There are countless reasons one would want to play the game of Counter-Strike Global Offensive. One of those many reasons is the number of exciting professional games players get to compete in for various cash prizes. The CSGO Major is among the best and highest rewarding tournaments ever to take place among the CS:GO community.
In this blog post, we will cover all details about the 2021 CSGO Major tournament, we will take a look back at the exciting history of this tournament, have a look at how Valve has improved things, review some of the players and teams who make this ongoing competitive event what it is, and much more.
Table of Contents
History of the Tournament
The first major for CS:GO was introduced to the world in 2013. The exact date was September 16. This was close to a year after the release of the game, and Valve announced a quarter-million-dollar, or $250.000 competitive tournament that 16 teams had the chance of winning. This made the game much more worth playing, fans got excited, and players had a huge reason to keep improving.
The $250.000 was community funded, and Valve announced that the first tournament would be held in Sweden and hosted by DreamHack. Later, the tournament finally took place in November and was won by the team known as Fnatic. They managed to beat Ninjas in Pyjamas in the heat of the finals, achieving the title of champions of the first CS:GO Major championship.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 (Oct 23 – Nov 7)
A while has passed since that first CS:GO Major. A lot has also changed since then. The teams are different, the number of teams has increased, the prize pool is much bigger, and the Counter-Strike community and player base have grown significantly.
This year, in 2021, the official CS:GO Major will be held in the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. Whether it will be held in front of a live audience is still not clear due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation. However, E-Sports and Valve will make it clear before the final date comes.
The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will begin on October 23 and will last until November 7. In this time, 24 teams will battle fiercely for the chance to win the biggest prize pool a CS:GO Major has experienced. The battle for first place will be difficult, and the qualifications to get in will be even tenser.
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 Prize Pool
In the past years, various CS:GO Major tournaments and other types of CS:GO E-Sports competitions have seen some impressive prize pools. However, this year the stakes are even higher, as the official prize pool for the Counter-Strike Global Offensive PGL Major 2021 has been announced to be $2 million. This definitely makes this event a lot more worthwhile for many, especially for the teams battling for first place.
It has taken quite a lot of work for this next major to be possible, especially with the recent global pandemic making things all the more difficult. In any case, the CS:GO Major is a successful ongoing event that won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
List of CSGO Major Championships
CS:GO Major is simply a format in which this tournament is played. Depending on the location and a few other factors, there can be several CS:GO Major championships that can occur all over the world. It's also not uncommon to see several of these eSports competitions happened during the same year, rarely at the same time though. In any case, here is a list of all the Major championships that have happened over the years.
2013
- DreamHack Winter (November 28-30)
2014
- ESL Major Series One Katowice (March 13-16)
- ESL One: Cologne (August 14 – 17)
- DreamHack Winter (November 27 – 29)
2015
- ESL One: Katowice (March 12 – 15)
- ESL One: Cologne (August 20 – 23)
- DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca (October 28 – November 1)
2016
- MLG Major Championship: Columbus (March 29 – April 3)
- ESL One: Cologne (July 5 – 10)
2017
- ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta (January 22 – 29)
- PGL Major Krakow (July 16 – 23)
2018
- ELEAGUE Major: Boston (January 12 – 28)
- FACEIT Major: London (September 5 – 23)
2019
- Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Katowice Major (February 13 – March 3)
- StarLadder Berlin Major (August 23 – September 8)
2020
- ESL One: Rio (November 9 – 22)
2021
- PGL Major Stockholm (Oct 23 – Nov 7)
CS:GO Major Format
The format, selection process, qualifiers, and so on have changed a lot over the years. There have been a few different methods of pairing which team goes up against which and how they proceed on to the following stages. In this latest CS:GO Major in 2021, there will be a total of 24 teams that will fight for their place in the Major and hopefully the first place spot. Before all that, there must be a qualifiers stage that will determine which teams will move on.
Here is the format placement of the PGL CS:GO Major that will take place in Sweden, Stockholm in 2021:
The New Challengers Stage
The official format of the teams and match details are still yet to be announced. However, after the qualifiers, 16 teams will proceed on to the New Challengers Stage. Here, 8 losing teams will be eliminated from the CS:GO Major, and 8 teams will proceed on to the following stage of the game.
The New Legends Stage
This is the middle of the CS:GO Majors. The New Legends will be the first 8 teams to win in this stage. The 8 losing teams will be eliminated, and the game will move on to the third and final stage, the New Champions Stage.
The New Champions Stage
The third stage will have a single-elimination bracket. This means that the loser of each match is immediately eliminated, and the winner will move on to the next game. As the event progresses, there will be quarter-finals, then semi-finals, and third, the Grand Final, which is what fans eagerly wait for each time.
List of Major Championship Winners in CSGO
This thrilling Counter-Strike Global Offensive event has existed for several years now. All Majors had their own winners, which is what we will reveal here today. This is the organized list of all winning teams that ever won an eSports CSGO Major.
Fnatic
Fnatic was actually the first team that won the first CS:GO Major in 2013. This was the DreamHack Winter 2013 Major that was hosted in Sweden. This is a professional eSports organization that is also based in London. Here is every Major that Fnatic's CS team from Sweden won during the last several years.
- DreamHack Winter 2013
- ESL One Katowice 2015
- ESL One Cologne 2015
Virtus Pro
Virtus Pro is a professional eSports organization that is based in Russia. They too have several teams over the world that play a variety of EA games. This is the list of the CS:GO Majors that their team from Poland managed to win.
- EMS One Katowice 2014
Ninjas in Pyjamas
NiP is a Swedish eSports organization that is best known for its Counter-Strike Global Offensive teams. They've won many tournaments and only a single CS:GO Major. Their first major was won back in 2014 and it was the:
- ESL One Cologne 2014
Team LDLC
LDLC is an eSports organization based in France. Their first major was won in 2014 as well, and it has been the only Major this team has won so far. This includes:
- DreamHack Winter 2014
Team Envy
Envy is an American professional eSports organization that is based in Dallas, Texas. This team has also won only a single CS:GO Major. They beat Natus Vincere in the finals 2 – 0. The major in question is:
- DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015
Luminosity Gaming
Luminosity Gaming is a professional eSports organization originating from North America. Their team from Brazil won their first and only Major in 2016, and it was among the events that had a 1 million dollar prize pool.
- MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016
SK Gaming
SK Gaming is another professional organization whose team from Brazil won a Major. They have several teams over the world who by different names. The CS:GO Major we're talking about in this case includes:
- ESL One Cologne 2016
Astralis
Astralis is a Danish eSports organization that has won the most CS:GO Majors so far. Their first Major win was in 2017 and here is the list of all the Majors they won:
- ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017
- FACEIT Major: London 2018
- Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – Katowice Major 2019
- StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019
Gambit eSports
Second to last, we have a CS:GO team from Russia. Their team from Kazakhstan won a single Major in 2017, including:
- PGL Major: Kraków 2017
Cloud9
And finally, Cloud9 is an American eSports organization whose CS:GO team won 1 Major so far. This includes:
- ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018
Conclusion
This concludes the features and details of some of the most popular CS:GO events ever to take place. The Major is a huge part of this community, which takes place in front of a live audience and lasts a couple of days. This year's CS:GO Major will be in Stockholm, in the Ericsson Globe. It's the first time in 2021 and Valve and the community are eager to make it happen.
