The stage has been set for the biggest tournament in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history.
CSGO esports have been slowly returning to a live format, and now a Valve major will really kick the scene back into gear. All year long, teams have competed in the Regional Major Rankings for spots at the upcoming Stockholm Major. Now that all RMR events are over, we know exactly which teams have earned a ticket to Sweden.
These are the CSGO squads competing at the PGL Major Stockholm.
These teams represent the top seeds heading into the $2 million event. Teams in the top eight of the Regional Major Rankings get to skip the preliminary phase of the tournament and qualify directly to the second group stage. The eight winners of the New Legends phase will then proceed directly to the PGL Major Stockholm playoffs.
The Challengers have a more difficult path to the podium. These teams will compete in a Swiss group stage at the beginning of the tournaments. The eight best-ranked teams at the end of this stage will qualify for the New Legends phase, which is a second group stage. Once teams have passed both stages, the Challengers will compete with the Legends for a shot at the biggest prize pool in CSGO history.
The Contenders are the lowest-seeded teams at the major. These squads qualified via the RMR, but ranked lower than the Challengers. The contenders have the longest path to the playoffs. They must first compete in a group stage against the Challengers with lower seedings. After that, a Contender team needs to make it past the New Legends group stage. These CSGO teams are the least likely to win the Stockholm Major, but they could surprise fans with an upset or two, and one might even put together a miracle run to the playoffs.
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