If you think IEM Katowice was the apex point of CS:GO for 2022, well hold tight because PGL Antwerp is just around the corner. Katowice might be a very important CS:GO event but what makes PGL different from others is that it’s a major tournament sponsored by Valve itself.
With a massive prize pool of $1,000,000 PGL Antwerp will pit the best of best against each other in the forthcoming weeks. Let’s take a look at what we know about the upcoming official Major.
What we know about PGL Major Antwerp 2022 after the official announcement
Twenty-four teams from across the world will fight for a $1 million prize pool and the title of Major winners.
The CS:GO circuit is crowded with high-quality competitions, but the Majors continue to stand out. PGL, the same firm that hosted the 2021 Stockholm Major, will run the 17th edition of the legendary Valve-sponsored tournament.
The Major will take us to Antwerp this time. The event will include 24 of the finest teams in the globe, who will have to qualify through Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events.
What is special about PGL is that there are no invitations or seeds for famous teams over others, including the winners of previous IEMs or PGLs.
No team, not even NAVI, the 2021’s defending Major winners, or this year’s masters of Katowice FaZe Clan have a guaranteed seat in Antwerp.
PGL Major Antwerp 2022 details: dates, format, location
PGL Major Antwerp will include three stages: Challengers, Legends, and Champions. The first two will take place behind closed doors in a studio setting, while the third will take place in front of an audience in the 18,000 seater Antwerps Sportpaleis.
This will be the first CS:GO Major to be held in Belgium. When PGL set out to select "one of the most reachable places" for the event, the country's centre position in Europe ticked every box, according to PGL on their official announcement.
Silviu Stroie, CEO PGL commented: “We are glad to have the opportunity to bring back the fans and players together for another CS:GO Major. Belgium has an impressive Counter-Strike fanbase, and many legendary players were born in this country. We are ready to offer an incredible experience for the fans inside the arena and the passionate viewers at home.”
And
Bart De Wever, Mayor of Antwerp, said: “We are very excited to see this top-tier esports championship happening in Antwerp. The CS:GO Majors have millions of viewers, and tens of thousands of fans will visit our city to attend the matches. It is also the first time this tournament will take place in Belgium or the Netherlands. It puts Antwerp on the map internationally as a hotspot for esports, an immensely interesting and fast-developing sector.”
Dates & format
The Challengers Stage: May 9th - 12th, 2022
- 16 Team Swiss System Format
- Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3
- All other matches are Bo1
- The Buchholz system & initial seeds are used to seed matches
- Top 8 Teams proceed to The Legends Stage
- Bottom 8 Teams are eliminated
The Legends Stage: May 14th - 17th, 2022
- 16 Team Swiss System Format
- Elimination and Advancement matches are Bo3
- All other matches are Bo1
- The Buchholz system & initial seeds are used to seed matches
- Top 8 Teams proceed to The Champions Stage
- Bottom 8 Teams are eliminated
The Champions Stage: May 19th - 22nd, 2022
- Single-Elimination bracket
- Seeded using final rankings from The Legends Stage
- All matches are Bo3
Here’s the official supplementary rule book as a bonus.
PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Prize pool
PGL Major Antwerp 2022 will get $1,000,000 in funding.
The PGL Antwerp Major will return Majors to the normal $1,000,000 prize pool, the same purse that Counter-Strike Majors have had since the first Major of 2016, MLG Major Columbus, which raised the bar from the previous $250,000 prize pools distributed by the first seven Majors from 2013 to 2015.
Since the million-dollar increase was implemented in 2016, the only exception has been the PGL Major Stockholm in 2021, which had $2,000,000 on the line, amassing its own pot as well as that from the cancelled ESL One Rio Major, which was scheduled for 2020 but got cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The PGL Antwerp Major will be a top-heavy affair, with the winners taking home the lion's share of $500,000. Reaching the Major is still a profitable business for organisations, as money is collected from the purchase of in-game items such as team stickers, which Valve then distributes.
At the PGL Major Stockholm, it was determined that player autographs, which had previously been coined for all players playing at a particular Major since their inception in 2013, would now only be minted for those who make the playoffs.
PGL Major Antwerp 2022: All 52 CS:GO Teams Set to Compete for 24 Spots
The Regional Major Ranking event teams have been finalised, with 52 teams scheduled to travel to Bucharest next month in an attempt to qualify for the PGL Major Antwerp.
Following the conclusion of the second and final North American qualifier, which saw Evil Geniuses, paiN, and Party Astronauts squeak in at the last minute, the qualifying stage for the Regional Major Ranking tournaments has finished.
That means we know all 52 teams competing for a seat at PGL Major Antwerp, as well as those that were unsuccessful and will have to try again in the next Major cycle in around six months.
The next RMR events in Bucharest, Romania, will have everything to play for. All 24 Major berths are up for grabs, with a massive 16 slots assigned to the European & CIS super-region, 6 to the Americas region, and 2 to Asia & Oceania.
Europe (April 17-24) - 16 spots
Europe will be divided into two groups that will be Europe A and Europe B for the first time as the super-region of the tournament.
On the European and CIS side, 13 slots were allocated to teams who finished in the top 16 at the previous Major, with the remaining distributed over five qualifiers: four for Europe & CIS teams and one for Far East Russia.
K23, which is presently ranked among the top 20 teams on HLTV.org, SKADE, Wisla Krakow, ECSTATIC, and Apeks, among a slew of other noteworthy names from the most competitive area in CS:GO, did not make the cut.
Invited Teams - PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- Natus Vincere
- Heroic
- Virtus.pro
- Team Vitality
- FaZe Clan
- MOUZ
Open Qualifiers
- BIG
- GamerLegion
- Fnatic
- SAW
- OG
- Eternal Fire
- Dignitas
- Team Unique
- forZe
- Team QUAZAR
European RMR B is scheduled to take place from 21st to 24th April with the following teams set to be a part of it,
Invited Teams - PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- G2 Esports
- Gambit Esports
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Entropiq
- Copenhagen Flames
- Astralis
- ENCE
Open Qualifiers
- HEET
- SINNERS
- Team Spirit
- AVE
- Sprout
- Bad News Eagles
- Endpoint
- Sangal Esports
- Anonymo Esports
The super-region teams are divided into two groups of 16, and they will compete in Swiss formats and provide a total of seven Legend, six Challenger, and three Contender slots throughout the two events.
Americas (April 11-14) - 6 spots
Only FURIA had a guaranteed berth at the RMR in the Americas, as the only participant from the region to make the top 16 at the PGL Major Stockholm and keep a three-man lineup core.
Everyone else had to qualify in open tournaments — two in South America and two in North America — in which the majority of the fan favourites prevailed. However, big names like GODSENT and Sharks, who competed in the previous Major's first stage, did not make the cut.
Invited Teams - PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- FURIA Esports
Open Qualifiers
- Complexity Gaming
- Team Liquid
- Bad News Bears
- Team oNe eSports
- Party Astronauts
- Evil Geniuses
- paiN Gaming
- Case Esports
- Imperial Esports
- 00 Nation
- 9z Team
- MIBR
- São Caetano Esports
- Isurus
- Leviatán
The aforementioned 16 teams will play a Swiss format in Bucharest in less than a month's time for direct qualification to Antwerp, with 1 Legend, 2 Challenger, and 3 Contender spots on offer.
Asia (April 15-16) - 2 spots
All four competing teams in Asia had to qualify through competitions in Oceania, China, the Middle East, and the Rest of Asia. Renegades and TYLOO made it to the finals in their respective countries, while the Mongolian IHC squad won the RoA competition.
Lynn Vision won the ME qualifier after a contentious decision to allow the Chinese team, as well as Looking For Org, to compete and train in Europe for a prolonged length of time.
Open Qualifiers
- TYLOO - Chinese Qualifier
- Renegades - Oceanic Qualifier
- Lynn Vision Gaming - Middle Eastern Qualifier
- IHC Esports - Asian Qualifier
These are the 52 teams who will compete in the forthcoming RMR events for the 24 slots available in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, which will be held between May 9 and May 22, 2022 in Belgium, with the main event (playoffs) taking place in front of a live audience at the Antwerps Sportpaleis.
We are extremely excited to bring you this news from the upcoming major and looking forward to this event unfolding.
Last year NAVI finally won a Major championship after three second-place finishes, thanks to a fantastic MVP performance from s1mple. The CIS team created history by being the first to win a Major without losing a single map and this year FaZe Clan are the champions of IEM Katowice 2022 following a hard-fought 3-0 victory against G2.
After a tumultuous year for CS:GO because of pandemic, postponed events and scandals resulting in many pros being lost to the VALORANT scene, 2022 feels and seems like the rebirth of the phoenix from its ashes.
