Preview PGL Major Stockholm 2021
/The start of PGL Major Stockholm 2021 is not far off, which means only that very soon we will have two weeks of first-class Counter Strike. The championship itself will be held from October 26 to November 7 in the capital of Sweden, and the playoff stage will be played out at the Avicii Arena with spectators. This post provides an overview of the entire PGL Major Stockholm 2021, including the Challengers and Legends stages. But only one team will raise the main trophy above their heads, and at the same time, they will get their hands on a whole $ 1,000,000.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 prize pool distribution
- 1st place - $ 1,000,000.
- 2nd place - $ 300,000.
- 3-4th place - $ 140,000.
- 3-4th place - $ 140,000.
- 5th-8th place - $ 70,000.
- 5th-8th place - $ 70,000.
- 5th-8th place - $ 70,000.
- 5th-8th place - $ 70,000.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
- 9th-16th place - $ 17,500.
At the same time, teams eliminated from PGL Major Stockholm 2021 after the Challengers stage will not receive their piece from the prize pool.
Format of the event
List of tournament cards and the principle of choosing cards for a match:
BO1:
- Team 1 bans two cards.
- Team 2 bans three cards.
- Team 1 bans one card.
- Team 2 picks a side.
BO3:
- Team 1 bans the card.
- Team 2 bans the card.
- Team 1 chooses a map (Team 2 chooses a side).
- Team 2 chooses a map (Team 1 chooses a side).
- Team 2 bans the card.
- Team 1 bans the card.
Well, you can read more about the format of the event in our announcement.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 Challengers Stage
The combined stage will be held with the participation of 16 teams that entered the championship following the results of the RMR cycle. The division of the teams into subgroups allowed the organizers to distinguish two clusters, on the basis of which the draw for the two starting rounds of the championship took place. At the same time, the PGL made additional changes to the draw, announcing the use of the Buchholz system in the final rounds of the stage.
Challengers Stage Teams:
- Astralis.
- ENCE.
- BIG.
- Movistar Riders.
- Heroic.
- MOUZ.
- paiN Gaming.
- Team Spirit.
Contenders stage commands:
- Copenhagen Flames.
- GODSENT.
- FaZe Clan.
- Entropiq.
- Virtus.pro.
- Sharks Esports.
- TYLOO.
- Renegades.
Favorites to enter the Legends stage
The main favorites for reaching the next stage are two Danish teams - Heroic and Astralis. While the former have finally removed all suspicions from themselves, the latter are traditionally strong at LAN tournaments. At the same time, both teams clearly claim to finish the first stage of the championship with a score of 3-0, which can only be hindered by a face-to-face meeting in the second or third rounds. At the same time, no one doubts that it is Heroic and Astralis that will find themselves in the Legends stage, since the teams have huge potential to win PGL Major Stockholm 2021.
FaZe Clan should be distinguished from the shadow favorites. Albeit without a head coach, this team has extensive experience playing in LAN championships. And the last experience in Cologne, where the team got into the TOP-4, allows us to count on FaZe Clan. In addition, walking on the edge of the cliff at IEM Fall 2021 Europe was supposed to refresh the thoughts of the team, which is probably ready to rehabilitate itself in the eyes of the fans.
ENCE and Virtus.pro are considered other favorites for a place in Legends. While the European team was pleasantly surprised at the last RMR tournament, VP's roster underwent drastic changes, which, on paper, should make the team an order of magnitude stronger.
Don't forget about MOUZ and BIG. Even if these teams are unstable, you cannot write off the class at the big championship. Spirit should also be included there, which, against the background of the heroic success of the Dota 2 roster, must not fall face down in the dirt and squeeze the maximum out of itself. And it was not for nothing that the team in Katowice amazed the whole world by holding an exemplary group stage at the Polish tournament.
Surprising teams include Entropiq, Copenhagen Flames and Movistar Riders. Even if the teams do not have much experience, over the past months they have purposefully moved towards a trip to Sweden.
Well, the main outsiders are TYLOO and Sharks. The problem of these teams is understandable - the lack of experience in playing in Europe. And if the Chinese team did not travel outside their region at all since mid-2020, the Brazilians occasionally appeared before our eyes, but invariably failed.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 Legends Stage
Eight teams immediately got four days of respite to prepare for the start of PGL Major Stockholm 2021. It was these teams that got directly into the Legends stage, earning this right following a successful performance at the RMR cycle.
Legends Stage Teams:
- NAVI.
- Team Liquid.
- FURIA.
- NIP.
- Team Vitality.
- Gambit.
- Evil Geniuses.
- G2.
The above teams will be joined by eight more teams that will emerge from the Challengers stage. At the same time, the format of the stage will remain unchanged: while the first two rounds will be played on the basis of seeding teams, the remaining rounds will be played according to the Buchholz system.
Favorites to reach the Champions stage (playoffs)
Of those teams that are already represented at the Legends stage, the clear favorites are NAVI, Gambit, NIP and Vitality. If everything is very clear with the teams from the CIS - these guys are difficult to stop throughout the season - then you can still talk about the representatives of Europe. NIP seems to be a team without weaknesses, but only when the players are flying. In turn, the French have weaknesses, primarily related to Kyojin. However, against the background of the rest, NIP and Vitality stand out for their class and beat with order, which the following teams did not find.
Among the shadow favorites, FURIA and Liquid should be highlighted. However, here it is necessary to make an allowance for the level of competition, because these teams played in North America, where the level of rivals is much lower. Another thing is that in recent weeks the teams have shown a confident game, while the Brazilians won IEM Fall 2021 North America at all.
It's hard to talk about G2. After the break, the team is a grim copy of itself, failing tournament after tournament. And if once again the team fails to squeeze the maximum out of themselves, then G2 risks not getting into the playoffs of PGL Major Stockholm 2021.
Evil Geniuses is an obvious outsider of this group of teams. In general, it is difficult to talk about the prospects of the team, which was hanging by a thread in case of not getting to Stockholm. But the guys did it, postponing the inevitable a little. And if Evil Geniuses starts throwing game after game again, the organization will give up its roster completely.
A few words about the playoffs of PGL Major Stockholm 2021
The main stage of PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will take place at Avicii Arena from November 4th to 7th. There will be no room for error here, although absolutely every match (even the grand final) will be held in the BO3 format. And yes, there is no lower bracket - the loser is eliminated from the race for the trophy.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will take place from October 26 to November 7 in Sweden. 24 teams will compete for a prize pool of $ 2,000,000, as well as BLAST Premier and ESL Pro Tour points. Note that the playoffs of the championship will be held at the Avicii Arena with spectators, while the early stages of the championship will be held in a studio format.