On Tuesday, October 26, the best teams in the world will compete for the title of Major-winners: a synonym for being recognized as the world's best team.
Two years ago, the last major was held physically at StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019, where Astralis bested AVANGAR 2-0.
Astralis left with the first prize of $500,000 and their fourth major victory, the most any team have ever had in CS history.
The prize pool
This year, Astralis and 23 other of the world's best Counter-Strike teams will compete for $2,000,000 (equivalent to DKK 12.8 million). The pool is distributed as follows:
The Format
The tournament is divided into three stages: Challenger, Legends, and Champions.
Challenger: 16 teams - October 26-29
In the first part, Challenger, 16 teams play in a Swiss system, where the eight best teams advance to the next stage. Once a team has achieved three victories, they are automatically qualified.
Legends: 8 + 8 teams - October 30 - November 2
In Legends, the eight newly qualified teams meet eight new teams, all pre-qualified in Legends. Another Swiss system of short matches (best of one) determines which eight teams advance to the deciding part.
Champions: 8 teams - November 4-7
The final part of the tournament is played in the sold-out Avicii Arena, where eight teams are fighting for the prestigious Major title in front of 16,000 spectators. The champion stage is decided through a "single-elimination bracket" (win-or-lose) with a final 'best of three' final on Sunday, November 7 at 20:00.
Danes playing in the major:
New faces
Many of the participating teams have players or full crews participating in a major for the first time. This also applies to Astralis' new AWPer, Lucky, joining the experienced quartet of dupreeh, gla1ve, Magisk, and finally Xyp9x, who just extended his contract with Astralis until 2025.
Astralis opens this year's Major!
The first two matches in this year's major will be played at 10:00 Tuesday 26/10, with FaZe vs. Spirit on one stream and a Danish brag between Astralis and Copenhagen Flames. All matches will be streamed in 4K on the organizer, PGL's, YouTube channel for the first time.
All matches during the major, from the first match 26/10 to the grand final on November 7, can be watched for free on the big screen in Astralis Nexus, Copenhagen. Details for this can be seen on Facebook right here.
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