Austin Major begins with upsets and record number of teams

As of the time of writing this, the BLAST.tv Austin Major’s first stage is underway, and with it the largest-ever Counter-Strike Major tournament. It features the largest number of teams to date, 32 instead of 24, and is set in the United States. The tournament is the first time that the Major is coming to Austin, Texas, and the first Major in the United States since the ELEAGUE Boston Major in 2018. 

The tournament is divided into four segments, called stages, with the initial three stages being similar in format, followed by the playoffs. The first stage has 16 teams, out of which eight will continue to the second stage where they will meet eight previously qualified teams. The process then repeats itself in the third stage until we are left with the best eight teams. This means that the teams that start their journey in the first stage have a much harder time to get to the playoffs, but nothing is impossible. 

As of right now, the first rounds of matches in the first stage are behind us, with four teams having two wins and no losses, eight teams sitting at one win and one loss, and four teams with no wins. The best-performing teams at this stage are HEROIC, B8, WildCard and FlyQuest, and the unluckiest ones are Chinggis Warriors, Imperial Esports, Metizport and Fluxo. Of course, a lot can change in a day or two. 

The standout match of the first stage so far was the one between Complexity, the highest-seeded team in the stage, and OG (lowest seed). OG managed to dismantle Complexity due to a stellar performance by nicoodoz. The Danish player had a career-best map and a 33-6 score with a 3.08 rating, one of the highest ratings ever in a Major. Sadly, his fantastic form did not translate that well to the second match between OG and B8, where he had a 1.20 rating and a more realistic overall performance. OG lost that match due to a better team performance by B8.

This is just the first stage of the Major which will last for the better part of this month and conclude with the grand finals on June 22. In the meantime, you can watch the CS2 playoffs of the A1 Adria League Weekly this weekend!