Last reviewed: 1 November 2026. This hub explains how Counter-Strike 2 Majors are organised. For match times and results, use the organiser’s site and counter-strike.net; FoxyPulse does not run a live score feed or publish match previews.
What a Major is
Majors are the Valve-sponsored championships of Counter-Strike and the most prestigious events in the game. Valve sponsors two Majors per year, each run by a different tournament organiser (for example PGL, BLAST, StarLadder or ESL), with a prize pool of $1,250,000. Winning a Major carries more weight in the community than any other title, and Majors come with in-game sticker sales for the participating teams.
How teams qualify
Since 2025 Valve invites teams to Majors using the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), a ranking built from results across the year, rather than the separate Regional Major Ranking qualifiers used in the CS:GO era. Higher-ranked teams are seeded into later stages of the event.
Event format
Current Majors feature 32 teams and four phases:
- Stage 1: 16 teams play a Swiss system — every team keeps playing opponents with the same win–loss record until it reaches three wins (advances) or three losses (eliminated). Eight teams advance.
- Stage 2: the eight Stage 1 survivors join eight higher-seeded teams for another 16-team Swiss stage.
- Stage 3: the eight Stage 2 survivors meet the eight top seeds in a final Swiss stage.
- Playoffs: the last eight teams play a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three series, ending in the grand final.
In the Swiss stages the opening rounds are typically best-of-one, while matches that decide advancement or elimination are best-of-three. Organisers publish the exact match formats in each event’s rulebook.
Match rules that matter
- MR12: a regulation map is first to 13 rounds; teams swap sides after round 12. At 12–12 the map goes to overtime, played in blocks of six rounds (first to four).
- Active Duty map pool: seven maps are in competitive rotation at any time. Valve swaps maps in and out periodically, so check the pool in force for each event.
- Map veto: in a best-of-three, teams alternately ban and pick maps; the remaining map is the decider. In a best-of-one, teams ban until one map remains.
Where Majors sit in the season
Between the two Majors, top teams play a dense calendar of third-party events such as IEM, BLAST, ESL Pro League and PGL tournaments. Results at these events feed into the VRS and therefore into Major seeding. When comparing teams before a Major, recent results on the current map pool are more relevant than results from before a map change or roster move.
If you bet on a Major (18+)
- Best-of-one Swiss matches are more volatile than best-of-three series; upsets are common.
- Outright (tournament winner) markets usually carry a larger bookmaker margin than single matches. Our margin calculator shows how to check it.
- Read our CS2 MR12 and map veto guide for how the rules affect common markets.
Betting is for adults only and involves risk of loss. Check that it is legal where you live and see our responsible gambling page.
Sources
Valve and organiser announcements and rulebooks; event pages on Liquipedia for cross-checking.