"Pros' perspectives" is a feature series which sees a variety of well known past and present Counter-Strike professionals all giving their answer to a single question. In the fourth edition find out which match from each player's career stands out as the best they ever played in.

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Question: What's the best match you ever played in?

AdreN:

k23 vs wNv.cn at WCG 2009. We played on stage, and obviously there was a huge crowd cheering for wNv. We managed to win in a very tight game.

allen:

I'm gonna say a match early in my career against fnatic on nuke, I ended up 30-6 on the scoreboard as CT I think!

approx:

The IEM III Continental Final Europe, in the final against mTw on train. mTw led 11 to 4, but then we started a phenomenal comeback as CT and brought it to an overtime. We lost the game but it was still one of the best games I was in.

B1ad3:

I can't recall a specific game in particular, there were a lot of them in my career. I believe the last one was a LAN match against Na'Vi in the semi-finals of the 2011 WCG Ukrainian qualifier.

bit:

I would say the Dreamhack Winter 2007 final against SK. We won that final 16-11, but it was just crazy to play that final, because there was a big crowd cheering for SK and a drunk swedish guy cheering for us (lol). I remember that when they won a round people were screaming so loud.

bsl:

I was lucky enough to play two finals when the entire world was watching. Unfortunatly I lost both but they are nice memories nevertheless.

cArn:

Can't really name just one game, but I personally had some really great games in 2007 during ESWC and NGL, that was the year I was named the second best player after NEO and I felt fairly unstoppable.

da bears:

The CGS Season 1 North American finals. Personally it wasn't my best performance, but as a team we had to win an absurd amount of rounds to get our franchise back into the match. And before that we did an interview saying we want it all on us. We ended up winning the CSS match 13-6? I don't remember the score to be honest, lol, but we got our CGS team back in it.

dsn:

The semi-final at ESWC 2006 versus 3D on train. We were down a lot after starting as T, but managed to come back to win it 16-14. For some reason that game will always be special to me, because it was our big breakthrough versus stellar competition.

evolution:

vs. fnatic at KODE5 2008

fisker:

I have a very bad memory to be honest, don't remember games or rounds, except for the stuff that has been recorded. Might have been CPL Summer 2003, think I made some clutch rounds there when we were low on cash :)

gfn:

I think the best match I ever played in was probably the final of the MSI Beat It cup in Beijing, where we beat fnatic to win the tourney. It wasn't really due to my performance, but mainly because we won the tournament. After years and years of attending international tournaments, it was my first time coming away with a first place finish. It really felt good accomplishing something that I had wanted for so long.

hooch:

M5team vs. M19 in the NPCL 2004 semi-finals, three maps with at least two overtimes on every map.

Kapio:

WSVG ISC 2006 in Dallas, I guess it was the quarter-final against fnatic on train. I played in Alternate and in that year and we didn't win any game against them. I had the feeling that we could go far at every event, but fnatic was always there to smash our goals :) Especially on train fnatic was strong, and it wasn't one of our best maps.

But on that day I swore to myself I wouldn't lose against them. I was so full of adrenaline and motivated like never before or after. I clutched the pistol round, made some important first frags and killed three players in a 3on5 or 3on4 situation at a very important stage of the match.

lurppis:

I can't think of a single best game off the top of my head, so there's a chance I'm missing something, but one series I remember is facing fnatic in the NGL ONE 2007/2008 grand finals in two best-of-three sets in February 2008. We came from the lower bracket and took them down 16-13 and 16-12 on nuke and dust2. In the second set we lost nuke 10-16 but won train 16-8. It all came down to inferno, which ended 14-16, unfortunately in their favor, but overall playing five such close maps, where we won three of them, was pretty great, even if we lost in the end.

mysse:

Probably the CPL Winter 2002 final vs. 3D, it was an awful performance from us but still it was the finals.

natu:

Many many great games, but in a bittersweet fashion I remember the WCG 2009 quarter-final against AGAiN from Poland. We lost to the eventual winners of the event with a 43-45 score in a bo3. It was very intense and a memorable game. We still try not to think about that game too much though!

NEO:

The IEM V World Championships against SK in semi-final. We had a huge comeback, and I was satisfied with my personal game.

niko:

When we ( Lions) won vs. k23 in the ASUS Summer 2010 final in overtime.

pita:

The best game is certainly the one against SK Gaming back in 2009, when I played with Begrip at the IOL Finals. We came out thinking "let's give these guys a good game" but came out with a 2-0 victory. For me personally I played the best game of my life.

But I also have another favourite, which is against the polish Vitriolic (today's ESC) in the semi-final of IEM IV Dubai. We won the first map with 16-1 and the other with 16-5. I remeber us being so motivated. I have never felt that motivation before a game. This is the one and only time I can honestly say: Losing was not an option, it was something that my brain couldn't accept.

plastE:

At NGL S4 final, when we played against fnatic with roccat. I don't remember how many maps we played but that was like two best of threes or something like that. We lost that match after some overtimes, but I remember that match was really good after all.

Potti:

The second map of the CPL Winter 2001 vs. X3, I had some clutch rounds and a lot of entry kills, opening up the map for my team.

Rambo:

I seem to remember the matches I lose a lot more vividly then the ones I performed well in. I do remember making some big plays in the WCG grand finals in 2005 in Singapore for the gold medal.

Savage:

The CPL China 2006 semi-final, versus Hacker, it was really a hard match.

trace:

Off the top of my head, the WCG final in 2010 vs Na´Vi.

XeqtR:

The CPL Winter 2004 final with NoA vs. EYE, coming from the lower bracket and winning two times for the championship. We managed to win a couple of deagle/p228 rounds that really shifted the momentum in those games, fun times.

Xp3:

At CPL Winter 2006 I played an amazing tourney overall, and we ( aAa) placed fourth there. Especially against X7-Hacker, the best chinese team, I remember myself giving them an hard time.

Zonic:

Probably our semi-final at KODE5 2008 against SK Gaming, where we lost 7-8 as CT on train if I remember correctly (on the 3rd map), but managed to come back as T and won.

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Pros' perspectives will return soon with another edition, as the panel of former and present day pros give their take on another of CS history's big questions.