Apart from winning a Major, taking home an ESL Grand Slam is one of the most prestigious achievements in competitive Counter-Strike. Formerly known as the Intel Grand Slam, this prize is awarded to the first team that wins four Tier 1 ESL events in a window of 10 consecutive tournaments. One of these events must be one of an IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, or a CS Major operated by ESL.
The reward for this victory is an eye-watering $1,000,000 split five ways between the players. All of a sudden, you can see why players are so desperate to take home this prize. If a team is one trophy away from an ESL Grand Slam victory and loses in a Grand Final to secure it, the team denying the win also gets $100,000 for their efforts.
ESL Grand Slam Season 6: Current Standings
ESL Grand Slam Season 6 is now underway, with more teams duking it out during IEMs and Pro Leagues to get a notch on the board. The first (and currently only) event in the ESL Grand Slam Season 6 was won by Team Vitality, winners of Season 5. This raises an interesting question – can they go back-to-back? They’ve undoubtedly been dominant throughout the rest of the year, but competitive Counter-Strike naturally comes in ebbs and flows. When one team rises, another falls.
It would be a feat none of the other best Counter-Strike teams from years gone by have achieved. Taking consecutive ESL Grand Slams would undoubtedly be one of the greatest achievements in the history of CS, and Team Vitality are off to the best possible start. Check out the current standings for the ESL Grand Slam Season 6 below:
ESL Grand Slam Season 6
| ESL Grand Slam Season 5 Standings | |
| Team Name and Wins | Chances Remaining |
| Team Vitality (1) | 9 |
One statistic of note is that should Team Vitality win every eligible ESL Pro Tour event in 2025 (Cologne, EPL S22, and Chengdu), they would also become the first team to ever win two ESL Grand Slams in one calendar year. It’s set to be an exciting fight – let’s keep track.
ESL Grand Slam Season 5: Final Standings
The ESL Grand Slam has been running since 2017, with Season 5 officially complete. Team Vitality secured the last notch in their ESL Grand Slam run by winning IEM Melbourne 2025, setting a dominant tone for the rest of the year.
Check out all the final standings in ESL Grand Slam Season 5 below:
ESL Grand Slam Season 5
| ESL Grand Slam Season 5 Standings | |
|---|---|
| Team Name and Wins | Chances Remaining |
| Team Vitality (4, Winners) | N/A |
| NAVI (2) | N/A |
| MOUZ (1) | N/A |
| Team Spirit (1) | N/A |
It was always going to be a miracle to stop Team Vitality from winning ESL Grand Slam Season 5, given their form this year. In picking up the gold bars for a second time, ropz became only the second player to do so, after his previous teammate on FaZe, Twistzz.
All ESL Grand Slam Winners
There have been five previous iterations of the ESL Grand Slam (under the Intel Grand Slam banner). Because of the consistency required to take home the gold bars, only some of the most iconic names in the history of Counter-Strike have been able to win the ESL Grand Slam. It’s the same reason why eight years after its inception, we’re only just finishing Season 5!
These are all the ESL Grand Slam winners throughout history.
| Previous ESL Grand Slam Winners | |
|---|---|
| Team Name | Season & Tournaments Won |
| Astralis | Season 1 (DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018, ESL Pro League Season 7, IEM Chicago 2018, ESL Pro League Season 8) |
| Team Liquid | Season 2 (IEM Sydney 2019, DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019, ESL Pro League Season 9, ESL One: Cologne 2019) |
| NAVI | Season 3 (IEM Katowice 2020, DreamHack Masters Spring 2021, IEM Cologne 2021, ESL Pro League Season 14) |
| FaZe Clan | Season 4 (IEM Katowice 2022, ESL Pro League Season 15, IEM Cologne 2022, ESL Pro League Season 17) |
| Team Vitality | Season 5 (IEM Cologne 2024, IEM Katowice 2025, ESL Pro League Season 21, IEM Melbourne 2025) |
Has anyone won two ESL Grand Slam prizes?
In terms of teams, no – each ESL Grand Slam Season has been won by different teams over the years. Only two players have ever won it twice: Twistzz and ropz. Twistzz won with Liquid (Season 2) and FaZe Clan (Season 4), while ropz won with FaZe Clan (Season 4) and Vitality (Season 5).
