, in the group stages of MLG Columbus major, mousesports and FlipSid3 Tactics went to 59 rounds as well, as Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač and Chris ‘chrisJ’ de Jong carried mousesports to victory 31-28 with 52 and 50 kills respectively. 

Unfortunately, FlipSid3 would be eliminated, and mousesports weren’t able to advance out of groups despite the exhaustive win. 

The longest ever CS:GO match on record? That honor belongs to XENEX and exceL, who went 88 rounds in an ESL UK Premiership match in 2015. XENEX won that map on Inferno 46-42 after 2 hours and 43 minutes. They also won the series 2-0.

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To put in perspective how long the NRG-Astrais map went, the North and Ninjas in Pyjamas match on the second stream started long after NRG and Astralis did, and were already on to map two while the record-tying map was still going on.

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But there’s no rest for the weary competitors, as they headed into the second map of the series on Nuke. With all the momentum and no signs of slowing down, NRG defeated Astralis handily, 16-4. 

NRG Esports joins ENCE in the Champions stage, who qualified after a much less competitive 2-0 victory against Team Vitality.

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