What is a CS2 Major?
CS2 Majors are the tentpole events of the professional scene. They follow a three-stage format: Challengers Stage (Swiss-style, 16 teams), Legends Stage (Swiss-style, 16 teams including Challengers graduates), and Champions Stage (single-elimination bracket, 8 teams). Valve guarantees a $1.25 million prize pool; sticker capsule revenue (from player and team stickers sold in-game) historically adds several million more, shared between players and Valve. Winning a Major is the highest achievable team accomplishment in Counter-Strike. Players get "Legend" and "Challenger" tags in-game and attached to their HLTV profile. The Majors calendar defines the rest of the Tier-1 schedule.
Related terms
More tournament structure terms
Legend
Legend status is the qualifying tag given to teams that finish in the top 8 of a Major. Legends automatically…
RMR
RMR (Regional Major Ranking) is the qualification circuit that determines which non-Legend teams earn Major slots. Each region runs its…
Tier
Tournament tiers classify CS2 events by prize pool, team quality and prestige. Tier-1 (Majors, IEM Katowice, BLAST Fall Final) has…
