Between 22nd April and 17th May, the world’s best 56 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams will compete in fierce competition. The purpose? To score valuable points and qualify for the ESL CS:GO Major due to take place later on this year.

With a $255,000 prize pool and 24 places up for grabs, the competition is primed for the best CS:GO players to take to the stage. Can they prove they’ve got what it takes to perform when the eyes of the world are on them?

If you don’t know what CS:GO is, check out our guide here before reading further.

SECURING QUALIFICATION TO THE MAJOR

In the context of the current world pandemic, the need for an entire rescheduling and restructuring of the CS:GO Major calendar was deemed necessary, leaving it up to game developers, Valve, to redesign their traditional qualification structure.

As a result, CS:GO teams will now need to qualify into the Major through an expanding online format, across various competitions. Teams will now look to secure points for their Regional Major Ranking – also known as their RMR – in an effort to qualify into the Major as either Legends, Challengers or Contenders, dependant on their positional ranking.

The first tournament to provide teams with points will be the ESL One: Road to Rio, with further competitions lined up before the Major due to take place in November.

ESL: ONE ROAD TO RIO FORMAT

The 56 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams taking place in the ESL One: Road to Rio, have been split into smaller groups of six regions: Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Each region of teams will share a unique prize pool, as well as available slots for the Major.

EUROPE

Europe hosts some of the best-known teams taking part in the tournament. With 10 slots available to the Major, three Legends, five Challengers and two Contenders, as well as the biggest prize pool of $105,000, there’s plenty at stake for the 16 teams battling it out. Popular teams inside the division include Astralis and Team Vitality, who have both been tipped to do very well in not only the qualification tournaments but also the upcoming Major.

Teams: Astralis, ENCE, Vitality, mousesports, G2, c0ntact Gaming, FaZe Clan, North, fnatic, Complexity, Team Heretics, NiP, Movistar Riders, Copenhagen Flames, GODSENT and Dignitas.

NORTH AMERICA

North American CS:GO fans will witness a division that holds intense competition with the current sixth place ranked Team Liquid and seventh place world-ranked Evil Geniuses. In what’s sure to make for thrilling matchups, North American teams will compete for six slots and a prize pool of $70,000.

Teams: Evil Geniuses, 100 Thieves, Liquid, MIBR, FURIA, Gen.G, Bad News Bears, Cloud9, Triumph, Team Envy, Orgless, Yeah Gaming.

ASIA

TYLOO and Vici Gaming lead the competition in Asia, in a group also filled with six other teams fighting for a single Contenders slot into the Major and a prize pool of $10,000, between the 6^th and 10^th May.

Teams: TYLOO, ViCi, Mazaalai, TIGER, Lucid Dream, Camel Riders and two TBD (Asia Qualifier Tiebreakers).

OCEANIA AND SOUTH AMERICA

Oceanic and South American CS:GO contenders have both been placed into groups of four teams, and will each be sharing a prize pool of $10,000, as well as one regional Contender slot for ESL One: Rio 2020.

Oceanic Teams: Renegades, ORDER, Chiefs Esports Club and Ground Zero Gaming.

South American Teams: RED Canids, BOOM, Isurus and Team One.

COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES

The second biggest division in the competition, with 12 teams, the Commonwealth of Independent States contains some of the most popular teams in CS:GO esports. With five slots and a prize pool of $50,000 up for grabs, teams like Natus Vincere, who find themselves currently ranked as the number one CS:GO team globally, will be looking to put their stamp on the division.

Teams: Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere, Winstrike, Gambit Youngsters, Spirit, Syman, Espada, Hard Legion, Unique, forZe and two TBD (CIS Qualifier Tiebreakers).

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