The 13th Valve Major is finally here, so get ready for a month full of high-octane Counter-Strike.
This summer, teams from all over the world competed for a chance to even be in the Major, since qualifying is a huge feat for any up-and-comer in the international scene. Only 24 teams can be in the Major though, with $1 million up for grabs in the tournament series.
Related: Road to the FACEIT London Major: The format, schedule, and who’s qualified
There are three stages to the Major: the New Challenger (formerly the Major qualifier), the New Legend, and the New Champion. In the opening two stages, only eight teams advance to the next, until the playoff bracket is determined in the New Champion stage. Below are the important details for every stage of the Major, including the start times for the very first matches of the event.
The New Challengers Stage: Sept. 5 to 9
- Eight Minor Champions and Eight New Challengers
- Swiss Format with the Bucholz System (determining round five matches)
- Best-of one matches until round five best-of-three match
- Eight teams advance to the New Legends Stage and eight teams are eliminated from Major contention
The New Legends Stage: Sept. 12 to 16
- Eight New Legends and Eight Challenger Stage Winners
- Swiss Format with the Bucholz System (determining round five matches)
- Best-of one matches until round five best-of-three match
- Eight teams advance to the New Champions Stage and eight teams are eliminated from Major contention
The New Champions Stage: Sept. 20 to 23
- Eight New Champions
- Single-elimination bracket
- One CS:GO Major champion
The Competitors
Minor Champions | New Challengers | New Legends |
Ninjas in Pyjamas | Gambit Esports | Cloud9 |
OpTic Gaming | Vega Squadron | FaZe Clan |
compLexity Gaming | Space Soldiers | Natus Vincere |
Rogue Gaming | BIG | MIBR |
Astralis | Mousesports | |
Team Spirit | Team Liquid | G2 Esports |
Renegades | North | Fnatic |
TyLoo | Virtus Pro | Winstrike Team |
The First Round Matchups
Space Soldiers vs. Rogue Gaming | 4am CT |
Virtus Pro vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas | 5:30am CT |
Gambit Esports vs. TyLoo | 7am CT |
BIG vs. Renegades | 8:30am CT |
Vega Squadron vs. Team Spirit | 10am CT |
North vs. HellRaisers | 11:30am CT |
Team Liquid vs. OpTic Gaming | 1pm CT |
Astralis vs. compLexity Gaming | 2:30pm CT |
The Talent Lineup
Talent | Role |
Alex “Machine” Richardson | Desk Host |
Freya Spiers | Stage Host and Interviewer |
Pala Gilroy Sen | Interviewer |
Daniel “ddk” Kapadia | Caster Duo #1 |
James Bardolph | Caster Duo #1 |
Anders Blume | Caster Duo #2 |
Jason “moses” O’Toole | Caster Duo #2 |
Henry “HenryG” Greer | Caster Duo #3 |
Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett | Caster Duo #3 |
Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill | Analyst |
Sean Gares | Analyst |
Jacob “Pimp” Winneche | Analyst |
Damian “daps” Steele | Analyst |
Bjorn “THREAT” Pers | Analyst |
You can tune in to the London Major broadcast on FACEIT’s Twitch and YouTube channels and through the in-game GOTV broadcast.