15. DoP vs X3 – (13-11) - CAL Season 3 – February 7th, 2002

"The Dawn of Online CS"

Coming a little under two months after the CPL World Championships which featured NiP over X3, X3 faced DoP in an online match that many followed. It was the first real test of online Counter-Strike in the USA. With full HLTV and an increasing interest, the two teams really went to battle.

The game itself took place on Dust2 as both teams looked amazing. The real importance of the match came from its actual impact on the scene. This was the only online match to make the list and for good reason.

This match single handedly setup CAL Invite and in a later stage the entire CAL as a spectator event along with a major source for top online play. Up until this point X3 crushed everyone in sight with only a few close matches but with DoP opening the doors, it created a much more intriguing scene. CAL-I became the place everyone wanted to play.

The players themselves were also greatly affected. For the victors, Dave “moto” Geffon led the team along with David “Kane” Cannon, and both left to join the powerhouse west coast team TSO who led the American scene for the next six months. For the losers, X3 soon disbanded leaving some of the best players in the world as free agents. At first it appeared they would each join different teams but then reformed under a new banner, Team 3D (Desire, Discipline and Dedication).