With just a few days left until the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, one of the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments ever held, Valve has announced the matchups for the first stage, the New Challengers, as well as the full tournament schedule.
The StarLadder Major will be starting on August 23 as the second CSGO major of the year. The tournament is beginning with the New Challengers stage, for which 16 teams have qualified. Teams that finish within the top eight of this stage will progress further into the tournament, while the bottom eight squads will be eliminated.
The New Challengers stage will last four days, which is one day shorter than usual as Valve is looking to lessen the impact that majors have on general tournament scheduling. Therefore, two matches will be played at the same time and live-streamed over two separate channels, except on the last day. Based on the assigned ELO system, the matchups for the first stage are as follows:
Team Vitality vs. Syman Gaming
NRG Esports vs. DreamEaters
G2 Esports vs. TYLOO
North vs. INTZ Esports
FURIA Esports vs. HellRaisers
Mousesports vs. ForZe
AVANGAR vs. Complexity Gaming
CR4ZY vs. Grayhound Gaming
Opening matches will be played as best-of-one games, while best-of-three series will be played for elimination and advancement matches later in the stage. The matches will be starting at 11:00 CEST / 2 AM PDT on each of the days except on August 24, when they will begin one hour later. The major will be played using the popular Swiss tournament format.
The top eight teams that progress through the New Challengers stage will go on to clash with the IEM Katowice major’s top eight squads in the New Legends stage. Following the same format, the top eight new legends will proceed to the final stage of the tournament, the New Champions stage, which will be played from September 5.
A total of 24 teams will be fighting their way through the major for a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Berlin.
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