CS2 (CS:GO) majors are considered the most prestigious tournaments for competitive teams in the game. However, it's worth noting that other esports also have similar significant events, such as the Masters in VALORANT, as well as tournaments in Dota 2, Rainbow Six, and Rocket League. While CS:GO doesn't have comparable events to The International, Worlds, or VALORANT Champions, the majors remain the pinnacle of achievement in the game.
However, the championships in this series are known for their extensive selection process across all regions and substantial prize pools, often exceeding a million dollars.
The CS2 (CS:GO) majors feature the top teams from around the world, with 24 participants from six regions competing for the title of the strongest. These teams have the opportunity to compete for a significant prize pool.
In addition, what makes the CS2 (CS:GO) majors particularly special is their infrequency - only two majors are held each season. While there have been a few exceptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament system remains largely intact.
History of appearance and tendencies of establishment of CS2 (CS:GO) majors
The inaugural major took place in Yencheping, Sweden at the end of 2013. The organizers extended invitations to the top teams in the world and also awarded slots to the winners of external championships and online qualifiers, marking the start of the tournament series.
Starting with the ESL Major Series One Katowice 2014, Valve implemented a new system of selection that features multiple stages of seeding. In this system, the top-performing teams from the previous Major are granted direct entry into the Legends stage. For the remaining teams, qualification is determined by the outcome of the final qualification stage, where the winners of the regional qualifiers secure a coveted spot in the Legends stage.
Over the next few years, the organizers experimented with various formats for regional qualifiers, eventually introducing the concept of "Minors" in 2017, starting with the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017.
The main format for qualifying for a major involved several regional stages, including open online qualifiers, closed online qualifiers, Minors, and LAN qualifiers.
This format remained in place for three years until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In response, Valve decided to change their approach and implement the practice of a Regional Major Rankings (RMR) cycle.
The new structure involved several regional RMR tournaments in each season, where the top teams based on the total number of points received qualified for the major. Initially, there were six regions, similar to the Minors: CIS, Europe, North America, Latin America, Oceania, and Asia.
However, the updated format did not appear until a few years later, at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The organizers gathered enough information to make changes to their selection system and introduce the updated format to the public.
Valve ultimately decided to abandon the idea of conducting multiple RMR tournaments and instead allocate RMR points to participants, limiting the qualifying process to a single competition held right before the start of the major. Additionally, the six subregions were consolidated into three regions: Europe, Americas, and Asia. While open qualifiers were held in the same format in Europe, qualifiers in the other regions were divided into subregions.
RMR tournaments differ from each other in formats, too. With 32 and 16 teams respectively in Europe and America, the organizers divided the championships into two parts in case with Europe, and also held tournaments in the Swiss bracket with additional matches for seeding. Meanwhile, the Asian RMR tournament offered the participants a double elimination bracket for only four participants.
As a result, Valve established a fixed number of trips to the Contenders stage for each region to determine their representatives. This format was used for the entire season and was implemented in both the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022. The only differences were in the number of direct trips allocated to the regional RMR tournaments.
However, Valve has once again decided to change the format of the RMR cycle in order to improve the development of their ecosystem and offer more opportunities to competing teams.
How does the process of qualifying for CS2 majors work today?
In late 2022, Valve made significant changes to the RMR cycle system. Firstly, they introduced mandatory closed qualifiers for each region. Previously, teams had to compete in numerous open qualifiers, but now the best teams based on the new Valve rating will be invited directly to the closed qualifiers.
Invitations to closed qualifiers will be defined by the official “Regional stage” which will depend on the performance of the teams at both Valve-sponsored tournaments and external ones.
The format of closed qualifiers was also aligned with the structure of the RMR tournament in each region.
In addition, each region now has the option to divide their closed qualifiers into subgroups. Additionally, Valve has introduced a decider qualifiers for Europe, which serve as an additional selection process for RMR tournaments in that region.
The next update was an increase in the number of participants for the RMR tournament in Asia. Previously, only four teams were able to participate in the championship, but now Valve has doubled the number to eight teams.
As a result, the total number of participants in the closed qualifiers is twice as big as the number of slots available for the RMR tournaments. Half of the slots for the closed qualifiers will be given out through direct invitations, while the other half will have to be earned by winning the open online qualifiers.
Following the closed qualifiers, RMR tournaments are held in Europe, America, and Asia. Teams from each region will qualify for the major based on their regional distribution of tickets to the event.
Main organizers of CS2 (CS:GO) majors
As Valve does not aim at holding tournaments on their own, organization of majors is done by third-party contractors — tournament operators that are chosen by the developer for each major.
List of cities that have ever hosted a CS2 (CS:GO) major:
- Yenchenping (twice)
- Katowice (thrice)
- Cologne (thrice)
- Cluj-Napoca
- Krakow
- Columbus
- Atlanta (twice)/ Boston
- London
- Berlin
- Stockholm
- Antwerpen
- Rio-de-Janeiro
- Paris (next CS:GO major)
However, the right of holding a major is given not to any company. History knows only several tournament operators that were given the legitimate right to write their name in history.:
- ESL — 7
- PGL — 3
- DreamHack — 3
- ELEAGUE — 2
- FACEIT — 1
- StarLadder — 1
- MLG — 1
- BLAST — 1
Therefore, in all the history of the discipline, only eight tournament operators have had the responsibility of hosting majors. The leading tournament operator is ESL, which has been the main protagonist of the stage since the beginning.
How was the prize pool of majors changing?
Initially, the prize pool for CSGO majors was set at $250,000. However, in 2016, the monetary reward underwent a significant increase with the MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016 becoming the first to offer a prize pool of $1,000,000.
In 2021, the prize pool for PGL Major Stockholm 2021 increased to $2,000,000, but Valve clarified that it was a one-time occurrence due to the absence of majors for two years. Half a year later, the prize pool returned to its previous amount.
At the end of 2022, Valve met the teams halfway by officially setting the prize pool for CS:GO majors at $1,250,000
Where to find schedule of nextmajor and big tournaments in CS2
On EGW, you can find relevant schedules of CS:GO majors (played and upcoming), and also follow matches in real time. We offer broadcasts in many languages and also show statistics of playing teams.
Besides, you can find relevant tips from analysts for matches between the best teams in the world rating. Also, do not forget to follow the latest news from majors and other big CS2 tournaments.
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