Winning a Major means you’ve made history, joined the legends, and earned a place in Counter-Strike’s legacy. These events bring together the world’s top teams to battle for prestige — prize money, and a place in castawaycase.com esports history. CS2 Majors are the highest level of competitive play in the Counter-Strike universe, hosted by Valve. Historically (stickers from certain Majors have appreciated dramatically in value — Katowice 2014 Holo stickers), for example, are among the most valuable items in CS2. Stickers can be applied to weapon skins (traded on the Steam Community Market), or held as investments. During each Major, Valve releases in-game sticker capsules containing team logos and player autograph stickers.

The Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) community has clear preferences for map picks in pro and casual play. It’s the highest placement for a Turkish Counter-Strike roster ever at a tournament of such a level. Not only did they win map 1, but they also held a 6-2 lead on Mirage. The pro community returns for a busy CS2 calendar 2024 after a short break. This stage adds eight CS2 teams with mid-level regional standings. Out of 16 participants — only eight can advance further after a series of Swiss System matches.

The following closed qualifier will determine the participants. Nine participants will secure their spots in the first stage through the ESL Challenger events. A shorter tournament is not indicated by this relatively small number of participants. High placements on the Valve Global leaderboard have earned four teams their invitations. Four additional teams receive direct invitations to the final brackets—also operating on a double-elimination format, which is somewhat atypical and allows teams a second chance.

• The prize pool hits the level of the official Valve-sponsored Majors.
• Following the recent BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 (June 3-22), the stage is set with Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) commencing in October and invitations announced on October 8.
• Team Vitality would win their second Major trophy after defeating The MongolZ 2-1 — and their third after defeating FaZe Clan 3-1 at the Budapest Major, in the first Major grand final to be held as a best-of-five.
• Not only did they win map 1, but they also held a 6-2 lead on Mirage.
• This relatively small number of participants doesn’t mean a short tournament.

BLAST Open Spring 2025

Watching is not the only aspect of a CS2 Major. The remaining teams qualified for the major through regional qualifiers, with slots allocated among Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and further divided into smaller sub-regions. The final update of the VRS that determined the invites occurred on 6 October 2025 — with the official invitations dispatched on 8 October 2025. Live audiences attended each stage of the tournament, with the first three stages hosted at MTK Sportpark and the playoffs taking place at the MVM Dome. We have compiled dedicated articles about the upcoming CS2 events containing various information, such as participant lists, storylines, and results.

All CS:GO & CS2 Major winners over the years

Four participants come from the Valve Global Standings, and four teams will advance from the regional and closed qualifiers. After the double-elimination group brackets, the top six participants advance to the single-elimination Playoffs. Yes, it’s another CS2 esports event in Serbia’s capital city. In addition to the standard set of Valve Global Standings teams — four participants are from regional qualifiers.

Previous results from CS2 Majors and Premier tournaments.

This shift aims to standardize community events with Majors, as Valve believes a separate qualification process is unnecessary and disruptive. Instead — all 32 teams will be invited directly based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) following the Austin Major, with invites announced on October 8. With Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) running from October and invites announced on October 8, the stage is being set following the recent BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 (June 3-22).

The Key Organizers to Watch

• Those mid-stage days lock in playoff brackets and feature a ton of rewatchable matches.
• Nonetheless, certain events are particularly significant due to the level of competing teams and the overall excitement in the community.
• The next CS2 Major is the IEM Cologne Major 2026, marking the first Major to be held in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike for a decade.
• For Major Championship invites, however, the essential information fans must know is how many teams from each region earn spots in specific stages.
• CS2 tournaments of this level are the most exciting esports events of the yearly schedule.

They do not claim it is impossible to host it outside of prime time. Here’s the complete list of teams qualified for both the Elimination and Opening Stages. In Stage 3, a total of eight teams qualified from Stage 2, along with eight teams directly invited based on their Valve Regional Standing, competed in a Swiss-system bracket. Stage 2 comprised eight teams qualified from Stage 1 (plus eight teams directly invited according to their Valve Regional Standing), all competing in a Swiss-system bracket. In Stage 1, sixteen teams qualified from the Major Regional Qualifiers competed within a Swiss-system bracket.

Where can the CS2 Major be viewed?

The first Counter-Strike 2 Major was announced to be the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 which was held from March 17–31 in the Royal Arena. BLAST Paris Major 2023 was held in Paris on May 8 – May 21, 2023 with a prize pool of $1,250,000 USD. The previously cancelled ESL One Rio 2020 Major was replaced with IEM Rio Major 2022 and was held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil on October 31 – November 13), 2022. On January 14, 2021, Valve announced that the championship would be held between October 23 and November 7 in Stockholm.

The tournament was held at the Moody Center (on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin), and was the first Major to feature 32 teams, involving directly-invited teams and teams from regional qualifiers. It was held in Austin, Texas, United States, from June 3 to June 22, 2025, and it was the second Major hosted by BLAST, after Paris 2023. Will Team Vitality complete their three-peat and officially become the Greatest Counter-Strike roster in history? The level of competition only increases as we move into the next stages. From Case Battles to premium CS2 cases openings — you can bring that Major-level adrenaline straight into your inventory.

Stage 2 featured eight directly invited teams based on their Valve Regional Standings as well as eight teams qualified from Stage 1, competing in a Swiss-system bracket. The distribution of Stage 1 invites remained the same as in Budapest. Additionally, each Stage 3 match was held in front of live audiences at the Palladium. It was held in Cologne (Germany from June 2 to June 21), 2026, with the playoffs held at the Lanxess Arena, while each Stage 3 match was held in front of live audiences at the Palladium. The Columbus Minor system involved four regional qualifiers and two “last chance” qualifiers — and results in invites going to one team from the Americas, two Asian teams, one CIS team, one European team, and three last chance qualifier spots. Team Vitality would win their second Major trophy after defeating The MongolZ 2-1, and their third after defeating FaZe Clan 3-1 at the Budapest Major, in the first Major grand final to be held as a best-of-five.