UK esports organisation Into the Breach made history this Easter weekend as they battled their way through the European RMR to reach the CSGO Paris Major 2023.
They beat Sprout 16-7, Virtus Pro 16-13 and B8 in a best-of-three 2-1, after narrowly falling to Navi on the first day 22-19, to become the first UK team to qualify for a CSGO Major.
This means Into the Breach qualify as Legends, behind Navi and Fnatic. The fourth Legends team is still to be decided at the time of writing, as GamerLegion are playing against Bad News Eagles right now.
The news comes after Into the Breach and fellow UK org Viperio qualified for the European RMR back in February.
Viperio sadly failed to progress to the Major, after a string of losses at the European RMR to Fnatic (22-20), Bad News Eagles (16-9) and Sprout (2-1 in a best-of-three).
London-based Fnatic, meanwhile, had a perfect 3-0 in the European RMR, as their player Mezii became the first UK player to reach the Paris Major.
But with Fnatic expecting to qualify for majors like this, the real news is Into the Breach making history for UK esports.
“I’m so happy we were able to do this with a UK line-up, it means a lot to me, I’ve always wanted to do it. We finally got over the line. God save the King.”
Thomas, Into the Breach
Their roster, consisting of UK players Thomas, CYPHER and volt, along with Polish player rallen and Dutch player CRUC1AL, performed extremely well in the European RMR, with clear synergy and talent. They will now get their own stickers for the Paris Major, the last CSGO major before CS2.
Not only that, but their Portuguese coach, Juve, has apparently become the youngest coach to reach the Paris Major.
The Paris Major will run from May 8th to 21st 2023, and is set to take place at France’s Accor Arena.
The news also comes a year after Into the Breach won Insomnia, with the likes of smooya and Dobbo on their team.
‘Insane and emotional’ – reaction to Into the Breach reaching the Paris Major
ITB UK player Thomas said on broadcast after beating Sprout: “I’m finally better than RattlesnK, I finally achieved it! (laughs)
“It’s mental, to be honest. What a run from the open qualifier, we’ve barely been a team for two months. I’m so happy we were able to do this with a UK line-up, it means a lot to me, I’ve always wanted to do it. We finally got over the line.
“I think the tier one teams are good, but we’re different, and when they see Into the Breach on the server, they get caught off guard. [Our] players are all good, trust me.
“God save the King.”
Sam Cook, CEO and founder of Into the Breach, said it was an ‘insane and emotional journey’.
“We continue to out-perform and over-perform versus the very, very best in the world,” Sam said. “We qualify to the upcoming Paris Major – the first ever UK majority roster to do so.
“The legacy this leaves for Into The Breach Esports is monumental, as CSGO 1 transitions to 2. This will be the last ever major before the update.
“Our coach, Juve, also becomes the youngest coach to ever make the major. Opportunities abound, and so much planned.”
UK CS player smooya celebrated with a caps-lock-tastic tweet, while others also tweeted about Into the Breach’s huge achievement and their time at the European RMR. We’ve included a selection of tweets below:
Into the Breach player CYPHER also described the news as “unbelievable” and that “it came home.”
There’s also more reaction in this interview with CYPHER and interview with Thomas on the UKCSGO website.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
