NAVI have broken Astralis’ record for most prize money won in a calendar year in CS:GO, further cementing their status as one of the best teams in the history of the game.
The CIS giants took their prize winnings from 2021 to $3,775,500 after winning the BLAST Premier Fall Final on November 28. They have already eclipsed the record set by Astralis in 2018, when the Danish team racked up $3,651,650, according to Esports Earnings.
2021 has been a dream year for NAVI, who have been the dominant force in the CS:GO scene after giving rookie Valeriy ‘B1T’ Vakhovskiy a permanent spot in their starting lineup.
But despite NAVI’s impressive track record in 2021, star player Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev believes his team are still some way off the 2018 Astralis team, who held the record for the longest reign at No. 1 in HLTV.org’s world rankings with 406 days.
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Major boost
It’s worth noting that NAVI earned $1 million for winning the PGL Major, an event that had a record prize pool of $2 million. By comparison, Astralis received $500,000 for winning the FACEIT Major London 2018, which featured a prize pool of $1 million.
NAVI will be looking to improve on their record in December when they compete in the final event of the season, the BLAST Premier World Final, where the winner will take home $500,000. The tournament will take place between December 14 and 19, with a location still to be announced by BLAST.