The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 represents the annual highlight in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. For more than two years, fans had to do without a CS:GO superlative of this kind. The starting signal falls on Tuesday.
A cultural treat awaits Esport fans around the world at the Avicii Arena. The multifunctional arena in Stockholm bearing the name of the celebrated Swedish DJ, who passed away at the age of 28, is the main venue for the most important CS:GO event of the year. With the fight for the unofficial world championship title at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, a total of two million US dollars in prize money is also at stake – a record sum for a Counter-Strike Major.
The Major event in Sweden will take place from 26 October to 7 November. The teams of the Challengers Stage will compete at the start of the title fights. These include the two German organisations BIG and mousesports. Based on the past months, BIG is one of the favourites to advance.
Meanwhile, mousesports has a brand new logo and is now officially playing under the name “Mouz”. The rebranding was announced just last week, which now features a mouse head instead of a gaming mouse.
📆The first day of the Major – October 26
🔥What’s your Match of the Day?PGLMAJOR pic.twitter.com/bCfxkAVBve
– PGL (@pglesports) October 18, 2021
BIG will face CIS team Virtus.pro to kick off the offline event on Tuesday from 12.30pm. From 1.45pm, Mouz will take on the Brazilians from Sharks Esports. The Swiss format will be used in this round. The teams that achieve three wins will reach the Legends Stage. The others are eliminated from the tournament early.
The tournament is divided into three stages.
- Challengers Stage: 26 October to 29 October 2021
- Legends Stage: 30 October to 2 November 2021
- Champions Stage: 4 November to 7 November 2021
The first matches of the Challengers Stage will be played in the best-of-one format. Therefore, each map is
all the more of utmost importance. Only in the decisive matches, which decide whether a team stays in the tournament or is eliminated, will the best-of-three matches be played.
A total of 24 teams will compete in the CS:GO Major, having qualified throughout the season with their placements in the Regional Major Rankings. Eight participants are already qualified for the Legends Stage due to their higher score. These include top favourite Natus Vincere around star player Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev.
Spectators:inside are also planned to be on site from the Champions Stage onwards with the start of the play-offs, which will allow the atmosphere at this event to match that of previous years. The CS:GO community, which is already worth millions, is eagerly awaiting this esport treat.
Teams in the Challengers Stage:
- Astralis
- Copenhagen Flames
- Team Spirit
- FaZe Clan
- ENCE
- GODSENT
- paiN Gaming
- Entropiq
- BIG
- Virtus.pro
- Movistar Riders
- Renegades
- Heroic
- TYLOO
- Mouz
- Sharks Esports
Already qualified teams in the Legends Stage:
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Team Vitality
- G2 Esports
- Team Liquid
- FURIA Esports
- Evil Genuises
- Natus Vincere
- Gambit Esports
The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will be broadcast live on Twitch. The English language broadcast can be seen on twitch.tv/pgl The German stream is provided by 99Damage
