BIG is a German esports organization, which emerged as the result of the departure of three players from NRG. BIG quickly grew from an ambitious roster into a decent team that can compete with top teams on the Counter-Strike scene.
We present to your attention the brief history of the tag.
The first appearance
The tag BIG appeared in the esports space for the first time in 2017. It was the team, which was formed by three former members of the organization NRG: gob b, LEGIJA, and tabseN. Three players invited nex and keev to the team later.
The first results
The first year was pretty good for the new team. In the month of its creation, BIG held the second place at DreamHack Leipzig 2017 and achieved victory at iGame Winter Invitational a month later.
The team won a few weekly tournaments later and participated in a row of qualifying championships but it did not achieve prominent results.
In April 2017, BIG placed 3rd-4th at Copenhagen Games 2017 and 2nd at ESEA Season 24: Premier Division – Europe.
В мае 2017 BIG победили на ESL Meisterschaft: Spring 2017, тем самым доказав свое превосходство на германской CSGO-сцене. Следом было 2-е место на ESEA Season 24: Global Challenge.
BIG prevailed at ESL Meisterschaft: Spring 2017 in May 2017, which proved its leadership on the German CS:GO scene.
In June 2017, BIG held the 2nd place at Farmskins Championship #1 and then won Europe Minor Championship – Krakow 2017, at which they earned a spot in the first Major tournament for the organization
Surprisingly for many people, BIG demonstrated a pretty decent result at the championship. The team managed to make it to the top 8, having placed 5th-8th. However, the success did not have a very positive impact on BIG. After the performance at PGL Major Krakow 2017, the team started showing a very unstable play.
They held the 5th-6th place at EGS Tour Mykonos 2017, the 3rd-4th place at Hellcase Cup #6, and the 2nd place at DreamHack Open Denver 2017 and Esports World Convention 2017 – Paris Game Week. Then, it was followed by the 14th place at ESL Pro League Season 6 – Europe, the 9th-12th place at WESG 2017 Europe Finals, and the 5th-6th place at DreamHack Open Winter 2017.
2018 and the failures at the Majors
The season 2018 began for BIG with the devastating loss at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018. Then, the loss transformed into the 5th-8th place at Farmskins Championship #2, which consequently led to replacements on the roster.
Keev left the team and his spot was taken by tiziaN who was bought from ALTERNATE aTTaX for the record-breaking sum in the history of German transfers by BIG. Also, LEGIJA was tested in the new role: he became the playing coach of BIG. However, BIG faced changes again after a row of failed performances in April. Smooya joined the squad.
The transfer of the British freshed the performance by BIG, which led to a row of good performances. BIG prevailed at ESEA 27: Global Challenge, held the 5th-6th place at ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018, and the 2nd place at ESL One: Cologne 2018.
BIG performed at its third Major tournament in September 2018. It was FACEIT Major: London 2018 and BIG finished 5th-8th at the championship, having repeated the result of PGL Krakow Major 2017.
After that, BIG placed 5th-8th at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6, 3rd at cs_summit 3, 9th-12th at Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Chicago, 3rd at ESL Pro League Season 8 – Europe and SuperNova Malta 2018.
BIG finished the year with the 9th-12th place at ESL Pro League Season 8 – Finals. Besides not the most successful performance in the 8th season of ESL Pro League, BIG had roster changes at the end of the year: the club signed XANTARES who replaced nex.
The period of instability and moving online
2019 started well: the team held the 3rd position at ELEAGUE CS:GO Invitational 2019 and the 3rd-4th place at WePlay! Lock and Load. Also, the team managed to pass the qualifiers to Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Katowice Major. However, the results changed drastically after that.
At the Major, BIG demonstrated the absolutely bad play, which brought the team right to the 15th-16th place. After that, smooya left the active roster and nex returned, however, it changed nothing. BIG failed at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 7, Intel Extreme Masters XIV – Sydney, ESL Pro League Season 9 –Europe, ESL One: Cologne 2019, and Europe Minor Championship – Berlin 2019.
It rehabilitated a bit only after the 3rd-4th place at GG.Bet New York Invitational in August 2019. However, there was a row of failed tournaments, not the most titled ones, again in September.
Trying to improve the situation, BIG made roster changes: gob b switched his role to a coaching spot, LEGIJA and nex returned to the active roster. However, such actions did not bring success, despite BIG holding prize places at European Champions Cup and WESG 2019 Central Europe & Iberia by the end of the year.
2020 began with the reorganization of the roster: syrsoN and k1to arrived in the team, they replaced nex and smooya, gob b became a manager of the team.
These changes worked in the long run. The team started showing good results, winning different tournaments from time to time.
In January, they achieved victory at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020, held the 1st-2nd place in the qualifiers to Flashpoint Season 1: LAN Qualifier. Later, there was a miss in the form of the 16th-18th place at ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe, however, the roster managed to rehabilitate quickly.
BIG won two tournaments in the HomeSweetHome series in April. The team placed 1st at Merkur Masters Season 1 and 2nd at ESL Meisterchaft: Spring 2020.
Summer began with the victory at DreamHack Masters Spring 2020: Europe and continued with the victories at cs_summit 6 Online and DreamHack Open Summer 2020: Europe.
However, the results became worse when autumn came. Initially, the team held the 13th-16th place at ESL One: Cologne 2020 Onilne – Europe, after which finished 5th-6th at ESL Pro League Season 12: Europe and Intel Extreme Masters XV – New York Online: Europe. Also, BIG placed 5th-8th at Intel Extreme Masters XV – Beijing Online: Europe.
BIG finished 2020 with the third place at BLAST Premier: Fall 2020 and the 3rd-4th place at Intel Extreme Masters XV – Global Challenge.
The team held the 2nd position at ESL Meisterschaft: Autumn 2020 in January 2021.
The organization and rewards
Daniel Finkler is the CEO of BIG. Christian Lenz and gob b work as managers. The role of an in-game leader is taken by tabseN and the coaching spot is held by DuDe.
BIG has sponsorship relations with a row of famous brands, including Betway, SkinBaron, OMEN by HP, Corsair, Backforce, Volvic, and Blocksport.
Since its creation, the CS:GO branch has earned more than 1 million dollars of prize money for the organization
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