Last gunshot of the CS:GO Major
We've already missed the events in eSports! Blast Paris Major 2023, one of the biggest esports tournaments in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, begins on May 8th. In this article, we will briefly tell you about the contest, the prize pool, the participating teams, and interesting features that will make this event even more exciting.
What is Blast Paris Major 2023?
True fans know for sure that the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 is the nineteenth major CS:GO championship. But what is so special about this seemingly ordinary tournament?
Majors are annual CS:GO championships that take place in many countries around the world. They offer large cash prizes. For example, the previous Rio Major 2022 tournament had a prize pool of $1.25 million (the Paris Major will provide the same reward this year). Although the Majors format has existed since 2013, it remains very popular with players and viewers. Their events are played in huge stadiums and are broadcast in multiple languages.
First, this year's Major is an epochal end. Valve has announced that Paris 2023 will be the last Major Championship event ever held in this game version. In addition, the company has announced a new version of Counter-Strike 2, whose tournament will be held for the first time in March 2024.
Secondly, we can't afford to ignore BLAST for hosting the Major. It is one of the best, if not the best, in-house produced CS:GO eSports leagues. The organization spends generously on organizing and streaming tournaments. BLAST is primarily based in two regions: North America and Europe. The show is divided into two seasons: spring and fall. This year, as the last major event under the auspices of IEM took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, BLAST took on the organization of a major CS:GO tournament for the first time.
Team Qualifications
Teams from around the world have been eliminated in a frenetic qualifying process. It is now known that 24 teams will compete in the French capital after qualifying through regional tournaments (RMR) in Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific.
RMR took place for the first time in four years. The Americas RMR tournaments were hosted by Liga Ace Esports in Monterrey, Mexico. The Americas organizer typically hosts events in the Latin American market in games such as VALORANT, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty.
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, hosted the Asia RMR. The event was organized by MESA in the Asia Pacific region. For the European RMR, BLAST was in charge of hosting the event in Copenhagen.
Tournament Schemes
The standings of all stages of the Major will be gradually formed according to the Swiss system. The first round will seed the first few matches according to the pre-determined "Next Major Slot" rankings. In the second round, the teams are divided into two groups: The winners of the first round (High) and the losers of the first round (Low). Finally, each team will be drawn to play an opponent they have not yet played in their group.
In the third round, the division will be divided into three groups of three. How it works: teams are eliminated in the High, Mid, and Low categories with a score of 2:0, 1:1, and 0:2. An important point to remember is that each team will choose an opponent from their group not played against before.
Winners of higher groups advance to the next stage, and losers of lower groups will quit. Finally, the fourth round will see the teams split into two groups, with the winning team advancing to the fight for the final.
The tournament scheme is quite simple - it is divided into several stages:
- Challenger Stage (May 8-11);
- Legends Stage (May 13-16);
- Champions Stage (May 18-21).
Challenger Stage 🏯
This stage uses a Swiss System format with 16 teams competing. At this stage, 16 teams compete according to the Swiss system. The teams are grouped into eight Challengers and eight Contenders.
Almost all matches take place on a best-of-best basis, except for knockout rounds and playoffs, which are played on a best-of-three basis. In the Challenger Stage, the last eight teams are eliminated, so only half of the teams advance to the tournament's next stage.
The Paris Major features a combination of recognized squads and newcomers to the major event scene among the Challengers.
In contrast, the Contenders group is full of teams that have the potential to become Challengers or even Legends. About half of the teams in this group pose a real threat to making it to the Major playoffs, while the other half could cause upsets and advance to the next tournament stage.
Legends Stage 🕌
After the Challengers stage is over, it's time for the Legends stage! It means that the top survivors of the Challengers stage will face eight Legendary teams. Like the previous step, all matches will be best-of-one, except for the best-of-three games for knockout and progression.
The Legends teams, seven from Europe and one from America are the top eight qualifiers for the Paris Major
🇺🇦 Natus Vincere
🇪🇺 fnatic
🇬🇧 Into the Breach
🇽🇰 Bad News Eagles
🇧🇷 FURIA
🇸🇪 9INE
🇳🇴 Heroic
🇫🇷 Team Vitality
Champions Stage 🏰
After the Legends Stage, the top eight teams will advance to the Champions Stage, the final stage of the tournament, May 18-21. Champions Stage matches are played on a best-of-three basis in a single elimination bracket.
Just a few days before the start of BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, and we're already excited about all the favorites! Be sure not to miss this truly historic tournament and the last moments of CS:GO, and support your team with us.
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