Winning a Major means you’ve made history (joined the legends), and earned a place in Counter-Strike’s legacy. These events bring together the world’s https://castawaycase.com/ top teams to battle for prestige (prize money), and a place in esports history. CS2 Majors are the highest level of competitive play in the Counter-Strike universe — hosted by Valve. Historically (stickers from certain Majors have appreciated dramatically in value — Katowice 2014 Holo stickers), for example, are among the most valuable items in CS2. Stickers can be applied to weapon skins (traded on the Steam Community Market), or held as investments. During each Major, Valve releases in-game sticker capsules containing team logos and player autograph stickers.

The Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) community has clear preferences for map picks in pro and casual play. It’s the highest placement for a Turkish Counter-Strike roster ever at a tournament of such a level. Not only did they win map 1, but they also held a 6-2 lead on Mirage. The pro community returns for a busy CS2 calendar 2024 after a short break. This stage adds eight CS2 teams with mid-level regional standings. Out of 16 participants — only eight can advance further after a series of Swiss System matches.

The participants are determined in the following closed qualifier. To start playing in the first stage — nine participants will earn their spots via the ESL Challenger events. This relatively small number of participants doesn’t mean a short tournament. Four teams get their invites thanks to high Valve Global leaderboard placements. Four more teams get their invites directly to the final brackets—also double-elimination, which is somewhat unusual and gives the teams a second chance.

  • The prize pool hits the level of the official Valve-sponsored Majors.
  • With Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) running from October and invites announced on October 8, the stage is being set following the recent BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 , June 3-22,.
  • Team Vitality would win their second Major trophy after defeating The MongolZ 2-1 (and their third after defeating FaZe Clan 3-1 at the Budapest Major), in the first Major grand final to be held as a best-of-five.
  • Not only did they win map 1, but they also held a 6-2 lead on Mirage.
  • This relatively small number of participants doesn’t mean a short tournament.

BLAST Open Spring 2025

There’s more to a CS2 Major than just by watching. The remaining teams qualified to the major via regional qualifiers with slots distributed between the three major regions , Europe, the Americas, and Asia,, then split into smaller sub-regions. The final VRS update determining invites was on 6 October 2025, with invites officially being sent on 8 October 2025. Each stage of the tournament was held in front of live audiences, with the first three stages being held at MTK Sportpark and the playoffs held at the MVM Dome. We have dedicated articles for the upcoming CS2 events with various information, including lists of participants, storylines, and results.

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All CS:GO & CS2 Major winners over the years

Four participants come from the Valve Global Standings, and four teams will advance from the regional and closed qualifiers. After the double-elimination group brackets, the top six participants advance to the single-elimination Playoffs. Yes — it’s another CS2 esports event in Serbia’s capital city. In addition to the standard set of Valve Global Standings teams — four participants are from regional qualifiers.

Past CS2 Majors & Premier Tournament Results

This shift aims to standardize community events with Majors, as Valve believes a separate qualification process is unnecessary and disruptive. Instead (all 32 teams will be invited directly based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) following the Austin Major), with invites announced on October 8. With Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) running from October and invites announced on October 8, the stage is being set following the recent BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 , June 3-22,.

The Key Organizers to Watch

  • Those mid-stage days lock in playoff brackets and feature a ton of rewatchable matches.
  • However, some of them are especially huge in terms of the participating teams’ level and general hype in the community.
  • The next CS2 Major is the IEM Cologne Major 2026, marking the first Major to be held in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike for a decade.
  • For Major Championship invites (however), the essential information fans must know is how many teams from each region earn spots in specific stages.
  • The most thrilling esports events on the annual calendar are CS2 tournaments of this caliber.

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They don’t say it’s impossible to hold it outside prime time. Here’s the full list of teams qualified for both Elimination and Opening Stages. Stage 3 featured eight teams qualified from Stage 2 and eight teams directly invited based on their Valve Regional Standing competing in a Swiss-system bracket. Stage 2 featured eight teams qualified from Stage 1 and eight teams directly invited based on their Valve Regional Standing competing in a Swiss-system bracket. Stage 1 featured sixteen teams qualified from the Major Regional Qualifiers competing in a Swiss-system bracket.

Where can one view the CS2 Major?

The announcement of the inaugural Counter-Strike 2 Major revealed it to be the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024, taking place at the Royal Arena from March 17–31. The BLAST Paris Major 2023 occurred in Paris, offering a prize pool of $1,250,000 USD from May 8 to May 21, 2023. IEM Rio Major 2022, which took the place of the previously canceled ESL One Rio 2020 Major, took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from October 31 to November 13, 2022. Valve disclosed on January 14, 2021, that the championship would occur in Stockholm between October 23 and November 7.

The tournament was held at the Moody Center — on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, and was the first Major to feature 32 teams, involving directly-invited teams and teams from regional qualifiers. It was held in Austin, Texas, United States, from June 3 to June 22, 2025, and it was the second Major hosted by BLAST, after Paris 2023. Will Team Vitality complete their three-peat and officially become the Greatest Counter-Strike roster in history? The level of competition only increases as we move into the next stages. From Case Battles to premium CS2 cases openings — you can bring that Major-level adrenaline straight into your inventory.

Eight teams were directly invited to Stage 2 based on their Valve Regional Standings, alongside eight teams that qualified from Stage 1, all competing in a Swiss-system bracket. The invites for Stage 1 were distributed in the same manner as they were in Budapest. Moreover, each match in Stage 3 took place before live audiences at the Palladium. Taking place in Cologne, Germany, from June 2 to June 21, 2026, the playoffs occurred at the Lanxess Arena while Stage 3 matches were presented to live audiences at the Palladium. The Columbus Minor structure comprised four regional qualifiers along with two “last chance” qualifiers (resulting in invites distributed to one team from the Americas), two from Asia, one from CIS, one from Europe, and three positions for last chance qualifiers. After overcoming The MongolZ 2-1 and then FaZe Clan 3-1 at the Budapest Major (Team Vitality secured their second and third Major trophies), respectively, in the first best-of-five grand final of a Major.