SunPayus is the first Spaniard to win an MVP in a big tournament

Our beloved Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is living its last moments, as it is only a matter of time before Counter-Strike 2 is officially launched for the whole world and CS:GO goes down in history for good.

In the last major CS:GO tournament played recently, we have ENCE managed to lift the champions trophy by beating MOUZ 2-0 in the IEM Dallas 2023 Grand Final. However, one of the greatest feats is that Álvaro “SunPayus” García took the tournament MVP honors and, in addition, became the first Spaniard to win an IEM and, more importantly, to win the tournament’s best player award.

SunPayus is the IEM Dallas 2023 MVP

Thanks to an excellent level of play throughout the IEM Dallas 2023 and with mind-blowing performances with his AWP, the 24-year-old Spaniard, SunPayus, led ENCE to become the tournament champion. Also, to put the icing on the cake, SunPayus became the first Spaniard to win an IEM and to receive tournament MVP honors.

The Most Valuable Player in Dallas! 🤩@SunPayuscsgo lifts the #ESLProTour DHL MVP Trophy 🏆@DeutschePostDHL #IEM pic.twitter.com/W2Ft56mcBa

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 4, 2023

CS:GO is writing the last pages of a story that is very close to reaching its end, and the only Spaniard competing at the highest competitive level in the CS:GO scene, SunPayus, has his name written on it.

From the start of IEM Dallas 2023, SunPayus’ level of play was outstanding. The former Movistar Riders AWPer carried his team through the tournament’s first phase to qualify in first place in Group B to the playoffs.

Then, when the teams moved to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center to play the live stage in front of a live audience, SunPayus raised his level and that of his team. But, first, we cannot overlook the great level of play shown by the Spaniard in ENCE’s victory over FaZe Clan in the tournament’s semifinals. In addition to finishing with a rating of 1.16, the highest on the server, he was a key factor in ENCE’s victory over FaZe in a historic match defined after five overtime.

.@SunPayuscsgo CLUTCHES 1v2 to take the lead in quintuple OT#IEM pic.twitter.com/puDN6h3n4n

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 4, 2023

SunPayus shines against MOUZ in the Grand Finals

While it is true that the match against FaZe Clan looked like a Grand Final, ENCE still had to beat MOUZ to complete their excellent run at IEM Dallas. However, contrary to what many may have thought, ENCE had SunPayus (1.45 Rating and 97.7 ADR) and Guy “NertZ” Iluz (1.30 Rating and 81.2 ADR) at the top of their game and came away with a solid 2-0 victory.

On the first map, Mirage, SunPayus led ENCE to a comfortable 16-9 victory, while on Nuke, it was NertZ who was the team’s best player and helped ENCE to a 16-10 win.

What a performance from @ENCE! 👏👏

They WIN the #IEM Dallas 2023 GRAND FINAL with a clean 2-0 over @mousesports

16-9 Mirage
16-10 Nuke pic.twitter.com/IrSaaOv6Q5

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) June 4, 2023

Finally, and as SunPayus usually does every chance he gets, the 24-year-old Spanish player showed a lot of joy for the title and his MVP award. He also thanked his family and friends for their support and ended with a VAMOOOOOOOS! in Spanish.

VAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS @SunPayuscsgo 🇪🇸 pic.twitter. com/YsmoKmBdN6

— ENCE (@ENCE) June 4, 2023

Header: ESL