[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":201},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-how-cs2-majors-work":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"description":6,"order":7,"minutes":8,"blocks":9},"how-cs2-majors-work","CS2 Majors explained: format, invitations and stages","How CS2 Majors work: two events a year, Swiss stages, playoffs and team invitations, plus what makes them different. As of November 2026.",2,4,[10,19,24,28,37,41,45,49,71,76,80,84,88,92,96,100,104,108,140,144,147,169,173,177,187],{"kind":11,"inlines":12},"p",[13,16],{"kind":14,"text":15},"strong","The short answer:",{"kind":17,"text":18},"text"," a Major is a Counter-Strike tournament run under rules set by Valve, the game's developer. As of November 2026, there are two Majors each year. Each takes 32 teams through three Swiss stages to an eight-team playoff bracket. Invitations come from Valve's ranking, the Valve Regional Standings. A qualifier fills a place only when no ranked roster remains to invite.",{"kind":20,"inlines":21},"h2",[22],{"kind":17,"text":23},"Two Majors a year",{"kind":11,"inlines":25},[26],{"kind":17,"text":27},"As of November 2026, Valve holds two Majors a year:",{"kind":29,"items":30},"ul",[31,34],[32],{"kind":17,"text":33},"In 2025, the BLAST.tv Austin Major, which ended in June, and the StarLadder Budapest Major, from late November to mid-December.",[35],{"kind":17,"text":36},"In 2026, the IEM Cologne Major, which ended in June, and the Singapore 2026 Major, which Valve's rules name as the next one.",{"kind":11,"inlines":38},[39],{"kind":17,"text":40},"A tournament organiser runs each Major. Valve sets the shared rules. Each organiser adds its own rules for anything those do not cover.",{"kind":20,"inlines":42},[43],{"kind":17,"text":44},"The stages",{"kind":11,"inlines":46},[47],{"kind":17,"text":48},"As of November 2026, every Major follows the same four-stage structure:",{"kind":29,"items":50},[51,56,61,66],[52,54],{"kind":14,"text":53},"Stage 1:",{"kind":17,"text":55}," 16 teams play a Swiss stage. Eight advance to Stage 2.",[57,59],{"kind":14,"text":58},"Stage 2:",{"kind":17,"text":60}," those eight teams join eight teams invited straight to Stage 2. Eight advance from their Swiss stage.",[62,64],{"kind":14,"text":63},"Stage 3:",{"kind":17,"text":65}," those eight join eight more invited teams, for the third Swiss stage. Eight advance to the playoffs.",[67,69],{"kind":14,"text":68},"Playoffs:",{"kind":17,"text":70}," the remaining eight teams play a single-elimination bracket: quarter-finals, semi-finals and a grand final. A team that loses is out.",{"kind":72,"inlines":73},"h3",[74],{"kind":17,"text":75},"The Swiss stages",{"kind":11,"inlines":77},[78],{"kind":17,"text":79},"In a Swiss stage, teams play opponents with the same record of wins and losses. Three wins qualify a team for the next stage. Three losses eliminate it. Each team therefore plays between three and five matches.",{"kind":11,"inlines":81},[82],{"kind":17,"text":83},"A match that can send a team through or knock it out is a best-of-3. Every other Swiss match is a best-of-1. Teams avoid facing the same opponent twice within a stage wherever possible.",{"kind":11,"inlines":85},[86],{"kind":17,"text":87},"Seeding determines the pairings. Before the Major, all 32 teams are seeded by their place in the global list of the same ranking. Within a stage, a difficulty score breaks ties between teams with the same record. It totals the wins of all opponents a team has faced so far, then subtracts their losses.",{"kind":72,"inlines":89},[90],{"kind":17,"text":91},"The playoffs",{"kind":11,"inlines":93},[94],{"kind":17,"text":95},"As of November 2026, the quarter-finals and semi-finals are best-of-3. The grand final has been a best-of-5 at the last two Majors: for the first time at Budapest in December 2025, then again at Cologne in June 2026. Valve's written rules still say best-of-3 for every playoff match.",{"kind":11,"inlines":97},[98],{"kind":17,"text":99},"Before each match, the teams take turns removing maps from the map pool. In a best-of-3 they also pick the maps they want to play. Valve's rules set the order of those turns for every Major.",{"kind":20,"inlines":101},[102],{"kind":17,"text":103},"How teams get a place",{"kind":11,"inlines":105},[106],{"kind":17,"text":107},"As of November 2026:",{"kind":29,"items":109},[110,115,120,125,130,135],[111,113],{"kind":14,"text":112},"Places go by invitation.",{"kind":17,"text":114}," Valve's rules invite 16 teams to Stage 1, eight to Stage 2 and eight to Stage 3. A qualifier fills a place only if no ranked roster remains to invite (see below).",[116,118],{"kind":14,"text":117},"The ranking decides who is invited.",{"kind":17,"text":119}," The Valve Regional Standings rank rosters by their results at other events. A roster starts from four measures: the prize money it has won, the prize money of the teams it beat, a measure Valve calls its opponent network, based on the opponents it beat, and its wins at LAN events. Each measure uses only its ten best results from the past six months. Then every head-to-head result moves it up or down, and older results count less.",[121,123],{"kind":14,"text":122},"Three regions.",{"kind":17,"text":124}," The ranking has three lists: Europe, the Americas and Asia. A team's region is the region most of its players come from.",[126,128],{"kind":14,"text":127},"Places per region follow the last Major.",{"kind":17,"text":129}," The places in Stages 2 and 3 are allocated to regions according to how far their teams progressed at the previous Major.",[131,133],{"kind":14,"text":132},"The players are invited, not the club.",{"kind":17,"text":134}," The invitation goes to the roster that earned it, and that roster must play. A roster that declines, or no longer has its players, passes its place to the next-highest ranked roster.",[136,138],{"kind":14,"text":137},"A last chance.",{"kind":17,"text":139}," If no ranked roster is left to invite, a last-chance regional qualifier fills the remaining places.",{"kind":20,"inlines":141},[142],{"kind":17,"text":143},"Why the Majors matter more",{"kind":11,"inlines":145},[146],{"kind":17,"text":107},{"kind":29,"items":148},[149,154,159,164],[150,152],{"kind":14,"text":151},"One set of rules.",{"kind":17,"text":153}," Valve writes the rules every Major shares: the format, the invitations and the seeding.",[155,157],{"kind":14,"text":156},"In-game stickers.",{"kind":17,"text":158}," During a Major, Valve sells stickers in the game with the teams' logos and the players' signatures. Half of the revenue from those sales goes to the organiser, the teams and the players.",[160,162],{"kind":14,"text":161},"The Pick'Em challenge.",{"kind":17,"text":163}," Valve runs a Pick'Em challenge in the game: viewers predict the results of each stage.",[165,167],{"kind":14,"text":166},"Souvenirs.",{"kind":17,"text":168}," At the Cologne 2026 Major, players could turn a weapon in the game into a souvenir of one of its matches, with that match's team, map and player stickers on it.",{"kind":11,"inlines":170},[171],{"kind":17,"text":172},"For viewers, a Major brings the strongest teams from every region into one event under the same rules at every Major.",{"kind":20,"inlines":174},[175],{"kind":17,"text":176},"Majors on this site",{"kind":11,"inlines":178},[179,181,185],{"kind":17,"text":180},"The site's rating gives a Major match extra points for what is at stake, before considering how the match played out. ",{"kind":182,"text":183,"href":184},"link","How PCesports rates CS2 matches to watch","\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-the-watch-rating-works",{"kind":17,"text":186}," has the numbers.",{"kind":11,"inlines":188},[189,191,194,196,199],{"kind":17,"text":190},"If you want to catch up on a Major without knowing the results, ",{"kind":182,"text":192,"href":193},"Watch CS2 VODs without spoilers","\u002Fguides\u002Fwatch-cs2-without-spoilers",{"kind":17,"text":195}," helps, and ",{"kind":182,"text":197,"href":198},"CS2 formats explained: best-of-3, Swiss and brackets","\u002Fguides\u002Fcs2-formats-explained",{"kind":17,"text":200}," covers Swiss stages and brackets in more detail.",1794585700859]