As the sun sets on the month of October, it also sets on many Counter-Strike teams, now faced with heartbreak. The final game that will have any meaningful bearing on the race for the Singapore Major has been played, and many teams will be wondering where they went wrong.

But not our babies. They f-cking did it.

But first, let’s go back a few days. In a miraculous run from as far back as a chance smaller than 5%, Eternal Fire took down MIBR and fnatic to put themselves in contention for a spot at the Major. As events across the pond progressed slightly against the favour of 100 Thieves, the team inched closer to a confirmed spot at Singapore.

A remarkable feat for a team that probably nobody thinks has any real business at a Major. We’re happy if MisteM can keep proving us wrong on that, though.

The Asian race is one we can’t really wrap our heads around. While Lynn Vision had effectively knocked themselves out of the race by falling to dubious opposition in an open qualifier, just as we thought they were out, TYLOO pulled them back in.

As the now-chickenpox-free team opted to attend IEM Beijing, they were forced to forfeit the quarter-final in Portugal’s HyperX to Metizport. Presumably this was always the idea, but a loss to Iberian Soul in the group stage made the event too costly, and they slipped out of the Major.

5star somehow made the stressful trip from Ulaanbaatar to Moscow, but in the end it was for nought. HOTU took them down in the semi-final, setting up a grand final to decide the destiny of the Siberian team.

The American race ended somewhat anticlimactically, as paiN’s early elimination from Gamers Club Masters secured Imperial the Major well before the event had even finished. Similarly, a group stage stumble from Wildcard set up a quarter-final against NRG, both teams with a chance at locking the other one out of the Major early. Wildcard ended up being the victor.

Going into Sunday’s games, Europe was the only race not more or less settled. A win over 1win in the Moscow grand final would have secured HOTU a spot at the Major, but nafany’s men proved too strong, meaning Sunday would finish even tighter than expected.

As the semi-finals in Buenos Aires progressed, BESTIA were knocked out to officially confirm Wildcard’s Major spot, and Fnatic’s slim hopes faded as Wildcard disposed of local Brazilians who could have thrown a spanner in the works. HOTU’s hopes now rested on Wildcard, while 100 Thieves needed the trophy to clear the bar.

And they really wanted it.

The editorial team here at TLDR rose in more ways than one as last night’s grand final of FiRE Last Chance wrapped up. A double overtime opener on Cache eventually fell the way of 100 Thieves, and with momentum in hand Gizmy’s men seized the Major spot with both hands.

device and rain topped the stats charts, with the former ending the final map of Dust2 with a 2.05 rating. Gizmy returns to the Major, while sirah and poiii are set to attend their first-ever Majors.

It’s heartbreak for HOTU and fnatic, both of whom made miracle runs to even put themselves in contention, while once near-confirmed teams like B8 and Alliance will be examining their entire season to find where they went wrong.

But do you know what? We don’t care. We’re gonna slap poiii signatures on all our weapons. Congrats, kid.